~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121800233_pf.html
Bush Signs India Nuclear Law
Critics Say Deal to Share Civilian Technology Could Spark Arms Race
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; A03
President Bush signed legislation yesterday permitting civilian nuclearcooperation with India, reversing three decades of nonproliferation policyin the interest of redefining U.S. relations with the world's largestdemocracy and reshaping the geopolitical balance as China asserts itself inAsia.
Bush, who has made the fight against the spread of nuclear weapons acenterpiece of his foreign policy, persuaded Congress to make an exceptionfor India despite its not having signed the nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty. Although critics warn that the deal could spark a regional armsrace, Bush called it a landmark moment that finally relegates Cold War-eratensions to the past.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121900146_pf.html
Chad says nearly 40 killed in Janjaweed raids
By Betel Miarom
Reuters
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; 9:39 AM
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Nearly 40 people were killed in clashes between Chad'ssecurity forces and Arab raiders on horseback who attacked two easternvillages, burning homes and mutilating their victims, the government said onTuesday.
It said the attackers, who struck at the weekend, gouged out and carried offthe eyes of eight government soldiers they killed and disemboweled one of 15Chadian civilians also slain.
Five Sudanese refugees from a nearby U.N.-run refugee camp were also killedduring the raids on Aradibe and Habile, which escalated into clashes withthe Chadian army on December 16 and 17, the government added.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121800941_pf.html
Forget the Domino Theories
By Robert Satloff
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; A29
The wise men (and woman) don't know their history. In boldly suggesting that"all key issues in the Middle East are inextricably linked," the authors ofthe Iraq Study Group report seem stunningly indifferent to the past 25 yearsof Middle East politics.
The basic proposition -- linkage -- is not new. President George H.W. Bushand his secretary of state, James Baker, tried 15 years ago to build anArab-Israeli peace process on American success in the Persian Gulf War. Inthe current Bush administration, some advocates of toppling Saddam Husseinechoed that argument when they predicted that a change in Iraq would opennew avenues for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121800945_pf.html
A 'Surge' in Wasted Sacrifice
By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; A29
Here's an idea: Let's send more U.S. troops to Iraq. The generals say it'sway too late to even think about resurrecting Colin Powell's "overwhelmingforce" doctrine, so let's send over a modest "surge" in troop strength thathas almost no chance of making any difference -- except in the casualtycount. Oh, and let's not give these soldiers and Marines any sort ofwell-defined mission. Let's just send them out into the bloody chaos ofBaghdad and the deadly badlands of Anbar province with orders not to comeback until they "get the job done."
I don't know about you, but that strikes me as a terrible idea, arguably theworst imaginable "way forward" in Iraq. So of course this seems to be whereGeorge W. Bush is headed.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121800942_pf.html
Two Cities McCain Stands to Lose
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; A29
Earlier this year a close friend of John McCain gave me fair warning: McCainwas about to become much more conservative, and I would not like what wascoming. He was right. I did not like McCain's speech at Jerry Falwell'sLiberty University, and I think his support of intelligent design is --sorry, John -- just plain brainless. But it is not the supposedly new McCainthat bothers me, it's the old one: His incessant sword-rattling has gottenjust plain rattling.
At the moment McCain is probably the most prominent proponent of thepour-it-on school regarding Iraq. He wants the United States to considerablybeef up its forces there, which as far as I'm concerned is throwing goodmoney after bad -- providing the insurgents with even more targets as well.But even if additional troops could succeed in tamping down the level ofviolence in Baghdad, we have learned enough about Iraq to suggest that itwould be only a temporary reprieve.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121900178_pf.html
Libya Sentences Bulgaria Nurses to Death
By KHALED EL-DEEB and WILLA THAYER
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; 9:20 AM
TRIPOLI, Libya -- A court convicted six foreign health workers Tuesday oncharges of deliberately infecting 400 children with the AIDS virus andsentenced them to death, setting off shouts of joy in Tripoli.
The verdict, which will be automatically referred to Libya's Supreme Court,drew quick condemnation from European nations, which have charged that thefive Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were being made scapegoats. AWestern medical study, released too late for the trial, said the infectionsoccurred before the medical workers came to Libya.
=
The New York Times
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121801477_pf.html
White House, Joint Chiefs At Odds on Adding Troops
By Robin Wright and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; A01
The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq,with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over theunanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S.officials familiar with the intense debate.
Sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops for a mission of possibly six to eightmonths is one of the central proposals on the table of the White Housepolicy review to reverse the steady deterioration in Iraq. The option isbeing discussed as an element in a range of bigger packages, the officialssaid.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/opinion/19tue3.html?pagewanted=print
December 19, 2006
Editorial
Too Early for Deep Thinking
There's no satisfying the desire to get to the head of the pack in thepresidential primary sweepstakes. Weary of being a quadrennial wallflower,New Jersey's Legislature moved its primary up from June (long after thenominations are settled) to the last Tuesday in February, right on the heelsof the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire's sacrosanct, first-in-the-nationprimary.
But Democratic Party leaders shorted the Garden State spotlight, cramming aNevada caucus and a South Carolina primary into January. Quick as a proudNew Jerseyan says, "Oh yeah?" the Legislature is again voting to move theprimary up, this time to early February. The state Senate easily approvedthe date. And the Assembly is waiting to act, with the state expected tojoin a half-dozen others with a primary on Feb. 5, 2008.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Abuse-Prosecutions.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 19, 2006
Senator Seeks Detainee Abuse Case Update
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:06 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A key Democratic senator asked the Justice Department onMonday for an update on its progress prosecuting government employees whowere accused in at least 17 cases of abusing detainees in Iraq andAfghanistan.
In response, a Justice spokesman said at least some of the cases are stillunder investigation.
In a letter sent Monday to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, incomingSenate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., noted that the department beganlooking into the allegations of abuse two and a half years ago.
''In that time, there have not been any indictments in any of these cases,''wrote Durbin, who first pressed the Justice Department for a prosecutionsupdate in November 2005, when now-Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty wasseeking Senate confirmation.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/opinion/19patterson.html?pagewanted=print
December 19, 2006
Guest Columnist
God's Gift?
By ORLANDO PATTERSON
One of the more disquieting aspects of the Iraqi occupation is that thepresident's final rationale for it is a cherished, though groundless,liberal belief about freedom. As we now know, the war was motivated less byany real evidence of Iraqi involvement with terrorism than by theneoconservatives' belief that they could stabilize the Middle East byspreading freedom there. Their erroneous assumption was a relic from theliberal past: the doctrine that freedom is a natural part of the humancondition.
A disastrously simple-minded argument followed from this: that becausefreedom is instinctively "written in the hearts" of all peoples, all that isrequired for its spontaneous flowering in a country that has known onlytyranny is the forceful removal of the tyrant and his party.
=
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/45541/
Life Just Got Harder for Welfare Moms
By Juliette Terzieff, Women's eNews
Posted on December 16, 2006, Printed on December 18, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/45541/
Stiffer work and reporting requirements for the federal welfare programTemporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, fail to recognize mothers'needs for training, education and child care to make their families selfsufficient, women's advocacy groups say.
"The new regulations are a continuation of the misguided 'work first'approach that has been the hallmark of welfare reform," says Erin Mohan,public policy director for Washington-based advocacy organization, WomenWork! "This strategy forces women into low-wage, low-skilled, dead-end jobs;jobs that don't pay the bills and can't support families."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121801410_pf.html
Giuliani's Primary Hurdle
Polls Aside, Skeptics Say GOP Won't Nominate a Social Liberal for President
By Michael Powell and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; A01
NEW YORK, Dec. 18 -- His national poll numbers are a dream, he's a major boxoffice draw on the Republican Party circuit, and he goes by the shorthandtitle "America's Mayor." All of which has former New York mayor Rudolph W.Giuliani convinced he just might become America's president in 2008.
He is showing the early signs of a serious candidacy: Giuliani'spresidential exploratory committee throws its first major fundraiser in ahotel near Times Square on Tuesday evening, and he recently hired thepolitical director of the Republican National Committee during 2006. AWashington Post-ABC News poll released last week found that Republicans giveGiuliani an early lead over Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is far ahead ofthe former mayor in organizing a national campaign.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16273266.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
Jordan's king hosts Israeli PM for talks
JAMAL HALABY
Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a surprise visit toJordan Tuesday for talks with King Abdullah II on ways to revive Mideastpeacemaking.
The palace also said Abdullah was offering to host a meeting in Jordan tohelp resolve Palestinian infighting between the Hamas and Fatah movements.As the statement was issued, the two groups waged fierce gunbattles in GazaCity.
Olmert's visit came in response to an invitation by Abdullah, who is eagerto see Israel resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, a seniorpalace official said.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
####
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
FLORIDA DIGEST December 19, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16273793.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
FOCUS ON BROWARD
Treatment, not prison, for mentally ill
BY WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
The controversy over whether a Broward judge would hold the state Departmentof Children & Families in contempt has obscured the much-larger issue: Fordecades county jails have been the largest mental-health facilities in mostareas. Although mental-health treatment in the criminal-justice system ismuch better than it was 10 years ago, largely thanks to persistent judgesand public defenders, that treatment is still full of gaps and disconnects.
Then there's the larger question: Why have Florida and its counties neverbuilt a cohesive, comprehensive system of treatment despite saying theywould do so as they started to shutter state mental hospitals in the 1960s?
A crazy system
To be blunt, we ask people in mental crisis to try to navigate a crazysystem, mostly by themselves, and when they can't, we put them in jail.What's really crazy is that a decent, humane mental-health system would becheaper than using police, courts and jails as a substitute.
=
For Immediate Release
For more information phone the Stonewall Library and Archives at (954)763-8565
Stonewall Library Book Club to discuss Jay Quinn's "Back Where He Started"(Feb. 8)
The Book Club of the Stonewall Library and Archives will meet at the Libraryon Thursday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m. Moderator Jesse Monteagudo will leada discussion of the novel "Back Where He Started," by famed South Floridawriter Jay Quinn. While other novels deal with "gay marriage," "Back WhereHe Started" deals with "gay divorce" as it tells the tale of Chris Thayer,who must deal with the perils of a single life after he is dumped by hispartner of 22 years. The Stonewall Library and Archives are located at theGay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida, 1717 North AndrewsAvenue, in Fort Lauderdale. For more information phone SLA at (954)763-8565.
=
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/OPINION/612190358/1015
Editorial
Face truths about death penalty
Originally posted on December 19, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush was wise to suspend executions and order the review of lethalinjection procedures after the bungled execution of a convicted murdererlast week.
Whether Angel Nieves Diaz deserves sympathy for the fact that it took him 34minutes to die - about twice as long as usual - and required double theusual dosage is not the point here.
It appears the injection missed the vein. One such mistake does not byitself invalidate lethal injection, but we'd better be very sure theexecutioners know what they're doing.
We owe that not to the killers, but to ourselves.
We support the death penalty as a matter of justice, but it must beadministered competently and as humanely as possible. Otherwise a solemnritual becomes a gruesome farce, and a detriment to justice.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cfraud19dec19,0,602748.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Officials uncover Medicaid scheme
Pines man facing charges of running $39 million fraud.
By Sofia Santana
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 19, 2006
A Pembroke Pines man was charged Monday with running a $39 million Medicaidfraud in which he bought stolen prescription drugs in bulk and then soldthem to unsuspecting pharmacies nationwide, according to the FloridaAttorney General's Office.
Authorities are calling the case, which was three years in the making, oneof the state's largest in recent years.
Wilber Bherviz, 40, was in the Broward County Jail on Monday night on $5million bond. An alleged accomplice, whose name investigators declined torelease, has not been caught.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16273793.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
FOCUS ON BROWARD
Treatment, not prison, for mentally ill
BY WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
The controversy over whether a Broward judge would hold the state Departmentof Children & Families in contempt has obscured the much-larger issue: Fordecades county jails have been the largest mental-health facilities in mostareas. Although mental-health treatment in the criminal-justice system ismuch better than it was 10 years ago, largely thanks to persistent judgesand public defenders, that treatment is still full of gaps and disconnects.
Then there's the larger question: Why have Florida and its counties neverbuilt a cohesive, comprehensive system of treatment despite saying theywould do so as they started to shutter state mental hospitals in the 1960s?
A crazy system
To be blunt, we ask people in mental crisis to try to navigate a crazysystem, mostly by themselves, and when they can't, we put them in jail.What's really crazy is that a decent, humane mental-health system would becheaper than using police, courts and jails as a substitute.
=
http://cgi.jacksonville.com/cgi-bin/printit.cgi?story=ZZNOSTORYZZ
December 18, 2006
TAXES: Keeping them low
If someone wants to start a business, or move an existing one, he shouldconsider putting it in Florida.
That's one of the conclusions to be drawn from the Tax Foundation's 2007"Business Climate Index."
The foundation, a Washington-based think tank, compared corporate,individual income, sales, unemployment and property taxes in all 50 states.
Florida, it concluded, had the fifth-best business climate in the nation,behind only Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska and Nevada.
Georgia ranked 19th.
Chairman Carole Jean Jordan stated:
"Florida's economy is a microcosm of the nation's economy as a whole,because Republicans have encouraged emerging technologies and enhancedtraditional industries.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/18/a16a_opengov_edit_1218.html
Right opening from Crist
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, December 18, 2006
A key tenet of American democracy is that citizens will disagree but thepolicies that govern them will be established in public. The attacks on thatprinciple in Florida in recent years make Gov.-elect Charlie Crist'scommitment to a new Office of Open Government all the more timely.
Traditionally a national leader in open government, Florida went dangerouslyretrograde as legislators and Gov. Bush gutted the state'sGovernment-in-the-Sunshine Laws. For example, only public awareness and thediligence of such watchdog groups as the First Amendment Foundation limitedthe 2006 legislative session's 100-bill assault to 10 new exemptions.
In contrast to Gov. Bush's stonewalling on public records requests, thefoundation recognized Attorney General Crist in 2005 for his efforts topreserve the public's access to public records. Now, a new office within thegovernor's office will ensure compliance with open-records and -meetingslaws.
=
The Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/19/a12a_crist_1219.html
Crist vows to check ethics, efficiency of outsourced deals
By S.v. DÁte
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to outsource and privatizestate government functions will be reviewed to make sure the contracts arebeing handled "appropriately," Gov.-elect Charlie Crist said Monday.
"My interest is in saving the taxpayers as much as we possibly can, but alsoin providing services they expect and they deserve," said Crist, who in hiscurrent role as attorney general got involved in a whistle-blower's lawsuitover the state's $350 million contract with Convergys, an Ohio company hiredto handle the state's payroll system. The suit alleges, among other things,that the company subcontracted work to India in violation of the contract.
"If we can outsource and save money and have it delivered ethically andefficiently, then I'm all for that," Crist said. "If we find that there is aproblem and it cannot be done, and we keep it internal, I'm fine with that,too.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16273793.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
FOCUS ON BROWARD
Treatment, not prison, for mentally ill
BY WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
The controversy over whether a Broward judge would hold the state Departmentof Children & Families in contempt has obscured the much-larger issue: Fordecades county jails have been the largest mental-health facilities in mostareas. Although mental-health treatment in the criminal-justice system ismuch better than it was 10 years ago, largely thanks to persistent judgesand public defenders, that treatment is still full of gaps and disconnects.
Then there's the larger question: Why have Florida and its counties neverbuilt a cohesive, comprehensive system of treatment despite saying theywould do so as they started to shutter state mental hospitals in the 1960s?
A crazy system
To be blunt, we ask people in mental crisis to try to navigate a crazysystem, mostly by themselves, and when they can't, we put them in jail.What's really crazy is that a decent, humane mental-health system would becheaper than using police, courts and jails as a substitute.
=
For Immediate Release
For more information phone the Stonewall Library and Archives at (954)763-8565
Stonewall Library Book Club to discuss Jay Quinn's "Back Where He Started"(Feb. 8)
The Book Club of the Stonewall Library and Archives will meet at the Libraryon Thursday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m. Moderator Jesse Monteagudo will leada discussion of the novel "Back Where He Started," by famed South Floridawriter Jay Quinn. While other novels deal with "gay marriage," "Back WhereHe Started" deals with "gay divorce" as it tells the tale of Chris Thayer,who must deal with the perils of a single life after he is dumped by hispartner of 22 years. The Stonewall Library and Archives are located at theGay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida, 1717 North AndrewsAvenue, in Fort Lauderdale. For more information phone SLA at (954)763-8565.
=
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/OPINION/612190358/1015
Editorial
Face truths about death penalty
Originally posted on December 19, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush was wise to suspend executions and order the review of lethalinjection procedures after the bungled execution of a convicted murdererlast week.
Whether Angel Nieves Diaz deserves sympathy for the fact that it took him 34minutes to die - about twice as long as usual - and required double theusual dosage is not the point here.
It appears the injection missed the vein. One such mistake does not byitself invalidate lethal injection, but we'd better be very sure theexecutioners know what they're doing.
We owe that not to the killers, but to ourselves.
We support the death penalty as a matter of justice, but it must beadministered competently and as humanely as possible. Otherwise a solemnritual becomes a gruesome farce, and a detriment to justice.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cfraud19dec19,0,602748.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Officials uncover Medicaid scheme
Pines man facing charges of running $39 million fraud.
By Sofia Santana
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 19, 2006
A Pembroke Pines man was charged Monday with running a $39 million Medicaidfraud in which he bought stolen prescription drugs in bulk and then soldthem to unsuspecting pharmacies nationwide, according to the FloridaAttorney General's Office.
Authorities are calling the case, which was three years in the making, oneof the state's largest in recent years.
Wilber Bherviz, 40, was in the Broward County Jail on Monday night on $5million bond. An alleged accomplice, whose name investigators declined torelease, has not been caught.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16273793.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
FOCUS ON BROWARD
Treatment, not prison, for mentally ill
BY WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
The controversy over whether a Broward judge would hold the state Departmentof Children & Families in contempt has obscured the much-larger issue: Fordecades county jails have been the largest mental-health facilities in mostareas. Although mental-health treatment in the criminal-justice system ismuch better than it was 10 years ago, largely thanks to persistent judgesand public defenders, that treatment is still full of gaps and disconnects.
Then there's the larger question: Why have Florida and its counties neverbuilt a cohesive, comprehensive system of treatment despite saying theywould do so as they started to shutter state mental hospitals in the 1960s?
A crazy system
To be blunt, we ask people in mental crisis to try to navigate a crazysystem, mostly by themselves, and when they can't, we put them in jail.What's really crazy is that a decent, humane mental-health system would becheaper than using police, courts and jails as a substitute.
=
http://cgi.jacksonville.com/cgi-bin/printit.cgi?story=ZZNOSTORYZZ
December 18, 2006
TAXES: Keeping them low
If someone wants to start a business, or move an existing one, he shouldconsider putting it in Florida.
That's one of the conclusions to be drawn from the Tax Foundation's 2007"Business Climate Index."
The foundation, a Washington-based think tank, compared corporate,individual income, sales, unemployment and property taxes in all 50 states.
Florida, it concluded, had the fifth-best business climate in the nation,behind only Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska and Nevada.
Georgia ranked 19th.
Chairman Carole Jean Jordan stated:
"Florida's economy is a microcosm of the nation's economy as a whole,because Republicans have encouraged emerging technologies and enhancedtraditional industries.
=
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/18/a16a_opengov_edit_1218.html
Right opening from Crist
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, December 18, 2006
A key tenet of American democracy is that citizens will disagree but thepolicies that govern them will be established in public. The attacks on thatprinciple in Florida in recent years make Gov.-elect Charlie Crist'scommitment to a new Office of Open Government all the more timely.
Traditionally a national leader in open government, Florida went dangerouslyretrograde as legislators and Gov. Bush gutted the state'sGovernment-in-the-Sunshine Laws. For example, only public awareness and thediligence of such watchdog groups as the First Amendment Foundation limitedthe 2006 legislative session's 100-bill assault to 10 new exemptions.
In contrast to Gov. Bush's stonewalling on public records requests, thefoundation recognized Attorney General Crist in 2005 for his efforts topreserve the public's access to public records. Now, a new office within thegovernor's office will ensure compliance with open-records and -meetingslaws.
=
The Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/19/a12a_crist_1219.html
Crist vows to check ethics, efficiency of outsourced deals
By S.v. DÁte
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to outsource and privatizestate government functions will be reviewed to make sure the contracts arebeing handled "appropriately," Gov.-elect Charlie Crist said Monday.
"My interest is in saving the taxpayers as much as we possibly can, but alsoin providing services they expect and they deserve," said Crist, who in hiscurrent role as attorney general got involved in a whistle-blower's lawsuitover the state's $350 million contract with Convergys, an Ohio company hiredto handle the state's payroll system. The suit alleges, among other things,that the company subcontracted work to India in violation of the contract.
"If we can outsource and save money and have it delivered ethically andefficiently, then I'm all for that," Crist said. "If we find that there is aproblem and it cannot be done, and we keep it internal, I'm fine with that,too.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
Monday, December 18, 2006
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 18, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sport18dec18,0,78605.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Have your passport ready,
U.S. will not accept anything else for entry
By Ken Kaye and Ruth Morris
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 18, 2006
Don't leave home -- and fly to Cancun -- without it.If you're a U.S.citizen, as of Jan. 23, you'll need a passport to re-enterthe country, evenif you're flying to Mexico, Canada, the Bahamas or otherCaribbean nations,places so familiar to Floridians that traveling thereseems like a domestictrip.The new rule for Americans returning from those destinations is adeparturefrom the long-standing policy of accepting driver's licenses,voterregistration cards or birth certificates as valid forms ofidentification.
For now, the change applies only to passengers on commercialand privateflights, but authorities expect to extend it to cruise ships andprivateboats as of January 2008.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600954_pf.html
Educators, Parents Eager for an Edge Opt for IB Classes In Grade Schools
By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 17, 2006; A01
Hunting for the best education for her three young children, Traci Pietrafretted about low test scores at her Arlington neighborhood school. Then theprincipal told her about Randolph Elementary's affiliation with one of themost prestigious and rapidly growing brands in education: IB.
International Baccalaureate is best known for a high school diploma programgeared to the university-bound academic elite. But Pietra and her husband,Peter, were sold on the lesser-known elementary version of IB. Both wereattracted to the IB emphasis on global understanding, Pietra said, andadded: "He was like, 'Our kids are going to an Ivy League school, and weneed an education that's going to get them on the right track.' "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600954_pf.html
Educators, Parents Eager for an Edge Opt for IB Classes In Grade Schools
By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 17, 2006; A01
Hunting for the best education for her three young children, Traci Pietrafretted about low test scores at her Arlington neighborhood school. Then theprincipal told her about Randolph Elementary's affiliation with one of themost prestigious and rapidly growing brands in education: IB.
International Baccalaureate is best known for a high school diploma programgeared to the university-bound academic elite. But Pietra and her husband,Peter, were sold on the lesser-known elementary version of IB. Both wereattracted to the IB emphasis on global understanding, Pietra said, andadded: "He was like, 'Our kids are going to an Ivy League school, and weneed an education that's going to get them on the right track.' "
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700229_pf.html
Gingrich Says 2008 Bid Depends on Rivals
Associated Press
Monday, December 18, 2006; A06
Newt Gingrich suggested yesterday that he might not run for president in2008 if a rival has all but locked up the Republican nomination by nextfall.
The former House speaker from Georgia said it would not be too late for himto enter the race after Labor Day 2007, if he thinks that no candidate has aclear advantage. He cited Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCainof Arizona and former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as thecontenders to watch.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700229_pf.html
Gingrich Says 2008 Bid Depends on Rivals
Associated Press
Monday, December 18, 2006; A06
Newt Gingrich suggested yesterday that he might not run for president in2008 if a rival has all but locked up the Republican nomination by nextfall.
The former House speaker from Georgia said it would not be too late for himto enter the race after Labor Day 2007, if he thinks that no candidate has aclear advantage. He cited Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCainof Arizona and former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as thecontenders to watch.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sport18dec18,0,78605.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sport18dec18,0,78605.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
U.S. Sends Home 33 Detainees From Guantanamo Bay
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 18, 2006; A19
Thirty-three detainees who had been held at the U.S. military detentionfacility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were returned to their home countries overthe past week, part of a government effort to reduce the facility'spopulation to a core group of terrorism suspects who could be heldindefinitely.
The Defense Department announced yesterday that it transferred 17 detaineesto their home countries over the weekend: seven to Afghanistan, five toYemen, three to Kazakhstan, one to Libya and one to Bangladesh. Militaryofficials announced Thursday that 16 detainees were sent to Saudi Arabialast week.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700772_pf.html
Results in Iranian Vote Seen as Setback for Ahmadinejad
By Edmund Blair
Reuters
Monday, December 18, 2006; A19
TEHRAN, Dec 17 -- Allies of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed todominate elections for a powerful Iranian clerical body and local councils,according to early results Sunday, in what analysts said was a setback tothe hard-line leader's standing.
Friday's elections for the clerical Assembly of Experts and for localcouncils, the first nationwide vote since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005,will not directly impact policy.
But turnout of about 60 percent and Ahmadinejad's close identification withsome candidates, particularly in Tehran, suggested a voter shift toward moremoderate policies and away from the president's often-confrontationalpositions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700772_pf.html
Results in Iranian Vote Seen as Setback for Ahmadinejad
By Edmund Blair
Reuters
Monday, December 18, 2006; A19
TEHRAN, Dec 17 -- Allies of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed todominate elections for a powerful Iranian clerical body and local councils,according to early results Sunday, in what analysts said was a setback tothe hard-line leader's standing.
Friday's elections for the clerical Assembly of Experts and for localcouncils, the first nationwide vote since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005,will not directly impact policy.
But turnout of about 60 percent and Ahmadinejad's close identification withsome candidates, particularly in Tehran, suggested a voter shift toward moremoderate policies and away from the president's often-confrontationalpositions.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700772_pf.html
Results in Iranian Vote Seen as Setback for Ahmadinejad
By Edmund Blair
Reuters
Monday, December 18, 2006; A19
TEHRAN, Dec 17 -- Allies of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed todominate elections for a powerful Iranian clerical body and local councils,according to early results Sunday, in what analysts said was a setback tothe hard-line leader's standing.
Friday's elections for the clerical Assembly of Experts and for localcouncils, the first nationwide vote since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005,will not directly impact policy.
But turnout of about 60 percent and Ahmadinejad's close identification withsome candidates, particularly in Tehran, suggested a voter shift toward moremoderate policies and away from the president's often-confrontationalpositions.
Results in Iranian Vote Seen as Setback for Ahmadinejad
By Edmund Blair
Reuters
Monday, December 18, 2006; A19
TEHRAN, Dec 17 -- Allies of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed todominate elections for a powerful Iranian clerical body and local councils,according to early results Sunday, in what analysts said was a setback tothe hard-line leader's standing.
Friday's elections for the clerical Assembly of Experts and for localcouncils, the first nationwide vote since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005,will not directly impact policy.
But turnout of about 60 percent and Ahmadinejad's close identification withsome candidates, particularly in Tehran, suggested a voter shift toward moremoderate policies and away from the president's often-confrontationalpositions.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700973_pf.html
A New Mideast, or Wishful Thinking?
By Fred Hiatt
Monday, December 18, 2006; A25
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice obviously thinks that former secretaryof state James Baker just doesn't get how the Mideast has changed since helast plied the peacemaking shuttle 15 years ago.
That's one thing that becomes clear when you listen to her talk for anylength of time, as she did during a visit to The Post last week. Of courseshe makes it clear in characteristic Rice fashion: polite, correct, notpersonal -- but also forceful and eloquent and unmistakable.
Start with democracy, a word conspicuously deemphasized by Baker andco-chair Lee Hamilton in their Iraq Study Group report. They want Rice totalk with Iran and with Syria, which is busy undermining democracy inLebanon. They speak more broadly for the burgeoning Washington consensusthat the promotion of democracy in the Middle East was a dangerous pipedream best abandoned before any more damage is done.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700973_pf.html
A New Mideast, or Wishful Thinking?
By Fred Hiatt
Monday, December 18, 2006; A25
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice obviously thinks that former secretaryof state James Baker just doesn't get how the Mideast has changed since helast plied the peacemaking shuttle 15 years ago.
That's one thing that becomes clear when you listen to her talk for anylength of time, as she did during a visit to The Post last week. Of courseshe makes it clear in characteristic Rice fashion: polite, correct, notpersonal -- but also forceful and eloquent and unmistakable.
Start with democracy, a word conspicuously deemphasized by Baker andco-chair Lee Hamilton in their Iraq Study Group report. They want Rice totalk with Iran and with Syria, which is busy undermining democracy inLebanon. They speak more broadly for the burgeoning Washington consensusthat the promotion of democracy in the Middle East was a dangerous pipedream best abandoned before any more damage is done.
=
The New York Times
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121701127_pf.html
Conservatives' Grip on Key Virginia Court Is at Risk
By Jerry Markon and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 18, 2006; A01
A growing list of vacancies on the federal appeals court in Richmond isheightening concern among Republicans that one of the nation's mostconservative and influential courts could soon come under moderate or evenliberal control, Republicans and legal scholars say.
A number of prominent Republican appointees have left or announced plans toleave the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which has played a keyrole in terrorism cases and has long been known for forceful conservativerulings and judicial personalities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121701127_pf.html
Conservatives' Grip on Key Virginia Court Is at Risk
By Jerry Markon and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 18, 2006; A01
A growing list of vacancies on the federal appeals court in Richmond isheightening concern among Republicans that one of the nation's mostconservative and influential courts could soon come under moderate or evenliberal control, Republicans and legal scholars say.
A number of prominent Republican appointees have left or announced plans toleave the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which has played a keyrole in terrorism cases and has long been known for forceful conservativerulings and judicial personalities.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700970_pf.html
The Israel Quandary
By Robert D. Novak
Monday, December 18, 2006; A25
Meeting privately with the Baker-Hamilton commission before its report onIraq was released, George W. Bush did not seem pleased. So when a Republicanmember said he believed it was imperative to get moving on the stalledIsrael-Palestine peace process, a negative response from the president wasexpected. Instead, he replied: "I do, too."
Those three little words posed questions. Was Bush merely indulging JamesBaker and the Iraq Study Group's other wise men? Or, after not pursuingMiddle East peace the past six years, had he concluded that it is necessaryto stabilize the region, including Israel? The consensus of commissionmembers was that the president was sincere, assessing linkage between Iraqand Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700970_pf.html
The Israel Quandary
By Robert D. Novak
Monday, December 18, 2006; A25
Meeting privately with the Baker-Hamilton commission before its report onIraq was released, George W. Bush did not seem pleased. So when a Republicanmember said he believed it was imperative to get moving on the stalledIsrael-Palestine peace process, a negative response from the president wasexpected. Instead, he replied: "I do, too."
Those three little words posed questions. Was Bush merely indulging JamesBaker and the Iraq Study Group's other wise men? Or, after not pursuingMiddle East peace the past six years, had he concluded that it is necessaryto stabilize the region, including Israel? The consensus of commissionmembers was that the president was sincere, assessing linkage between Iraqand Israel.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18mon1.html?pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Editorial
Swift Raids
When federal immigration officials raided six plants owned by Swift &Company, the world's second largest beef and pork processor, last Tuesday,they brought Spanish translators. They knew exactly what kind of worker isfound in low-paying, strenuous jobs in this country: recent Latino arrivalswith limited skills and, in many cases, no legal papers. Nearly 1,300people - almost 10 percent of Swift's work force - were taken away in whatthe government said was the largest but not the last assault on theunderground immigrant economy.
The raids have led some people to heap scorn on Swift and, of course, on theillegal immigrants, particularly the dozens of detainees who have beencharged with identity theft and other crimes. But doing so misses the biggerpicture. Swift and its workers are merely Exhibit A in an immigration systemthat is failing in all of its parts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18mon1.html?pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Editorial
Swift Raids
When federal immigration officials raided six plants owned by Swift &Company, the world's second largest beef and pork processor, last Tuesday,they brought Spanish translators. They knew exactly what kind of worker isfound in low-paying, strenuous jobs in this country: recent Latino arrivalswith limited skills and, in many cases, no legal papers. Nearly 1,300people - almost 10 percent of Swift's work force - were taken away in whatthe government said was the largest but not the last assault on theunderground immigrant economy.
The raids have led some people to heap scorn on Swift and, of course, on theillegal immigrants, particularly the dozens of detainees who have beencharged with identity theft and other crimes. But doing so misses the biggerpicture. Swift and its workers are merely Exhibit A in an immigration systemthat is failing in all of its parts.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18connable.html?pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
A War That Abhors a Vacuum
By BEN CONNABLE
Washington
THE niceties are up for debate: phased or partial withdrawal from Iraq would entail pulling troops back to their bases across the country, or leapfrogging backward to the nearest international border, or redeploying to bases in nearby countries.
But whatever the final prescription, the debate must include a sober look at the street-level impact of withdrawal. What will become of Iraqi villages, towns and cities as we pull out? Although past is not necessarily prologue, recent experience in Anbar Province may be instructive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18connable.html?pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
A War That Abhors a Vacuum
By BEN CONNABLE
Washington
THE niceties are up for debate: phased or partial withdrawal from Iraq would entail pulling troops back to their bases across the country, or leapfrogging backward to the nearest international border, or redeploying to bases in nearby countries.
But whatever the final prescription, the debate must include a sober look at the street-level impact of withdrawal. What will become of Iraqi villages, towns and cities as we pull out? Although past is not necessarily prologue, recent experience in Anbar Province may be instructive.
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18herbert.html
December 18, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Out of Sight
By BOB HERBERT
Baker, La.
There are hundreds of children in the trailer camp that is run by FEMA and known as Renaissance Village, but they won't be having much of a Christmas. They're trapped here in a demoralizing, overcrowded environment with adults who are mostly broke, jobless and at the end of their emotional tethers. Many of the kids aren't even going to school.
"This is a terrible environment for children," said Anita Gentris, who lost everything in the flood that followed Hurricane Katrina and is living in one of the 200-square-foot travel trailers with her 10-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. "My daughter is having bad dreams. And my son, he's a very angry child right now. He cries. He throws things.
"I'm desperately trying to find permanent housing."
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18herbert.html
December 18, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Out of Sight
By BOB HERBERT
Baker, La.
There are hundreds of children in the trailer camp that is run by FEMA and known as Renaissance Village, but they won't be having much of a Christmas. They're trapped here in a demoralizing, overcrowded environment with adults who are mostly broke, jobless and at the end of their emotional tethers. Many of the kids aren't even going to school.
"This is a terrible environment for children," said Anita Gentris, who lost everything in the flood that followed Hurricane Katrina and is living in one of the 200-square-foot travel trailers with her 10-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. "My daughter is having bad dreams. And my son, he's a very angry child right now. He cries. He throws things.
"I'm desperately trying to find permanent housing."
=
Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
Tri-County - chances@attglobal.net
Showdown looms over domestic spying
New Congress may demand Bush seek warrants, but will he yield?
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:44 p.m. CT Dec 16, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - Federal agents continue to eavesdrop on Americans' electronic communications without warrants a year after President Bush confirmed the practice, and experts say a new Congress' efforts to limit the program could trigger a constitutional showdown.
High-ranking Democrats set to take control of both chambers are mulling ways to curb the program Bush secretly authorized a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. The White House argues the Constitution gives the president wartime powers to eavesdrop that he wouldn't have during times of peace.
"As a practical matter, the president can do whatever he wants as long as he has the capacity and executive branch officials to do it," said Carl Tobias, a legal scholar at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
Tri-County - chances@attglobal.net
Showdown looms over domestic spying
New Congress may demand Bush seek warrants, but will he yield?
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:44 p.m. CT Dec 16, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - Federal agents continue to eavesdrop on Americans' electronic communications without warrants a year after President Bush confirmed the practice, and experts say a new Congress' efforts to limit the program could trigger a constitutional showdown.
High-ranking Democrats set to take control of both chambers are mulling ways to curb the program Bush secretly authorized a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. The White House argues the Constitution gives the president wartime powers to eavesdrop that he wouldn't have during times of peace.
"As a practical matter, the president can do whatever he wants as long as he has the capacity and executive branch officials to do it," said Carl Tobias, a legal scholar at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
=
CQPolitics.com
The CQPolitics Interview: Dennis Kucinich
By Marie Horrigan
Congressional Quarterly
By Marie Horrigan
Congressional Quarterly
Friday 15 December 2006
"People aren't looking for the Democrats to be better managers of the war, theywant the Democrats to end the war and to bring our troops home."
- Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio this week became the second officeholder to announce a bidfor the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. And since the other candidate is retiring IowaGov. Tom Vilsack, Kucinich is the first member of Congress to officially enter the Democrats'presidential sweepstakes.
He also is the first repeat candidate for the party's 2004 White House field. Kucinich did notgain serious political traction that year - earning less than 4 percent of the overall primary vote- and his candidacy was largely seen as a symbolic effort to represent the liberal activist wing ofthe party.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/world/middleeast/18justice.html?ei=5094&en=8bbe0ca95f0b352c&hp=&ex=1166418000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment
By MICHAEL MOSS
One night in mid-April, the steel door clanked shut on detainee No. 200343at Camp Cropper, the United States military's maximum-security detentionsite in Baghdad.
American guards arrived at the man's cell periodically over the next severaldays, shackled his hands and feet, blindfolded him and took him to a paddedroom for interrogation, the detainee said. After an hour or two, he wasreturned to his cell, fatigued but unable to sleep.
The fluorescent lights in his cell were never turned off, he said. At mosthours, heavy metal or country music blared in the corridor. He said he wasrousted at random times without explanation and made to stand in his cell.Even lying down, he said, he was kept from covering his face to block outthe light, noise and cold. And when he was released after 97 days he wasexhausted, depressed and scared.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/world/middleeast/18justice.html?ei=5094&en=8bbe0ca95f0b352c&hp=&ex=1166418000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment
By MICHAEL MOSS
One night in mid-April, the steel door clanked shut on detainee No. 200343at Camp Cropper, the United States military's maximum-security detentionsite in Baghdad.
American guards arrived at the man's cell periodically over the next severaldays, shackled his hands and feet, blindfolded him and took him to a paddedroom for interrogation, the detainee said. After an hour or two, he wasreturned to his cell, fatigued but unable to sleep.
The fluorescent lights in his cell were never turned off, he said. At mosthours, heavy metal or country music blared in the corridor. He said he wasrousted at random times without explanation and made to stand in his cell.Even lying down, he said, he was kept from covering his face to block outthe light, noise and cold. And when he was released after 97 days he wasexhausted, depressed and scared.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700091_pf.html
Battling Palestinian Factions Agree to End Hostilities
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 18, 2006; A18
JERUSALEM, Dec. 17 -- After a day of partisan bloodshed, rival Palestinianfactions agreed Sunday to stop hostilities that appeared to be pushing theterritories toward a broad civil conflict.
The agreement had the potential to end several days of fighting between thegoverning Hamas party and the Fatah movement. Running gun battles earlierSunday in the Gaza Strip left at least two Palestinians dead.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700091_pf.html
Battling Palestinian Factions Agree to End Hostilities
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 18, 2006; A18
JERUSALEM, Dec. 17 -- After a day of partisan bloodshed, rival Palestinianfactions agreed Sunday to stop hostilities that appeared to be pushing theterritories toward a broad civil conflict.
The agreement had the potential to end several days of fighting between thegoverning Hamas party and the Fatah movement. Running gun battles earlierSunday in the Gaza Strip left at least two Palestinians dead.
=
Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
Tri-County - chances@attglobal.net
Colin Powell: US losing Iraq war
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said overstretched US troops are losing the conflict in Iraq.
Mr Powell told CBS News that bolstering troop numbers would be unlikely to reverse the "grave and deteriorating situation" in the country.
President Bush is trying to shape a new strategy for Iraq, with officials suggesting more soldiers may be sent.
Mr Powell's comments come a day before the new defence secretary, Robert Gates, is to be sworn in.
During his confirmation hearings, Mr Gates also conceded that the US was not winning in Iraq and faced a "regional conflagration" unless the downward spiral was reversed.
Tri-County - chances@attglobal.net
Colin Powell: US losing Iraq war
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said overstretched US troops are losing the conflict in Iraq.
Mr Powell told CBS News that bolstering troop numbers would be unlikely to reverse the "grave and deteriorating situation" in the country.
President Bush is trying to shape a new strategy for Iraq, with officials suggesting more soldiers may be sent.
Mr Powell's comments come a day before the new defence secretary, Robert Gates, is to be sworn in.
During his confirmation hearings, Mr Gates also conceded that the US was not winning in Iraq and faced a "regional conflagration" unless the downward spiral was reversed.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
GLBT DIGEST - December 18, 2006
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Irish Times, 18 December 2006
Quality of care is the key factor in rearing children
Claims that children raised by same-sex parents are worse off than childrenraised by heterosexual parents, as maintained here last week by Rik VanNieuwenhove of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, are not supported byresearch evidence, writes Geraldine Moane
There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that children parentedby same-sex couples are at a developmental disadvantage. On the contrary,the evidence shows that children raised by lesbian parents are similar tochildren raised by heterosexual parents in gender identity, sexualorientation, well-being and sociability.
These are the consistent findings from numerous studies that were reviewedby Dr Susan Golombok of the University of Cambridge in a recent presentationat a British Psychological Society conference. Golombok concluded: "Childrenin lesbian families did not differ from other children as result of theirnon-traditional family environment."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Boston Globe, MA, December 17, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/17/the_constitutions_guardrails/
The Constitution's guardrails
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist
A LAWSUIT filed in US District Court last week accuses 109 Massachusettslawmakers of violating the US Constitution. The plaintiffs are leaders ofVoteOnMarriage.org , a grass-roots campaign to amend the Massachusettsconstitution by defining marriage "only as the union of one man and onewoman."
It was a year ago this week that the proposed amendment, having attracted arecord-setting 170,000 signatures, was formally transmitted to theLegislature by the Massachusetts secretary of state. What was supposed tohappen next is spelled out in the state constitution. Article 48 directs theHouse and Senate to meet jointly and vote on amendments proposed by citizeninitiative; those that get at least 50 votes in two consecutive sessions arethen put on the state ballot.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Des Moines Register, IA, December 17, 2006
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION01/6
12170310/1035/OPINION
Dick, take a stand for your grandkid
Rekha Basu
Dear Vice President Cheney,
I saw your happy news in the paper: A sixth grandchild on the way.What joy and hope such an arrival brings. What cause for celebration.
The picture showed your radiant daughter, Mary, and her partner, Heather.They look like a smart, strong and capable couple. They certainly seemcommitted after 15 years.
Your spokeswoman says that you and Mrs. Cheney are "looking forward witheager anticipation" to the birth, which suggests that you two have acceptedboth your daughter's lesbianism, and her decision to make a family with hersame-sex partner. Good for you. Too many gays and lesbians are turned out oftheir homes for being who they are and loving who they love. Many hunger fortheir parents' approval and for society's acceptance. Mary and Heather arelucky to have you on their side.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/arts/television/18bust.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Censured PBS Bunny Returns, Briefly
By DENNIS GAFFNEY
What happens to a children's public television show after it has beenattacked by the secretary of education, pilloried by conservatives, thenabandoned by its underwriters? In the case of "Postcards From Buster," itmanages to return, belatedly but unbowed, for a second season.
"We were proud of 'Postcards From Buster,' and we are proud of 'PostcardsFrom Buster,' " said Brigid Sullivan, vice president for children'sprogramming at WGBH, the Boston PBS station that produces the show. "It's achildren's show dealing with diversity by showing real kids in real-lifesituations. That's not being done by anyone else."
In "Postcards From Buster" documentary footage of children from differentcultures is combined with animation of Buster and his friends. This seasonincludes only 10 episodes, which began in November and will run throughFebruary, a far cry from the 40 produced for the show's first season.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/us/18episcopal.html?ei=5094&en=d688812abe57a8de&hp=&ex=1166418000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Episcopal Parishes in Virginia Vote to Secede
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Two large and influential Episcopal parishes in Virginia votedoverwhelmingly yesterday to leave the Episcopal Church and to affiliate withthe Anglican archbishop of Nigeria, a conservative leader in a churchwidefight over homosexuality.
Five smaller churches in Virginia also announced yesterday that they hadvoted to secede, joining four others that have already left and three moreexpected to announce their decisions soon. Some affiliated with otherarchbishops in Africa.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18mon2.html?pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Editorial
The AIDS-Malaria Connection
AIDS prevention has seen two breakthroughs this month. The big news is theprotective value of circumcision. But there is another important finding:AIDS and malaria feed on each other, with disastrous effects.
In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers looked at healthrecords from Kisumu, Kenya, a city of 200,000 with high levels of bothdiseases. They calculated that the interaction of the diseases increasedAIDS cases by 8 percent and malaria by 13 percent. Over 25 years, that meant8,500 additional AIDS cases and almost a million extra cases of malaria. Theresearchers drew on earlier findings that H.I.V.-positive people who getmalaria experience a six- to eight-week spike in the level of the AIDS virusin their blood. During that spike, they are supercontagious, with double theusual chance of infecting a sexual partner. People with H.I.V. have alsobeen proved more likely to catch malaria.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
Irish Times, 18 December 2006
Quality of care is the key factor in rearing children
Claims that children raised by same-sex parents are worse off than childrenraised by heterosexual parents, as maintained here last week by Rik VanNieuwenhove of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, are not supported byresearch evidence, writes Geraldine Moane
There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that children parentedby same-sex couples are at a developmental disadvantage. On the contrary,the evidence shows that children raised by lesbian parents are similar tochildren raised by heterosexual parents in gender identity, sexualorientation, well-being and sociability.
These are the consistent findings from numerous studies that were reviewedby Dr Susan Golombok of the University of Cambridge in a recent presentationat a British Psychological Society conference. Golombok concluded: "Childrenin lesbian families did not differ from other children as result of theirnon-traditional family environment."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Boston Globe, MA, December 17, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/17/the_constitutions_guardrails/
The Constitution's guardrails
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist
A LAWSUIT filed in US District Court last week accuses 109 Massachusettslawmakers of violating the US Constitution. The plaintiffs are leaders ofVoteOnMarriage.org , a grass-roots campaign to amend the Massachusettsconstitution by defining marriage "only as the union of one man and onewoman."
It was a year ago this week that the proposed amendment, having attracted arecord-setting 170,000 signatures, was formally transmitted to theLegislature by the Massachusetts secretary of state. What was supposed tohappen next is spelled out in the state constitution. Article 48 directs theHouse and Senate to meet jointly and vote on amendments proposed by citizeninitiative; those that get at least 50 votes in two consecutive sessions arethen put on the state ballot.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Des Moines Register, IA, December 17, 2006
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION01/6
12170310/1035/OPINION
Dick, take a stand for your grandkid
Rekha Basu
Dear Vice President Cheney,
I saw your happy news in the paper: A sixth grandchild on the way.What joy and hope such an arrival brings. What cause for celebration.
The picture showed your radiant daughter, Mary, and her partner, Heather.They look like a smart, strong and capable couple. They certainly seemcommitted after 15 years.
Your spokeswoman says that you and Mrs. Cheney are "looking forward witheager anticipation" to the birth, which suggests that you two have acceptedboth your daughter's lesbianism, and her decision to make a family with hersame-sex partner. Good for you. Too many gays and lesbians are turned out oftheir homes for being who they are and loving who they love. Many hunger fortheir parents' approval and for society's acceptance. Mary and Heather arelucky to have you on their side.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/arts/television/18bust.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Censured PBS Bunny Returns, Briefly
By DENNIS GAFFNEY
What happens to a children's public television show after it has beenattacked by the secretary of education, pilloried by conservatives, thenabandoned by its underwriters? In the case of "Postcards From Buster," itmanages to return, belatedly but unbowed, for a second season.
"We were proud of 'Postcards From Buster,' and we are proud of 'PostcardsFrom Buster,' " said Brigid Sullivan, vice president for children'sprogramming at WGBH, the Boston PBS station that produces the show. "It's achildren's show dealing with diversity by showing real kids in real-lifesituations. That's not being done by anyone else."
In "Postcards From Buster" documentary footage of children from differentcultures is combined with animation of Buster and his friends. This seasonincludes only 10 episodes, which began in November and will run throughFebruary, a far cry from the 40 produced for the show's first season.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/us/18episcopal.html?ei=5094&en=d688812abe57a8de&hp=&ex=1166418000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Episcopal Parishes in Virginia Vote to Secede
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Two large and influential Episcopal parishes in Virginia votedoverwhelmingly yesterday to leave the Episcopal Church and to affiliate withthe Anglican archbishop of Nigeria, a conservative leader in a churchwidefight over homosexuality.
Five smaller churches in Virginia also announced yesterday that they hadvoted to secede, joining four others that have already left and three moreexpected to announce their decisions soon. Some affiliated with otherarchbishops in Africa.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/opinion/18mon2.html?pagewanted=print
December 18, 2006
Editorial
The AIDS-Malaria Connection
AIDS prevention has seen two breakthroughs this month. The big news is theprotective value of circumcision. But there is another important finding:AIDS and malaria feed on each other, with disastrous effects.
In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers looked at healthrecords from Kisumu, Kenya, a city of 200,000 with high levels of bothdiseases. They calculated that the interaction of the diseases increasedAIDS cases by 8 percent and malaria by 13 percent. Over 25 years, that meant8,500 additional AIDS cases and almost a million extra cases of malaria. Theresearchers drew on earlier findings that H.I.V.-positive people who getmalaria experience a six- to eight-week spike in the level of the AIDS virusin their blood. During that spike, they are supercontagious, with double theusual chance of infecting a sexual partner. People with H.I.V. have alsobeen proved more likely to catch malaria.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 18, 2006
**
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/18/m1a_crist_1218.html
Lawmakers applaud governor-elect's fresh views
By S.V. Date
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Monday, December 18, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Still two weeks away from showing Florida how he will rule,Gov.-elect Charlie Crist already has dropped hints as to how he will not: inthe style of his predecessor and fellow Republican Jeb Bush.
In a series of moves, Crist has surprised both Republicans and Democratswith his willingness to depart from positions and attitudes that Bush helddear through eight years in office.
Not just new but different
Gov.-elect Charlie Crist's recent moves hint that his style will differ fromGov. Jeb Bush's. Here's one example:
Access to public records
Crist: Announced plans for a new Office of Open Government within hisadministration to ensure 'full and expeditious compliance' with the state'spublic records and open meetings laws.
Bush: Administration and agencies often added barriers and costs to publicrecords.
Shaping his own identity
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ssubs18dec18,0,4211966.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Turnover of substitute teachers in Broward County linked to low pay
By Douane D. James
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 18, 2006
When teachers know they're going to be absent, they often request theirfavorite stand-ins by name.
The most popular substitute teachers, like Herrick Rowan, almost become partof a school staff.
"I call myself the utility man," said Rowan, who regularly subs at PinesMiddle School in Pembroke Pines. "I come onto campus everyday, and whateverthe subjects are, I adjust."
In Broward County schools, a superior substitute teacher is always indemand. Schools use as many as 2,000 subs a day, with a peak period comingbefore FCAT testing, when some teachers get burned out.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-rxstemb18dec18,0,3726725.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Risk vs. hope: South Floridians go overseas for stem cells
By Nancy McVicar
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Health Writer
December 18, 2006
Kayce Barnes, of Margate, has taken her 7-year-old daughter Brianna to theDominican Republic twice for infusions of stem cells she hopes will keep heralive -- an experimental technique not yet approved in the United States.
Brianna has Batten's disease, a rare, fatal degenerative neurologicalcondition.
"If there's any chance to save my daughter's life," she said, "I'll do it."
Barnes said she made the trips because stem-cell treatments are unavailableor only in early stages in the United States.
Slowed by political opposition, embryonic stem cell research is limited to asmall number of cell lines that qualify for federal research dollars.Private companies have raised more than $440 million to advance their workoutside the confines of federal funding, but for the most part are still inthe early stages of laboratory work and animal experiments.
=
From GLSEN South Florida
glsen@glsensouthflorida.org
The Miami-Dade Alliance for GLBTQ Youth is holding a contest for a new logo.See the flyer below. The contest is open to all GLBTQ youth and theirallies (including families, friends, classmates, etc.
Please forward this to your lists. You can download the flyer from http://www.gaypowernet.net/Temp/LogoFlyerdcSmall.jpg.
Please circulate widely. Happy Holidays to all!
=
ArtsUnited's Erotic Art Exhibit Opens December 18th
ArtsUnited will produce its third annual Erotic Art Exhibit and benefitat Dudes Bar on December 18, 2006. The one night only exhibition will bringtogether over a dozen local visual artists to show and sell their originalworks. Fabulous prize raffles, paintings, photographs and mixed media artmake this a must-see event!
Dudes is located at 3270 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale. Exhibit hoursare 6:00 to 8:00 PM only. Admission is by $5.00 donation to ArtsUnited, anonprofit arts organization. Complimentary hors d'oeuvers and 2 for 1 drinksare being offered during the event.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/18/m1a_crist_1218.html
Lawmakers applaud governor-elect's fresh views
By S.V. Date
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Monday, December 18, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Still two weeks away from showing Florida how he will rule,Gov.-elect Charlie Crist already has dropped hints as to how he will not: inthe style of his predecessor and fellow Republican Jeb Bush.
In a series of moves, Crist has surprised both Republicans and Democratswith his willingness to depart from positions and attitudes that Bush helddear through eight years in office.
Not just new but different
Gov.-elect Charlie Crist's recent moves hint that his style will differ fromGov. Jeb Bush's. Here's one example:
Access to public records
Crist: Announced plans for a new Office of Open Government within hisadministration to ensure 'full and expeditious compliance' with the state'spublic records and open meetings laws.
Bush: Administration and agencies often added barriers and costs to publicrecords.
Shaping his own identity
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ssubs18dec18,0,4211966.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Turnover of substitute teachers in Broward County linked to low pay
By Douane D. James
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 18, 2006
When teachers know they're going to be absent, they often request theirfavorite stand-ins by name.
The most popular substitute teachers, like Herrick Rowan, almost become partof a school staff.
"I call myself the utility man," said Rowan, who regularly subs at PinesMiddle School in Pembroke Pines. "I come onto campus everyday, and whateverthe subjects are, I adjust."
In Broward County schools, a superior substitute teacher is always indemand. Schools use as many as 2,000 subs a day, with a peak period comingbefore FCAT testing, when some teachers get burned out.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-rxstemb18dec18,0,3726725.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Risk vs. hope: South Floridians go overseas for stem cells
By Nancy McVicar
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Health Writer
December 18, 2006
Kayce Barnes, of Margate, has taken her 7-year-old daughter Brianna to theDominican Republic twice for infusions of stem cells she hopes will keep heralive -- an experimental technique not yet approved in the United States.
Brianna has Batten's disease, a rare, fatal degenerative neurologicalcondition.
"If there's any chance to save my daughter's life," she said, "I'll do it."
Barnes said she made the trips because stem-cell treatments are unavailableor only in early stages in the United States.
Slowed by political opposition, embryonic stem cell research is limited to asmall number of cell lines that qualify for federal research dollars.Private companies have raised more than $440 million to advance their workoutside the confines of federal funding, but for the most part are still inthe early stages of laboratory work and animal experiments.
=
From GLSEN South Florida
glsen@glsensouthflorida.org
The Miami-Dade Alliance for GLBTQ Youth is holding a contest for a new logo.See the flyer below. The contest is open to all GLBTQ youth and theirallies (including families, friends, classmates, etc.
Please forward this to your lists. You can download the flyer from http://www.gaypowernet.net/Temp/LogoFlyerdcSmall.jpg.
Please circulate widely. Happy Holidays to all!
=
ArtsUnited's Erotic Art Exhibit Opens December 18th
ArtsUnited will produce its third annual Erotic Art Exhibit and benefitat Dudes Bar on December 18, 2006. The one night only exhibition will bringtogether over a dozen local visual artists to show and sell their originalworks. Fabulous prize raffles, paintings, photographs and mixed media artmake this a must-see event!
Dudes is located at 3270 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale. Exhibit hoursare 6:00 to 8:00 PM only. Admission is by $5.00 donation to ArtsUnited, anonprofit arts organization. Complimentary hors d'oeuvers and 2 for 1 drinksare being offered during the event.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
FLORIDA DIGEST December 18, 2006
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/18/m1a_crist_1218.html
Lawmakers applaud governor-elect's fresh views
By S.V. Date
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Monday, December 18, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Still two weeks away from showing Florida how he will rule,Gov.-elect Charlie Crist already has dropped hints as to how he will not: inthe style of his predecessor and fellow Republican Jeb Bush.
In a series of moves, Crist has surprised both Republicans and Democratswith his willingness to depart from positions and attitudes that Bush helddear through eight years in office.
Not just new but different
Gov.-elect Charlie Crist's recent moves hint that his style will differ fromGov. Jeb Bush's. Here's one example:
Access to public records
Crist: Announced plans for a new Office of Open Government within hisadministration to ensure 'full and expeditious compliance' with the state'spublic records and open meetings laws.
Bush: Administration and agencies often added barriers and costs to publicrecords.
Shaping his own identity
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ssubs18dec18,0,4211966.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Turnover of substitute teachers in Broward County linked to low pay
By Douane D. James
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 18, 2006
When teachers know they're going to be absent, they often request theirfavorite stand-ins by name.
The most popular substitute teachers, like Herrick Rowan, almost become partof a school staff.
"I call myself the utility man," said Rowan, who regularly subs at PinesMiddle School in Pembroke Pines. "I come onto campus everyday, and whateverthe subjects are, I adjust."
In Broward County schools, a superior substitute teacher is always indemand. Schools use as many as 2,000 subs a day, with a peak period comingbefore FCAT testing, when some teachers get burned out.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-rxstemb18dec18,0,3726725.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Risk vs. hope: South Floridians go overseas for stem cells
By Nancy McVicar
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Health Writer
December 18, 2006
Kayce Barnes, of Margate, has taken her 7-year-old daughter Brianna to theDominican Republic twice for infusions of stem cells she hopes will keep heralive -- an experimental technique not yet approved in the United States.
Brianna has Batten's disease, a rare, fatal degenerative neurologicalcondition.
"If there's any chance to save my daughter's life," she said, "I'll do it."
Barnes said she made the trips because stem-cell treatments are unavailableor only in early stages in the United States.
Slowed by political opposition, embryonic stem cell research is limited to asmall number of cell lines that qualify for federal research dollars.Private companies have raised more than $440 million to advance their workoutside the confines of federal funding, but for the most part are still inthe early stages of laboratory work and animal experiments.
=
From GLSEN South Florida
glsen@glsensouthflorida.org
The Miami-Dade Alliance for GLBTQ Youth is holding a contest for a new logo.See the flyer below. The contest is open to all GLBTQ youth and theirallies (including families, friends, classmates, etc.
Please forward this to your lists. You can download the flyer fromhttp://www.gaypowernet.net/Temp/LogoFlyerdcSmall.jpg.
Please circulate widely. Happy Holidays to all!
=
ArtsUnited's Erotic Art Exhibit Opens December 18th
ArtsUnited will produce its third annual Erotic Art Exhibit and benefitat Dudes Bar on December 18, 2006. The one night only exhibition will bringtogether over a dozen local visual artists to show and sell their originalworks. Fabulous prize raffles, paintings, photographs and mixed media artmake this a must-see event!
Dudes is located at 3270 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale. Exhibit hoursare 6:00 to 8:00 PM only. Admission is by $5.00 donation to ArtsUnited, anonprofit arts organization. Complimentary hors d'oeuvers and 2 for 1 drinksare being offered during the event.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/18/m1a_crist_1218.html
Lawmakers applaud governor-elect's fresh views
By S.V. Date
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Monday, December 18, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Still two weeks away from showing Florida how he will rule,Gov.-elect Charlie Crist already has dropped hints as to how he will not: inthe style of his predecessor and fellow Republican Jeb Bush.
In a series of moves, Crist has surprised both Republicans and Democratswith his willingness to depart from positions and attitudes that Bush helddear through eight years in office.
Not just new but different
Gov.-elect Charlie Crist's recent moves hint that his style will differ fromGov. Jeb Bush's. Here's one example:
Access to public records
Crist: Announced plans for a new Office of Open Government within hisadministration to ensure 'full and expeditious compliance' with the state'spublic records and open meetings laws.
Bush: Administration and agencies often added barriers and costs to publicrecords.
Shaping his own identity
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ssubs18dec18,0,4211966.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Turnover of substitute teachers in Broward County linked to low pay
By Douane D. James
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 18, 2006
When teachers know they're going to be absent, they often request theirfavorite stand-ins by name.
The most popular substitute teachers, like Herrick Rowan, almost become partof a school staff.
"I call myself the utility man," said Rowan, who regularly subs at PinesMiddle School in Pembroke Pines. "I come onto campus everyday, and whateverthe subjects are, I adjust."
In Broward County schools, a superior substitute teacher is always indemand. Schools use as many as 2,000 subs a day, with a peak period comingbefore FCAT testing, when some teachers get burned out.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-rxstemb18dec18,0,3726725.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Risk vs. hope: South Floridians go overseas for stem cells
By Nancy McVicar
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Health Writer
December 18, 2006
Kayce Barnes, of Margate, has taken her 7-year-old daughter Brianna to theDominican Republic twice for infusions of stem cells she hopes will keep heralive -- an experimental technique not yet approved in the United States.
Brianna has Batten's disease, a rare, fatal degenerative neurologicalcondition.
"If there's any chance to save my daughter's life," she said, "I'll do it."
Barnes said she made the trips because stem-cell treatments are unavailableor only in early stages in the United States.
Slowed by political opposition, embryonic stem cell research is limited to asmall number of cell lines that qualify for federal research dollars.Private companies have raised more than $440 million to advance their workoutside the confines of federal funding, but for the most part are still inthe early stages of laboratory work and animal experiments.
=
From GLSEN South Florida
glsen@glsensouthflorida.org
The Miami-Dade Alliance for GLBTQ Youth is holding a contest for a new logo.See the flyer below. The contest is open to all GLBTQ youth and theirallies (including families, friends, classmates, etc.
Please forward this to your lists. You can download the flyer fromhttp://www.gaypowernet.net/Temp/LogoFlyerdcSmall.jpg.
Please circulate widely. Happy Holidays to all!
=
ArtsUnited's Erotic Art Exhibit Opens December 18th
ArtsUnited will produce its third annual Erotic Art Exhibit and benefitat Dudes Bar on December 18, 2006. The one night only exhibition will bringtogether over a dozen local visual artists to show and sell their originalworks. Fabulous prize raffles, paintings, photographs and mixed media artmake this a must-see event!
Dudes is located at 3270 NE 33rd Street in Fort Lauderdale. Exhibit hoursare 6:00 to 8:00 PM only. Admission is by $5.00 donation to ArtsUnited, anonprofit arts organization. Complimentary hors d'oeuvers and 2 for 1 drinksare being offered during the event.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
Sunday, December 17, 2006
GLBT DIGEST - December 17, 2006
**
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/12/17/m1a_foley_1217.html
An examination of the House Ethics Committee report on Mark Foley
From first days in D.C., Foley raised eyebrows
By Larry Lipman
Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Sunday, December 17, 2006
WASHINGTON - From the beginning of his time in Congress, Mark Foley wasknown as an overly friendly guy.
"Those of you who have met him probably know he was overly friendly witheveryone," Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, told the Houseethics committee in October, two weeks after the Republican congressman fromFort Pierce resigned in disgrace over sexually explicit electroniccommunications with former House pages.
"He talks to members, he talks to staff, he talks to interns, pages,"Fordham said.
Initial reporting on the House ethics committee report issued last weekendfocused on the key finding that House members and staff did not violate anyrules in handling the Foley matter.
But a deeper examination of the report reveals another startling truth:Concerns about Foley and young people existed almost from the time he tookoffice in 1995. It paints a vivid picture of congressional staff membersrepeatedly warning Foley for more than a decade about displaying excessiveinterest in young male pages, interns and staffers, but not raising theirconcerns with House leaders.
=
www.guardian.co.uk/Observer/uk_news/story/0,,1973838,00.html
Catholic church in new sex abuse row
Diocese is shaken as former altar boy takes legal action claimingthat negligence exposed him to priest who was 'a danger to children'
Antony Barnett, investigations editor
The Catholic church faces fresh allegations of turning a blind eye topaedophilia after an Observer investigation revealed that one of itspriests was allowed to continue working despite warnings he posed adanger to children.
The priest, Father David Crowley, went on to rape a 10-year-old altarboy, whom he continued to abuse until 1995. Now the victim has spokenpublicly for the first time about his ordeal in order to expose the'scandalous' way he says the church has behaved. He has accused theRt Rev David Konstant, former Bishop of Leeds, of failing to stopCrowley despite having evidence that the priest was a sex risk tochildren. In 1997 Crowley was jailed for nine years after pleadingguilty to abusing boys for more than a decade.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16256494.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit by Milwaukee Gay Arts Center
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE - A federal judge threw out a civil rights lawsuit the MilwaukeeGay Arts Center filed after police shut down its production of "Naked BoysSinging."
The police department's vice squad shut down the nude musical revue inAugust 2005 because its organizers did not have a license. But the citylater determined the center did not need the license because it is anonprofit group, and the show resumed performances in October 2005.
The center was seeking more than $600,000 in damages, alleging violations offree speech and due process.
But U.S. District Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. dismissed the suit last week,saying that in order to proceed, the Center "must establish that theviolations were part of a custom or policy by the municipality."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501827_pf.html
It's All in the Genes, Except When It Isn't
By Liza Mundy
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B01
There's a lot we don't know about the pregnancy of Mary Cheney -- but a fewthings we do. We know that the vice president's openly gay 37-year-olddaughter is expecting a baby whom her parents are happily preparing towelcome as their sixth grandchild. We know that she plans to raise the childwith her longtime partner, Heather Poe. And we know that there must be a maninvolved somewhere -- either a friend or acquaintance (a "known donor") or adonor from a sperm bank.
In short, we know that this pregnancy involves what's called, in thefertility business, "collaborative reproduction."
That's the trade term for a situation in which a couple (or a single person)conceives with help from a third party who probably won't be involved inraising the child, but who agrees, as one egg broker put it, to "geneticallycontribute to the conception process.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501812_pf.html
My Life as a Sperm Donor Dad
By Mike Livingston
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B04
"Do you have any kids?"
It sounds like a simple question. But at the risk of sounding like BillClinton, it depends on what the meaning of "have" is.
I'm the biological father of a lesbian couple's children -- two beautifuldaughters, born a year apart in the summers of 2004 and 2005. I love them.They love me. At least enough to fall asleep on my shoulder when I sing tothem. They live in New England, and I visit as often as I can.
Am I their father or their sperm donor? The labels don't matter. The giftinvolved here is not a vial of protein strands. The real gift is the one Ireceived: a family with a pair of little girls who are profoundly fortunateto have two devoted, strong, courageous moms. My daughters have three lovingparents and live with two of them. I, for one, was not so lucky as to livewith even two parents for most of my childhood. I turned out okay, but mydaughters have a definite advantage.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600660_pf.html
Gay Rights Dialectic
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B06
Regarding the Dec. 7 front-page article "Conservative Rabbis Allow OrdainedGays, Same- Sex Unions":
The Conservative movement's decision to both prohibit and legitimize fullinclusion of homosexuals has something important to teach Americans. On manyissues -- the war, abortion, homosexual marriage -- Americans are deeplydivided. Rather than either side needing to win, there is a lesson to belearned in the spiritual insight that there is partial truth incontradictory opinions. Keeping polarized opinions in a conversation isprecisely the way to discover more inclusive truths that create newpossibilities and opportunities.
With this courageous decision, the right learns that real people aregenuinely diminished by the prohibitions surrounding homosexuality. The leftlearns that this issue is not simply one of individual rights but haspsychological and social implications that generate tremendous fear.
May the conversation continue.
RABBI IRWIN KULA
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/opinion/17rich.html?pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Mary Cheney's Bundle of Joy
By FRANK RICH
IT'S not the least of John McCain's political talents that he comes acrossas a paragon of straight talk even when he isn't talking straight. So it wasa surprise to see him reduced to near-stammering on ABC's "This Week" twoSundays after the election. The subject that brought him low was theelephant in the elephants' room, or perhaps we should say in their closet:homosexuality.
Senator McCain is no bigot, and his only goal was to change the subject asquickly as possible. He kept repeating two safe talking points for dearlife: he opposes same-sex marriage (as does every major presidentialaspirant in both parties) and he is opposed to discrimination. But becausehe had endorsed a broadly written Arizona ballot initiative that could havebeen used to discriminate against unmarried domestic partners, GeorgeStephanopoulos wouldn't let him off the hook.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/print/sfl-tr17gaytraveldec17,0,3217358.story
ROAD TIP
Top gay-friendly spots: South Beach, Key West
By the Associate Press
December 17, 2006
San Francisco was named the top "gay-friendly" destination in a new surveyof gay travelers conducted by the Travel Industry Association.
Following San Francisco on the list's top 10 were Key WestNew York City;Fire Island, which is part of Long Island in New York; Provincetown, Mass.;Los Angeles; Miami-South Beach; Las Vegas; New Orleans; and PalmSprings-Palm Desert, Calif.
The national survey was conducted by the Travel Industry Association inpartnership with Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications.
Nearly half of gay and lesbian travelers said that whether a destination hasa "gay-friendly" reputation matters when they are making leisure travelchoices.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/us/17episcopal.html?ei=5094&en=70416e45f97b7238&hp=&ex=1166331600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Episcopal Rift Drawing Near Point of Revolt
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
For about 30 years, the Episcopal Church has been one big unhappy family.Under one roof there were female bishops and male bishops who would notordain women. There were parishes that celebrated gay weddings and parishesthat denounced them; theologians sure that Jesus was the only route tosalvation, and theologians who disagreed.
Now, after years of threats, the family is breaking up.
As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected toannounce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with theEpiscopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to theWashington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, whichcould result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.
=
Forwarded from Ron Mills:
http://Politalk1.blogspot.com
WSJ/ABC NEWS POLL REVEALS SHIFTING ATTITUDES ON "NON-TRADITIONAL" PRES
CANDIDATES
In a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll,eight in 10 Americans would be"comfortable" or "enthusiastic" about an African-American or woman runningfor president.
More Americans express doubts about a candidate who served in Bush's cabinet(59%) than one who is gay or lesbian (53%). check page 19 of the polleven Evangelicals did worse than a Gay Candidate
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-pastor-gay-sex,0,7109468.story
2nd Pastor Resigns Over Gay Sex Scandal
By Associated Press
December 11, 2006, 2:51 PM EST
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The founding pastor of a second Colorado church hasresigned over gay sex allegations, just weeks after the evangelicalcommunity was shaken by the scandal surrounding megachurch leader TedHaggard.
Haggard, a gay-marriage opponent, admitted to unspecified "sexualimmorality" when he resigned last month as president of the NationalAssociation of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Churchin Colorado Springs. A male prostitute had said he had had sex with Haggardfor three years.
On Sunday, Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel inthis Denver suburb, told his evangelical congregation in a videotapedmessage he had had sexual relations with other men and was stepping down.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/12/17/m1a_foley_1217.html
An examination of the House Ethics Committee report on Mark Foley
From first days in D.C., Foley raised eyebrows
By Larry Lipman
Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Sunday, December 17, 2006
WASHINGTON - From the beginning of his time in Congress, Mark Foley wasknown as an overly friendly guy.
"Those of you who have met him probably know he was overly friendly witheveryone," Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, told the Houseethics committee in October, two weeks after the Republican congressman fromFort Pierce resigned in disgrace over sexually explicit electroniccommunications with former House pages.
"He talks to members, he talks to staff, he talks to interns, pages,"Fordham said.
Initial reporting on the House ethics committee report issued last weekendfocused on the key finding that House members and staff did not violate anyrules in handling the Foley matter.
But a deeper examination of the report reveals another startling truth:Concerns about Foley and young people existed almost from the time he tookoffice in 1995. It paints a vivid picture of congressional staff membersrepeatedly warning Foley for more than a decade about displaying excessiveinterest in young male pages, interns and staffers, but not raising theirconcerns with House leaders.
=
www.guardian.co.uk/Observer/uk_news/story/0,,1973838,00.html
Catholic church in new sex abuse row
Diocese is shaken as former altar boy takes legal action claimingthat negligence exposed him to priest who was 'a danger to children'
Antony Barnett, investigations editor
The Catholic church faces fresh allegations of turning a blind eye topaedophilia after an Observer investigation revealed that one of itspriests was allowed to continue working despite warnings he posed adanger to children.
The priest, Father David Crowley, went on to rape a 10-year-old altarboy, whom he continued to abuse until 1995. Now the victim has spokenpublicly for the first time about his ordeal in order to expose the'scandalous' way he says the church has behaved. He has accused theRt Rev David Konstant, former Bishop of Leeds, of failing to stopCrowley despite having evidence that the priest was a sex risk tochildren. In 1997 Crowley was jailed for nine years after pleadingguilty to abusing boys for more than a decade.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16256494.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit by Milwaukee Gay Arts Center
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE - A federal judge threw out a civil rights lawsuit the MilwaukeeGay Arts Center filed after police shut down its production of "Naked BoysSinging."
The police department's vice squad shut down the nude musical revue inAugust 2005 because its organizers did not have a license. But the citylater determined the center did not need the license because it is anonprofit group, and the show resumed performances in October 2005.
The center was seeking more than $600,000 in damages, alleging violations offree speech and due process.
But U.S. District Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. dismissed the suit last week,saying that in order to proceed, the Center "must establish that theviolations were part of a custom or policy by the municipality."
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501827_pf.html
It's All in the Genes, Except When It Isn't
By Liza Mundy
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B01
There's a lot we don't know about the pregnancy of Mary Cheney -- but a fewthings we do. We know that the vice president's openly gay 37-year-olddaughter is expecting a baby whom her parents are happily preparing towelcome as their sixth grandchild. We know that she plans to raise the childwith her longtime partner, Heather Poe. And we know that there must be a maninvolved somewhere -- either a friend or acquaintance (a "known donor") or adonor from a sperm bank.
In short, we know that this pregnancy involves what's called, in thefertility business, "collaborative reproduction."
That's the trade term for a situation in which a couple (or a single person)conceives with help from a third party who probably won't be involved inraising the child, but who agrees, as one egg broker put it, to "geneticallycontribute to the conception process.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501812_pf.html
My Life as a Sperm Donor Dad
By Mike Livingston
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B04
"Do you have any kids?"
It sounds like a simple question. But at the risk of sounding like BillClinton, it depends on what the meaning of "have" is.
I'm the biological father of a lesbian couple's children -- two beautifuldaughters, born a year apart in the summers of 2004 and 2005. I love them.They love me. At least enough to fall asleep on my shoulder when I sing tothem. They live in New England, and I visit as often as I can.
Am I their father or their sperm donor? The labels don't matter. The giftinvolved here is not a vial of protein strands. The real gift is the one Ireceived: a family with a pair of little girls who are profoundly fortunateto have two devoted, strong, courageous moms. My daughters have three lovingparents and live with two of them. I, for one, was not so lucky as to livewith even two parents for most of my childhood. I turned out okay, but mydaughters have a definite advantage.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600660_pf.html
Gay Rights Dialectic
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B06
Regarding the Dec. 7 front-page article "Conservative Rabbis Allow OrdainedGays, Same- Sex Unions":
The Conservative movement's decision to both prohibit and legitimize fullinclusion of homosexuals has something important to teach Americans. On manyissues -- the war, abortion, homosexual marriage -- Americans are deeplydivided. Rather than either side needing to win, there is a lesson to belearned in the spiritual insight that there is partial truth incontradictory opinions. Keeping polarized opinions in a conversation isprecisely the way to discover more inclusive truths that create newpossibilities and opportunities.
With this courageous decision, the right learns that real people aregenuinely diminished by the prohibitions surrounding homosexuality. The leftlearns that this issue is not simply one of individual rights but haspsychological and social implications that generate tremendous fear.
May the conversation continue.
RABBI IRWIN KULA
=
The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/opinion/17rich.html?pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Mary Cheney's Bundle of Joy
By FRANK RICH
IT'S not the least of John McCain's political talents that he comes acrossas a paragon of straight talk even when he isn't talking straight. So it wasa surprise to see him reduced to near-stammering on ABC's "This Week" twoSundays after the election. The subject that brought him low was theelephant in the elephants' room, or perhaps we should say in their closet:homosexuality.
Senator McCain is no bigot, and his only goal was to change the subject asquickly as possible. He kept repeating two safe talking points for dearlife: he opposes same-sex marriage (as does every major presidentialaspirant in both parties) and he is opposed to discrimination. But becausehe had endorsed a broadly written Arizona ballot initiative that could havebeen used to discriminate against unmarried domestic partners, GeorgeStephanopoulos wouldn't let him off the hook.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/print/sfl-tr17gaytraveldec17,0,3217358.story
ROAD TIP
Top gay-friendly spots: South Beach, Key West
By the Associate Press
December 17, 2006
San Francisco was named the top "gay-friendly" destination in a new surveyof gay travelers conducted by the Travel Industry Association.
Following San Francisco on the list's top 10 were Key WestNew York City;Fire Island, which is part of Long Island in New York; Provincetown, Mass.;Los Angeles; Miami-South Beach; Las Vegas; New Orleans; and PalmSprings-Palm Desert, Calif.
The national survey was conducted by the Travel Industry Association inpartnership with Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications.
Nearly half of gay and lesbian travelers said that whether a destination hasa "gay-friendly" reputation matters when they are making leisure travelchoices.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/us/17episcopal.html?ei=5094&en=70416e45f97b7238&hp=&ex=1166331600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Episcopal Rift Drawing Near Point of Revolt
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
For about 30 years, the Episcopal Church has been one big unhappy family.Under one roof there were female bishops and male bishops who would notordain women. There were parishes that celebrated gay weddings and parishesthat denounced them; theologians sure that Jesus was the only route tosalvation, and theologians who disagreed.
Now, after years of threats, the family is breaking up.
As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected toannounce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with theEpiscopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to theWashington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, whichcould result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.
=
Forwarded from Ron Mills:
http://Politalk1.blogspot.com
WSJ/ABC NEWS POLL REVEALS SHIFTING ATTITUDES ON "NON-TRADITIONAL" PRES
CANDIDATES
In a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll,eight in 10 Americans would be"comfortable" or "enthusiastic" about an African-American or woman runningfor president.
More Americans express doubts about a candidate who served in Bush's cabinet(59%) than one who is gay or lesbian (53%). check page 19 of the polleven Evangelicals did worse than a Gay Candidate
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-pastor-gay-sex,0,7109468.story
2nd Pastor Resigns Over Gay Sex Scandal
By Associated Press
December 11, 2006, 2:51 PM EST
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The founding pastor of a second Colorado church hasresigned over gay sex allegations, just weeks after the evangelicalcommunity was shaken by the scandal surrounding megachurch leader TedHaggard.
Haggard, a gay-marriage opponent, admitted to unspecified "sexualimmorality" when he resigned last month as president of the NationalAssociation of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Churchin Colorado Springs. A male prostitute had said he had had sex with Haggardfor three years.
On Sunday, Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel inthis Denver suburb, told his evangelical congregation in a videotapedmessage he had had sexual relations with other men and was stepping down.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 17, 2006
**
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/weekinreview/17MacFARQUHAR.html?ei=5040&en=75d5147b6606a1ed&ex=1167022800&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
The World
How Iran's Leader Keeps the West Off Balance
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
A POPULAR joke in Iran has someone asking the conservative former president,Hashemi Rafsanjani, what the superhighway under construction north from thecapital Tehran to the border will be called.
"Shaheed Ahmadinejad Highway," he responds.
Now President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is very much alive, while shaheed, or"martyr," is the Islamic honor bestowed on anyone who dies fighting for Godand country. The joke is one small indication that the factions which governIran, riven by endlessly bitter rivalries, are finding the bellicosepresident tiresome.
There are other, more significant signs.
=
L A Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-rodriguez17dec17,0,6797537.column?coll=la-opinion-center
GREGORY RODRIGUEZ
Is Obama the new 'black'?
The possible presidential candidacy of the biracial senator has sparked anilluminating debate on race.
Gregory Rodriguez
December 17, 2006
WE KNOW this: Barack Obama is a rising star. He's a powerful speaker and agifted writer. He is the only African American serving in the U.S. Senate.But is he black?
That's what New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch asked last month,and his answer was decidedly "no." No, Crouch wasn't just employing the old"blacker than thou" canard. Nor was he concerned with the fact that Obamawas raised by his white mother. Rather, he was treating blackness not justas a racial (shared biology) identity but as an ethnic (shared historicalexperience) one. And isn't that what the switch of terms from "black" to"African American" was all about?
Think back to the late 1980s, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson became the mostprominent black to call for the adoption of the term African American. "Justas we were called colored, but were not that," he said, "and then Negro, butnot that, to be called black is just as baseless.. Every ethnic group inthis country has a reference to some land base, some historical culturalbase. African Americans have hit that level of maturity." The problem, ofcourse, is that most black Americans are descendants of slaves who had theirAfrican cultural heritage brutally stripped from them.
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/17/news_pf/Worldandnation/When_dry_is_wet.shtml
When dry is wet
By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 17, 2006
First of two parts
Over the past decade, a little-known industry has reaped a billion-dollarbounty by convincing lawmakers it is the answer to saving the nation'swetlands. The promise of the wetland mitigation banking industry - afree-market solution that's good for the environment - pleases politiciansof every stripe. "It's a great way to make a living," said Allison DeFoor,who works for a mitigation banker and is vice chairman of the FloridaRepublican Party. "We're doing the Lord's work and getting paid for it."
The theory goes like this:
Developers are required to replace any wetland they destroy, an expensivetask that often fails.
Enter the mitigation banker. He buys land that used to be a swamp andrestores it. Regulators calculate how many "credits" the banker can sell,each one equal to an acre of pristine wetlands.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-ybintlfill11dec11,0,3727664.story?coll=sfl-yourmoney
Most low-wage workers going without sick leave
By Amy Joyce
The Washington Post
December 11, 2006
Broken foot? Ate some bad leftover turkey? Caught the flu? Want a day off?
For many, taking a sick day requires little thought. But by most estimates,nearly half of all private-sector workers in the United States do not have asingle day of paid sick leave. And more do not have a paid day off that canbe used to care for a sick child.
Low-wage workers are hit the hardest, with three of every four lacking anypaid sick leave. They also usually have no health-care coverage or work afull-time or more than full-time schedule of piecemeal, part-time jobs,making paid sick leave even more unlikely.
When workers without sick leave get a virus or an injury, they have todecide if they can take an unpaid day off and still make the rent. If not,they often return to their jobs as security guards, cooks, waitresses andcashiers -- decreasing their productivity and possibly getting others sick.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16261909.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006
Reid says ailing senator showing progress after brain surgery
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sen. Tim Johnson has shown significant improvement after brainsurgery and doctors say "everything is going to be just fine," SenateDemocratic leader Harry Reid said Sunday.
Yet when asked whether the 59-year-old South Dakota Democrat was conscious,Reid said in a television interview: "I'm not a doctor. I have heard andtalked to his family. You should talk to them. It's not appropriate to talkto me about that."
Reid, who has visited Johnson frequently after the surgery Wednesdayfollowing a brain hemorrhage, said "he's doing very well. ... Hisimprovement has been significant."
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16250266.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006
Desperation in the White House
BY JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
jlgalloway2@cs.com
The power brokers in Washington spent the week carefully arranging figleaves and tasteful screens to cover the emperor's nakedness while he wasbusy pretending to listen hard to everyone with an opinion about Iraq whilehearing nothing.
Sometime early in the new year, President Bush will go on nationaltelevision to tell a disgruntled American public what he has decided shouldbe done to salvage ''victory'' from the jaws of certain defeat in the war hestarted.
The word on the street, or in the Pentagon rings, is that he'll choose tobeef up U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq by 20,000 to 30,000 troops byvarious sleight-of-hand maneuvers -- extending the combat tours of soldiersand Marines who are nearing an end to their second or third year in hell andaccelerating the shipment of others into that hell -- and send them into thebloody streets of Baghdad.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/opinion/17sun1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Editorial
Unfinished Business
Some recent images from George W. Bush's war on terror:
¶Jose Padilla, the supposed dirty bomber, submitting while guardsblindfolded him and covered his ears for a walk from his cell to a dentist'schair.
¶Government lawyers arguing that a prisoner could not testify that he wastortured by American agents, because their brutality was a secret.
¶A judge dismissing another prisoner's challenge to his detention, after anew law stripped basic rights from those Mr. Bush has designated "illegalenemy combatants."
¶The White House scorning lawmakers' attempts to rein in Mr. Bush's illegaldomestic spying.
This is the legacy of a Republican Congress that enabled the president'simperial visions of his authority. It leaves the new Democratic majoritywith much urgent, unfinished business to restore due process, civilliberties and the balance of powers.
Military Tribunals
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/opinion/17grenier.html?pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
If You Love Lebanon, Set It Free
By ROBERT GRENIER
Washington
ONCE more, Lebanon is in political crisis. This time, we are told, it pits"Syrian- and Iranian-backed" Shiite parties (Hezbollah and Amal) and theChristian faction led by Michel Aoun against the "Western-backed" Christian,Sunni and Druze groups that support the government of Prime Minister FouadSiniora.
These very descriptions - citing one external backer or another as a mark ofpolitical identification - illustrate the fundamental problem Lebanon mustovercome. Call it the Lebanese Disease: rather than sorting out theirdifferences internally and addressing the fundamental injustices at theheart of their disputes, the Lebanese constantly look to outsiders to gainan advantage over their rivals.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600703_pf.html
On 'Monday Night Football,' An Announcement From Obama
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Sunday, December 17, 2006; A05
For first-term Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to get the avalanche of mediaattention he did while addressing New Hampshire Democrats a week ago wasimpressive. To appear the following night on "Monday Night Football" waseven more so.
Obama's hometown Chicago Bears were playing the St. Louis Rams. The game wasbeing watched in 8.5 million homes, and Obama, widely seen at this earlystage as a potential top competitor to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.)for the Democratic presidential nomination, had all the viewers to himself.
Over the years, the show has had public figures make cameos on the nights ofbig games.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501814_pf.html
Hearts, Minds and Schools
By Lawrence E. Harrison
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B03
The war in Iraq has produced many casualties. One lesser-noticed one may bethe death of an idea -- the idea that the culture of a nation or region canbe transformed quickly by well-intentioned foreigners. The recent report ofthe Iraq Study Group scarcely mentions the grand goals of bringing democracyto Iraq, and instead contemplates a drawdown of U.S. combat troops. It seemsthat the notion of transforming the political culture of the Middle East hasbeen drawn down as well.
"Are the people of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty?"President Bush asked in 2003. "Are millions of men and women and childrencondemned by history or culture to live in despotism? I, for one, do notbelieve it." As his audience applauded, he went on to criticize the"cultural condescension" of skeptics who believe that Islam and democracydon't mix.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501820_pf.html
My Father Was an Anonymous Sperm Donor
By Katrina Clark
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B01
I really wasn't expecting anything the day, earlier this year, when I sentan e-mail to a man whose name I had found on the Internet. I was looking formy father, and in some ways this man fit the bill. But I never thought I'dhit pay dirt on my first try. Then I got a reply -- with a picture attached.
From my computer screen, my own face seemed to stare back at me. And justlike that, after 17 years, the missing piece of the puzzle snapped intoplace.
The puzzle of who I am.
I'm 18, and for most of my life, I haven't known half my origins. I didn'tknow where my nose or jaw came from, or my interest in foreign cultures. Iobviously got my teeth and my penchant for corny jokes from my mother, alongwith my feminist perspective. But a whole other part of me was a mystery.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121601087_pf.html
Congress's Inaction Threatens Funding
Avoiding Spending Bills, Hill Causes Crunch
By Jonathan Weisman and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 17, 2006; A01
The Republican-controlled Congress's decision to adjourn a week ago beforecompleting many of the spending bills that finance the federal governmentwill reverberate in ways large and small, such as understaffed U.S.attorney's offices, delayed renovations at the University of Bridgeport inConnecticut and a scuttled global nuclear energy exchange.
Republican leaders left behind just enough spending authority to keep thegovernment operating through mid-February, less than halfway through the2007 fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Democrats have signaled that when theytake control of Congress in January they will extend that funding authorityfor the remainder of the year based largely on the previous year's spendinglevels, which will result in many cuts in programs.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600894_pf.html
The President In the Room
Hillary Clinton's Biggest Issue? A Certain Someone in Her Background.
By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 17, 2006; D01
NEW YORK He stood far behind, hiding in plain sight, though his glowingwhite hair and ruddy complexion rendered him as inconspicuous as a face onMount Rushmore.
The spotlight was not Bill Clinton's. It belonged, instead, to Sen. HillaryRodham Clinton as she celebrated her reelection victory.
So Bill stood poker-faced. He clasped his hands. He held his head high. Heclapped when appropriate. He smiled ever so faintly. And he did not move.When Hillary offered thanks to him and turned around to acknowledge him, hedid not step forward, did not step to her side. He stayed put, several feetaway, as if taking pains to soak up not one ray of the spotlight he sodearly loves but that, now more than ever, must be hers and hers alone.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501810_pf.html
Blocking Justice
By Emily Bazelon
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B02
On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed the habeas corpus petition of SalimAhmed Hamdan, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Latin for "you have thebody," habeas corpus allows detainees to ask a court to order their wardento explain the basis for their detention. Hamdan's petition was dismissedbecause of the Military Commissions Act, which Congress passed last fall totake away the habeas rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The MCA is aclassic example of "jurisdiction stripping." When the courts hand downrulings that Congress doesn't like, lawmakers sometimes retaliate by tryingto take away their power to hear certain kinds of cases, or by strictlylimiting what they can do.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/weekinreview/17MacFARQUHAR.html?ei=5040&en=75d5147b6606a1ed&ex=1167022800&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
The World
How Iran's Leader Keeps the West Off Balance
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
A POPULAR joke in Iran has someone asking the conservative former president,Hashemi Rafsanjani, what the superhighway under construction north from thecapital Tehran to the border will be called.
"Shaheed Ahmadinejad Highway," he responds.
Now President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is very much alive, while shaheed, or"martyr," is the Islamic honor bestowed on anyone who dies fighting for Godand country. The joke is one small indication that the factions which governIran, riven by endlessly bitter rivalries, are finding the bellicosepresident tiresome.
There are other, more significant signs.
=
L A Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-rodriguez17dec17,0,6797537.column?coll=la-opinion-center
GREGORY RODRIGUEZ
Is Obama the new 'black'?
The possible presidential candidacy of the biracial senator has sparked anilluminating debate on race.
Gregory Rodriguez
December 17, 2006
WE KNOW this: Barack Obama is a rising star. He's a powerful speaker and agifted writer. He is the only African American serving in the U.S. Senate.But is he black?
That's what New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch asked last month,and his answer was decidedly "no." No, Crouch wasn't just employing the old"blacker than thou" canard. Nor was he concerned with the fact that Obamawas raised by his white mother. Rather, he was treating blackness not justas a racial (shared biology) identity but as an ethnic (shared historicalexperience) one. And isn't that what the switch of terms from "black" to"African American" was all about?
Think back to the late 1980s, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson became the mostprominent black to call for the adoption of the term African American. "Justas we were called colored, but were not that," he said, "and then Negro, butnot that, to be called black is just as baseless.. Every ethnic group inthis country has a reference to some land base, some historical culturalbase. African Americans have hit that level of maturity." The problem, ofcourse, is that most black Americans are descendants of slaves who had theirAfrican cultural heritage brutally stripped from them.
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/17/news_pf/Worldandnation/When_dry_is_wet.shtml
When dry is wet
By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 17, 2006
First of two parts
Over the past decade, a little-known industry has reaped a billion-dollarbounty by convincing lawmakers it is the answer to saving the nation'swetlands. The promise of the wetland mitigation banking industry - afree-market solution that's good for the environment - pleases politiciansof every stripe. "It's a great way to make a living," said Allison DeFoor,who works for a mitigation banker and is vice chairman of the FloridaRepublican Party. "We're doing the Lord's work and getting paid for it."
The theory goes like this:
Developers are required to replace any wetland they destroy, an expensivetask that often fails.
Enter the mitigation banker. He buys land that used to be a swamp andrestores it. Regulators calculate how many "credits" the banker can sell,each one equal to an acre of pristine wetlands.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-ybintlfill11dec11,0,3727664.story?coll=sfl-yourmoney
Most low-wage workers going without sick leave
By Amy Joyce
The Washington Post
December 11, 2006
Broken foot? Ate some bad leftover turkey? Caught the flu? Want a day off?
For many, taking a sick day requires little thought. But by most estimates,nearly half of all private-sector workers in the United States do not have asingle day of paid sick leave. And more do not have a paid day off that canbe used to care for a sick child.
Low-wage workers are hit the hardest, with three of every four lacking anypaid sick leave. They also usually have no health-care coverage or work afull-time or more than full-time schedule of piecemeal, part-time jobs,making paid sick leave even more unlikely.
When workers without sick leave get a virus or an injury, they have todecide if they can take an unpaid day off and still make the rent. If not,they often return to their jobs as security guards, cooks, waitresses andcashiers -- decreasing their productivity and possibly getting others sick.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16261909.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006
Reid says ailing senator showing progress after brain surgery
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sen. Tim Johnson has shown significant improvement after brainsurgery and doctors say "everything is going to be just fine," SenateDemocratic leader Harry Reid said Sunday.
Yet when asked whether the 59-year-old South Dakota Democrat was conscious,Reid said in a television interview: "I'm not a doctor. I have heard andtalked to his family. You should talk to them. It's not appropriate to talkto me about that."
Reid, who has visited Johnson frequently after the surgery Wednesdayfollowing a brain hemorrhage, said "he's doing very well. ... Hisimprovement has been significant."
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16250266.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006
Desperation in the White House
BY JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
jlgalloway2@cs.com
The power brokers in Washington spent the week carefully arranging figleaves and tasteful screens to cover the emperor's nakedness while he wasbusy pretending to listen hard to everyone with an opinion about Iraq whilehearing nothing.
Sometime early in the new year, President Bush will go on nationaltelevision to tell a disgruntled American public what he has decided shouldbe done to salvage ''victory'' from the jaws of certain defeat in the war hestarted.
The word on the street, or in the Pentagon rings, is that he'll choose tobeef up U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq by 20,000 to 30,000 troops byvarious sleight-of-hand maneuvers -- extending the combat tours of soldiersand Marines who are nearing an end to their second or third year in hell andaccelerating the shipment of others into that hell -- and send them into thebloody streets of Baghdad.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/opinion/17sun1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Editorial
Unfinished Business
Some recent images from George W. Bush's war on terror:
¶Jose Padilla, the supposed dirty bomber, submitting while guardsblindfolded him and covered his ears for a walk from his cell to a dentist'schair.
¶Government lawyers arguing that a prisoner could not testify that he wastortured by American agents, because their brutality was a secret.
¶A judge dismissing another prisoner's challenge to his detention, after anew law stripped basic rights from those Mr. Bush has designated "illegalenemy combatants."
¶The White House scorning lawmakers' attempts to rein in Mr. Bush's illegaldomestic spying.
This is the legacy of a Republican Congress that enabled the president'simperial visions of his authority. It leaves the new Democratic majoritywith much urgent, unfinished business to restore due process, civilliberties and the balance of powers.
Military Tribunals
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/opinion/17grenier.html?pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
If You Love Lebanon, Set It Free
By ROBERT GRENIER
Washington
ONCE more, Lebanon is in political crisis. This time, we are told, it pits"Syrian- and Iranian-backed" Shiite parties (Hezbollah and Amal) and theChristian faction led by Michel Aoun against the "Western-backed" Christian,Sunni and Druze groups that support the government of Prime Minister FouadSiniora.
These very descriptions - citing one external backer or another as a mark ofpolitical identification - illustrate the fundamental problem Lebanon mustovercome. Call it the Lebanese Disease: rather than sorting out theirdifferences internally and addressing the fundamental injustices at theheart of their disputes, the Lebanese constantly look to outsiders to gainan advantage over their rivals.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600703_pf.html
On 'Monday Night Football,' An Announcement From Obama
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Sunday, December 17, 2006; A05
For first-term Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to get the avalanche of mediaattention he did while addressing New Hampshire Democrats a week ago wasimpressive. To appear the following night on "Monday Night Football" waseven more so.
Obama's hometown Chicago Bears were playing the St. Louis Rams. The game wasbeing watched in 8.5 million homes, and Obama, widely seen at this earlystage as a potential top competitor to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.)for the Democratic presidential nomination, had all the viewers to himself.
Over the years, the show has had public figures make cameos on the nights ofbig games.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501814_pf.html
Hearts, Minds and Schools
By Lawrence E. Harrison
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B03
The war in Iraq has produced many casualties. One lesser-noticed one may bethe death of an idea -- the idea that the culture of a nation or region canbe transformed quickly by well-intentioned foreigners. The recent report ofthe Iraq Study Group scarcely mentions the grand goals of bringing democracyto Iraq, and instead contemplates a drawdown of U.S. combat troops. It seemsthat the notion of transforming the political culture of the Middle East hasbeen drawn down as well.
"Are the people of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty?"President Bush asked in 2003. "Are millions of men and women and childrencondemned by history or culture to live in despotism? I, for one, do notbelieve it." As his audience applauded, he went on to criticize the"cultural condescension" of skeptics who believe that Islam and democracydon't mix.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501820_pf.html
My Father Was an Anonymous Sperm Donor
By Katrina Clark
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B01
I really wasn't expecting anything the day, earlier this year, when I sentan e-mail to a man whose name I had found on the Internet. I was looking formy father, and in some ways this man fit the bill. But I never thought I'dhit pay dirt on my first try. Then I got a reply -- with a picture attached.
From my computer screen, my own face seemed to stare back at me. And justlike that, after 17 years, the missing piece of the puzzle snapped intoplace.
The puzzle of who I am.
I'm 18, and for most of my life, I haven't known half my origins. I didn'tknow where my nose or jaw came from, or my interest in foreign cultures. Iobviously got my teeth and my penchant for corny jokes from my mother, alongwith my feminist perspective. But a whole other part of me was a mystery.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121601087_pf.html
Congress's Inaction Threatens Funding
Avoiding Spending Bills, Hill Causes Crunch
By Jonathan Weisman and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 17, 2006; A01
The Republican-controlled Congress's decision to adjourn a week ago beforecompleting many of the spending bills that finance the federal governmentwill reverberate in ways large and small, such as understaffed U.S.attorney's offices, delayed renovations at the University of Bridgeport inConnecticut and a scuttled global nuclear energy exchange.
Republican leaders left behind just enough spending authority to keep thegovernment operating through mid-February, less than halfway through the2007 fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Democrats have signaled that when theytake control of Congress in January they will extend that funding authorityfor the remainder of the year based largely on the previous year's spendinglevels, which will result in many cuts in programs.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600894_pf.html
The President In the Room
Hillary Clinton's Biggest Issue? A Certain Someone in Her Background.
By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 17, 2006; D01
NEW YORK He stood far behind, hiding in plain sight, though his glowingwhite hair and ruddy complexion rendered him as inconspicuous as a face onMount Rushmore.
The spotlight was not Bill Clinton's. It belonged, instead, to Sen. HillaryRodham Clinton as she celebrated her reelection victory.
So Bill stood poker-faced. He clasped his hands. He held his head high. Heclapped when appropriate. He smiled ever so faintly. And he did not move.When Hillary offered thanks to him and turned around to acknowledge him, hedid not step forward, did not step to her side. He stayed put, several feetaway, as if taking pains to soak up not one ray of the spotlight he sodearly loves but that, now more than ever, must be hers and hers alone.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501810_pf.html
Blocking Justice
By Emily Bazelon
Sunday, December 17, 2006; B02
On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed the habeas corpus petition of SalimAhmed Hamdan, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Latin for "you have thebody," habeas corpus allows detainees to ask a court to order their wardento explain the basis for their detention. Hamdan's petition was dismissedbecause of the Military Commissions Act, which Congress passed last fall totake away the habeas rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The MCA is aclassic example of "jurisdiction stripping." When the courts hand downrulings that Congress doesn't like, lawmakers sometimes retaliate by tryingto take away their power to hear certain kinds of cases, or by strictlylimiting what they can do.
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
FLORIDA DIGEST December 17, 2006
**
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Floridatoday.com
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION/612170319/1004&template=printart
December 17, 2006
Our view: They better deliver
Lawmakers must come through with help for Floridians on insurance
To hear the politicians on their way to the Jan. 16 special legislativesession on insurance, the cavalry is coming.
"Lower rates are what we are talking about," says Gov.-elect Charlie Cristabout the session's goal.
"We're aiming for . . . long term relief (for) Florida's insuranceconsumers," wrote House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, in a column lastweek for FLORIDA TODAY.
As for Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, new chairman of the Senate Banking andInsurance committee, he has proposals "that would lower the rates."
It better be true.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/17/a2e_exfelons_edit_1217.html
To keep ex-felons clean, restore their legal rights
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Florida remains one of three states that don't automatically restore therights of felons after they serve time. It is a hangover from racism afterthe Civil War. All the good ideas from the Governor's Ex-Offender Task Forceto turn ex-convicts into productive members of society will amount tonothing if the Legislature refuses to end the unproductive stripping oftheir rights.
For a time after the 2000 election, it was a voting issue. Ex-felons whohave not had their civil rights restored cannot vote. Sloppy efforts topurge them from voting rolls discriminated against African-Americans.Republicans who control the Legislature, linking black voters to Democrats,upheld the law. But now, as The Post reported, the task force has turned thefocus to jobs. Too many professions, such as nursing and teaching, are notopen to felons. Too often, felons who can't find jobs return to crime andreturn to prison.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16258189.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006
MIAMI-DADE
County considers reusing wastewater, a pricey endeavor
With cheaper underground water off-limits, Miami-Dade turns to recyclingwastewater to cover its future growth, a plan that will easily top $1billion.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
Under pressure from the state to overhaul its water supply practices,Miami-Dade County is turning to a new source -- recycling waste water.
The plan entails reclaiming tens of millions of gallons now lost every daydown sinks, sewers, tubs and toilets. After intensive treatment touted toproduce something safe and clean enough to sell in a bottle, the water wouldrecharge well fields and restore natural flows into southern Biscayne Bay.
''Reclaiming'' wastewater is the key strategy of a plan designed to keep thecounty from sucking up groundwater over the next 20 years to supply aswelling population. It would elevate Miami-Dade from one of the worstwater-wasters in the state, ranked No. 56 out of 67 counties in percentageof water reuse, to among the biggest recyclers.
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/17/news_pf/Tampabay/Does_separation_equal.shtml
Does separation equal suffering?
MEG LAUGHLIN
Published December 17, 2006
Ian Manuel had just turned 14 when he went to prison for shooting a woman ina botched robbery on a Tampa sidewalk. Mouthy and disobedient, he was sentto solitary confinement a year and a half later.
That was in 1992. He has been there ever since.
Now 29, Manuel has spent half his life in a concrete box the size of awalk-in closet. His food comes through a slot in the door. He never seesanother inmate. Out of boredom he cuts himself just to watch the bloodtrickle.
Attorneys who advocate on behalf of prisoners call Manuel "the poster boy"for the ill effects of solitary confinement.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/world/asia/17afghan.html?pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Freed From Guantánamo Bay, 7 Afghans Arrive in Kabul
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec.16 - Seven Afghans freed after up to five years ofdetention at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay arrived in Kabulon Saturday, desperate to get back to their home villages.
The long-bearded men, mostly farmers and simple villagers, dressed in darkblue jeans and jackets, arrived at the offices of the Afghan Commission forPeace and Reconciliation here to receive an official guarantee of freedomfrom the Afghan government.
Most of them were from Helmand, the southern province that has become themost volatile area of Afghanistan. Government and foreign troops there havecome under repeated attack by the Taliban and other insurgents.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Floridatoday.com
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION/612170319/1004&template=printart
December 17, 2006
Our view: They better deliver
Lawmakers must come through with help for Floridians on insurance
To hear the politicians on their way to the Jan. 16 special legislativesession on insurance, the cavalry is coming.
"Lower rates are what we are talking about," says Gov.-elect Charlie Cristabout the session's goal.
"We're aiming for . . . long term relief (for) Florida's insuranceconsumers," wrote House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, in a column lastweek for FLORIDA TODAY.
As for Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, new chairman of the Senate Banking andInsurance committee, he has proposals "that would lower the rates."
It better be true.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/17/a2e_exfelons_edit_1217.html
To keep ex-felons clean, restore their legal rights
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Florida remains one of three states that don't automatically restore therights of felons after they serve time. It is a hangover from racism afterthe Civil War. All the good ideas from the Governor's Ex-Offender Task Forceto turn ex-convicts into productive members of society will amount tonothing if the Legislature refuses to end the unproductive stripping oftheir rights.
For a time after the 2000 election, it was a voting issue. Ex-felons whohave not had their civil rights restored cannot vote. Sloppy efforts topurge them from voting rolls discriminated against African-Americans.Republicans who control the Legislature, linking black voters to Democrats,upheld the law. But now, as The Post reported, the task force has turned thefocus to jobs. Too many professions, such as nursing and teaching, are notopen to felons. Too often, felons who can't find jobs return to crime andreturn to prison.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16258189.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006
MIAMI-DADE
County considers reusing wastewater, a pricey endeavor
With cheaper underground water off-limits, Miami-Dade turns to recyclingwastewater to cover its future growth, a plan that will easily top $1billion.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
Under pressure from the state to overhaul its water supply practices,Miami-Dade County is turning to a new source -- recycling waste water.
The plan entails reclaiming tens of millions of gallons now lost every daydown sinks, sewers, tubs and toilets. After intensive treatment touted toproduce something safe and clean enough to sell in a bottle, the water wouldrecharge well fields and restore natural flows into southern Biscayne Bay.
''Reclaiming'' wastewater is the key strategy of a plan designed to keep thecounty from sucking up groundwater over the next 20 years to supply aswelling population. It would elevate Miami-Dade from one of the worstwater-wasters in the state, ranked No. 56 out of 67 counties in percentageof water reuse, to among the biggest recyclers.
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/17/news_pf/Tampabay/Does_separation_equal.shtml
Does separation equal suffering?
MEG LAUGHLIN
Published December 17, 2006
Ian Manuel had just turned 14 when he went to prison for shooting a woman ina botched robbery on a Tampa sidewalk. Mouthy and disobedient, he was sentto solitary confinement a year and a half later.
That was in 1992. He has been there ever since.
Now 29, Manuel has spent half his life in a concrete box the size of awalk-in closet. His food comes through a slot in the door. He never seesanother inmate. Out of boredom he cuts himself just to watch the bloodtrickle.
Attorneys who advocate on behalf of prisoners call Manuel "the poster boy"for the ill effects of solitary confinement.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/world/asia/17afghan.html?pagewanted=print
December 17, 2006
Freed From Guantánamo Bay, 7 Afghans Arrive in Kabul
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec.16 - Seven Afghans freed after up to five years ofdetention at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay arrived in Kabulon Saturday, desperate to get back to their home villages.
The long-bearded men, mostly farmers and simple villagers, dressed in darkblue jeans and jackets, arrived at the offices of the Afghan Commission forPeace and Reconciliation here to receive an official guarantee of freedomfrom the Afghan government.
Most of them were from Helmand, the southern province that has become themost volatile area of Afghanistan. Government and foreign troops there havecome under repeated attack by the Taliban and other insurgents.
[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest toRays.List@Comcast.net ]
#####
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