GLBT DIGEST November 30, 2007

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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15426

Gay general makes waves at YouTube debate
Amid boos, Kerr calls for end to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

By JOSHUA LYNSEN
Nov 28, 11:01 PM

A retired gay general challenged the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"policy during Wednesday's nationally televised GOP presidential candidatesdebate.

Keith Kerr, 76, asked the eight candidates at the YouTube/CNN RepublicanDebate to strike down the policy and allow gays to serve openly in themilitary.

"I'm a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service," he said in avideo aired during the debate. "I'm a graduate of the Special Forces Officercourse, the Command & General Staff course, and the Army War College - and I'm an openly gay man. I want to know why you think that American men and womenin uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians?"

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the first candidate asked to respond, saidhe agreed with Gen. Colin Powell, a former chair of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff.

"General, thanks for your service, but I believe in what Colin Powell saidwhen he said that having openly homosexual people serving in the ranks wouldbe bad for unit cohesion," Hunter said.

"And the reason for that, even though people point to the Israelis and pointto the Brits and point to other people as having homosexuals serve, is thatmost Americans, most kids who leave that breakfast table and go out andserve in the military, make that corporate decision with their family, mostof them are conservatives, and they have conservative values, and they haveJudeo-Christian values. And to force those people to work in a small, tightunit with somebody who is openly homosexual, who goes against what theybelieve to be their principles -- and it is their principles -- is I think adisservice to them. And I agree with Colin Powell that it would be bad forunit cohesion."

Wednesday's debate, which aired live on CNN, was the second to posequestions submitted by members of YouTube, a popular video sharing web site.A similar debate with the Democratic contenders was held in July.

Another candidate at Wednesday's debate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee,said the Uniform Code of Military Justice is the "best rule" to governconduct.

"People have a right to have whatever feelings, whatever attitudes theywish," he said. "But when their conduct could put at risk the morale or putat risk even the cohesion that Duncan Hunter spoke of, I think that's whatis at issue, and that's why our policy is what it is."

The debate's host, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, then asked formerMassachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney if he stood by old comments in which Romneysaid he looked forward to the day when gays and lesbians could serve "openlyand honestly in our nation's military."

more...



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Comment.Independent.co.uk

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/johann_hari/article3204034.ece

The Plot to Rig the 2008 US Election

by Johann Hari
Published on Thursday, November 29, 2007 by The Independent/UK

In the long, hot autumn of 2000, the world was shocked by the contempt fordemocracy shown by the Republican Party. They knew their man had lost thepopular vote to Al Gore by half a million votes. They knew the majority ofvoters in Florida itself had pulled a lever for Gore. But they fought - amidthe confetti of hanging chads - to stop the state's votes being counted, andto ensure that the Supreme Court imposed George W Bush.

Today, that contempt for democracy is on display again. In California rightnow, there is a naked, out-in-the-open ploy to rig the 2008 presidentialelection - and it may succeed.

To understand how this works, we have to roam back to the 18th century, andlearn about the odd anachronistic leftover they are trying to use now tothwart democracy. Back then, America's founding fathers decided not tointroduce a system where US presidents would be directly elected, with thevotes totted up in Washington, DC, and the winner being the man with themost. Instead, they chose a complex system called the electoral college.This stipulates that American citizens do not vote directly for a president.Instead, they technically vote for 539 state-wide "electors", who thengather six weeks after the election to pick the President.

The founders designed it this way for a number of reasons. They wanted thesmaller states to have a say, so they gave them a disproportionate number ofelectoral college votes. They also believed that, in a country that waslargely isolated and illiterate, voters wouldn't know much aboutout-of-state figures, and would be better off picking intermediaries whocould exercise discretion on their behalf.

It is the worst part of the Constitution, producing perverse results againand again. On four occasions there has been such a big gap between thenational popular vote and the state-by-state electoral college votes thatthe guy with fewer real supporters in the country got to be President. Ithappened in 1824, 1876, 1888 and - most tragically for the world - in 2000.

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Inside Higher Education

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/30/anthro

Questions, Anger and Dissent on Ethics Study

Nov. 30

Can an association urge its members to apply the principle of "do no harm"in research when there isn't much agreement on what "harm" is? Is "doingless harm" a moral standard worthy of consideration or a cop out? Shouldscholars talk about their conduct during wartime in a general way withoutregard to the war taking place? Is the war in Iraq so terrible and is theconduct of the U.S. military so reprehensible that scholars should take afirm stand against any involvement?

Those were among the issues considered Thursday when the rank and file ofthe American Anthropological Association had a first chance to questionmembers of a panel that on Wednesday evening released a report on the issuesraised by doing anthropological research for the military or securityagencies. In an official session with the authors of the report, scholarsasked a series of tough questions, but there was no open rebellion againstthe findings.

But Thursday night, at a discussion sponsored by anthropologists seeking atougher stance than the panel suggested, scholars expressed considerableanger and dismay over the report, with some anthropologists suggesting thatthey organize a protest of their own organization. The discussion wassufficiently heated that a graduate student who spoke to the group to defendthe concept of scholarly engagement with the military was crying at onepoint, and at another point, the audience applauded the uggestion that anyanthropologists who work with the military should be kicked out f theorganization.

The report issued Wednesday noted many ethical risks associated with suchwork, and urged scholars to consider them carefully, but also rejected theidea that the association through its ethics code should specifically barsuch work, or any category of work. At this point, the panel's report isjust one group's recommendations - while association leaders have beengenerous in their praise of the report, they have stressed that the study isthe start of a discussion among members nd is not policy at this time.

At the meeting Thursday where members could ask the panel questions, therewere not frontal assaults on the report, although some critics said afterthe session that they felt constrained in that they had had time only toquickly skim its 62 pages, and so didn't feel prepared to offer a fullcritique. But some questions challenged the assumptions behind the report.

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Proudly Out

http://www.proudlyout.typepad.com/

Finding a Legacy

by Libby Post

It seems that George Bush is finally waking up. What he thought was going tobe a legacy built on "mission accomplished" is instead a waking nightmareborn of a country demolished.

He's bucking for a Nobel Peace Prize by trying to revive a U.S.-led MiddleEast peace process that has been all but abandoned since the U.S. SupremeCourt gave W. the Oval Office. Now he's trying to get the Israelis andPalestinians to forge a peace treaty in time to make the Republicans lookbetter on Election Day 2008. With Rove gone, I'm not sure who is givingGeorge advice. But, placing his Peace Prize hopes on a political quagmire asimpossible to navigate as the one he created in Iraq is a little likerearranging furniture on the Titanic.

I'd love for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be resolved. But, if Georgewants a meaningful legacy by actually accomplishing something all he needsto do is turn his attention to the millions of people living in his owncountry who are without rights, who are victims of hate crimes, who havefamilies that are considered second class.

All George needs to do is pro-actively turn his attention to his country'slesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. By doing so, he wouldcreate a legacy that all commanders in chief desire-a legacy built onactions that may at first be seen as controversial but in the end wereconsidered by the majority of the country as the absolute right thing to do.

Right off the bat, George could make history by telling both houses ofCongress to pull The Matthew Shepard Act, also known as the Local LawEnforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, out of a defense reauthorizationpackage and to send the bill to his desk as a stand alone piece because hewas going to sign it into law.

The bill is needed more than ever. Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation released its 2006 Hate Crime Statistics. The findings arefrightening-hate crimes of all kinds increased eight percent last year.Those committed based on sexual orientation are the third most common-rightbehind race and religion-comprising 16 percent of all hate crimes. That's anincrease of two percent from 2005.

The Matthew Shepard Act only needs George's signature in order to expand thecurrent law to include hate crimes based on sexual orientation and genderidentity.

This weekend, George could walk out on the National Mall and take in theenormity of the 12,000 U.S. flags that will be placed there by a coalitionof national LGBT organizations. The flags are a tribute to the 12,000 LGBTservice personnel who have been thrown out of the armed forces since thefailed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has gone into effect-the 14thanniversary of which is today, Friday, November 30th. George could then callon Congress to repeal the bill and do all he can to make it happen.

Next, a simple phone call to openly gay Congressman Barney Frank. "Barney,"George would say, "Let's put gender identity back into the EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act-otherwise I won't sign it." Then George would actlike a real commander in chief and send his army of White House lobbyists tothe hill to make sure the bill makes its way through the House and Senateand lands on his desk.

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OutWithCancer.com

http://www.outwithcancer.com

OutWithCancer, the new online social network for LGBT cancer survivors at http://www.outwithcancer.com ,is the latest program to come from thenational nonprofit, Malecare. For over two year's, Malecare's LGBT cancerproject has developed a variety of unique and life enhancing programs forour community.

Stemming from Malecare's eight year old gay men with prostate cancer programand support group system, OutWithCancer is a dynamic online community forall LGBT people diagnosed with cancer from all over the world. It is free,warm and welcoming. Please feel encouraged to join, make new friends andlearn new treatment possibilities for your cancer diagnosis.

For more information, please contact: Darryl Mitteldorf, LCSW at darryl@cancermatch.com



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To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News

Information, news, and discussion about the legal recognition of same-sexcouples and their families, including marriages, domestic partnerships,civil unions, adoptions, foster children and similar issues.

http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/

Go to the website, above, for the following articles:

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Reuters is reporting that Civil Unions are coming to tiny South Americancountry Uruguay. Uruguay will legalize civil unions for homosexuals andheterosexuals next month, making it the first Latin American nation to treatgay and straight couples alike, a lawmaker said Thursday.Deputies in theearly hours of Thursday passed legislation allowing gay and straight couplesto form civil unions after living together for at least five years.The lawmust return to the Senate for revisions but is expected to be in place bymid-December.

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A University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science teacher's legalchallenge to a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civilunions can proceed, a Dane County circuit judge ruled Wednesday, throwingout a motion by the state to dismiss the lawsuit. Judge Richard Niess ruledthat William McConkey, an instructor, had legal standing to file thechallenge to the ban, which was approved by 59 percent of Wisconsin votersin a referendum after receiving approval by consecutive sessions of The Legislature.McConkey was representing himself when he filed the lawsuit lastJuly, but in oral arguments Wednesday he was represented by longtime Madisonlawyer Lester Pines. Pines said after the hearing that it is likely that hewill continue to represent McConkey.McConkey, of Baileys Harbor, ischallenging the new constitutional amendment on the grounds the question putto voters essentially asked two questions in one, which violates anothersection of the state Constitution that says the people of the state musthave the opportunity to vote for each question separately when amending theConstitution.

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In conjunction with The Center, ''Home for GLBT in Metro DC,'' DC forMarriage, a nascent local organization, will present a public forum todiscuss marriage equality on Thursday, Dec. 6. It's the group's first eventfollowing the initial conversations that founded the group about eightmonths ago. ''Lane Hudson [and I] met at a community forum earlier thisyear,'' explains Michael Crawford, president of the new group, while Hudsonserves as a board member. The forum was ''State of the Movement,'' a Feb. 20event presented by the D.C. chapter of the National Lesbian & GayJournalists Association. ''We both asked questions around marriage andthat's how we connected. For the last few months, we've been talking tocommunity leaders, asking if there is interest in a marriage campaign herein the District, getting advice on who else we should talk to.'' The aim ofthe Dec. 6 meeting is to help attendees understand the District's currentdomestic-partnership law, to discuss current legal options for legalizingsame-sex marriage in D.C., and to poll the community regarding politicalstrategies.

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Australia: ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell says he will take up theissue of gay marriage with his new federal Labor counterpart. The ACT CivilUnions Bill has been proposed in the past but was quashed by the formerfederal attorney-general Phillip Ruddock. Mr Corbell says he is now hopingto revive the push for gay marriage in the Territory. "Federal Labor hasmaintained a consistent position on these matters," he said. "They haveindicated that when it comes to regulating and providing for same sexrelationships that that's a matter for the states and territories.

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Recent developments around Indiana have put the future of our constitutional amendment in a state of flux. Yesterday, I blogged about the Indianalegislature and polling on the amendment by the Indianapolis Star. TodayI'll look at Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and the effect the religiousright can have on the issue.
While the Governor has a one step forward and two steps back relationshipwith both the LGBT community and the religious right, he's never been knownas a far-right demagogue. He's no Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney. Thereligious right lobby might be able to force the Governor's hand thissession. Will political considerations be enough to influence the one ajorRepublican force in state government that has refused to cave in topandering to evangelicals? Let's look at what we already know and what couldhappen in the next few months.



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National Gay News

http://nationalgaynews.com/

Go to the website, above, for the following articles:

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The Human Rights Campaign says the hate crime legislation called the MatthewShepard Act is in serious jeopardy of not making it to the President's deskbecause some lawmakers and opponents are working to derail it. Here's themessage from HRC's President Joe Solmonese:"The hate crimes legislationwe've fought for has reached its final step before being sent to PresidentBush, but some lawmakers are working to derail it. Right now there is a veryreal danger that the Matthew Shepard Act won't even make it to the Presidentfor his signature or veto. If that happens, we could lose months or years ofprogress.

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GLAAD to Tackle Sports - The U.S. sports industry is twice as big as theAmerican automobile industry, and 10 times larger than the movie industry.
Clearly, size matters.Those figures come from Ted Rybka, and he should know.
Since mid-September, he's served as director of sports media for the Gay &Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). For 20 years that organizationhas advocated for fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of GLBTpeople and events in the media. But until very recently - the day Rybka washired, in fact - GLAAD was not much different from mainstream America: Itpretty much ignored the connection between sports and sexuality.

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An alleged white supremacist has been charged with murdering a gay man inwhat officials say may have been part of a gang initiation.Darrell LynnMadden was charged on Wednesday with the October slaying of Steven Domer,62. Madden also is charged with murder in the death of his friend, BradleyQualls.

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SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that it will honorWorld AIDS Day -- Saturday, December 1 -- with an exclusive broadcast eventon SIRIUS OutQ 109, thenation's first and only 24/7 GLBT Radio channel.World AIDS Day 2007: ACelebration of Life and Hope will be hosted by OutQ inthe Morning's LarryFlick from Noon - 6 pm ET.Flick will preside over thelive six-hour event, interspersing exclusivemusical performances withdiscussions with medical experts, pioneeringactivists, and SIRIUS listenerssharing their stories and perspectives on theongoing battle against HIV/AIDSand the progress being made across the GLBTcommunity.

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Anyone still depressed about England and all the other home nations failingto qualify for Euro 2008 is being urged to keep next summer's hottest gaysports event in mind. The International Gay & Lesbian Football AssociationWorld Championship is coming to London between 24th and 30th August 2008.

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The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in themilitary at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chair ofHillary Clinton's National Military Veterans group. Retired Brig. Gen. KeithH. Kerr was named a co-chair of the group this month, according to acampaign press release.



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15448

Suspected serial killer held in France
Targeted mostly gay victims, prostitutes

PARIS (AP)
Nov 29, 11:00 AM

A suspected serial killer accused of targeting prostitutes - many with aviolent blow to the head - was arrested in connection with 18 deaths carriedout over two decades, officials said Wednesday.

The 68-year-old suspect was arrested Tuesday in Mulhouse in northeastFrance, a judicial official said, after years of investigations by hundredsof police officers and detectives in different parts of the country.

The victims were both men and women, and prosecutors believe the suspectworked with an accomplice, a 43-year-old currently serving 20 years in aprison in Poissy west of Paris for the murder of an insurance agent.

The suspect arrested Tuesday worked as a transvestite performer in cabaretsin Alsace and neighboring Germany, and the two primarily targeted gayvictims, the daily newspaper L'Alsace reported.

Prosecutors suspect the man of involvement in 11 killings in the Alsaceregion, four in the neighboring region of Franche-Comte and three nearParis, said the judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymitybecause he is not authorized to speak to the media.

more . . . . .



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Express Gay News

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2007/11/gambling_with_gay_lives.html

Gambling with gay lives

Peter Tatchell
November 29, 2007 8:30 PM

London NHS chiefs have drawn up recommendations to slash funding for HIVprevention work among gay men in the capital by 36% in 2008 - a cut of morethan £650,000.

This decision was announced by the body representing London NHS primary caretrusts (PCTs) in the run-up to World Aids Day, which takes place thisSaturday.

Following a storm of protest, the NHS overview and scrutiny committee hasrequested London PCTs to reinstate the cuts. But there is no guarantee thatthey can or will. Some PCTs are less than sympathetic to the healthcareneeds of gay and bisexual Londoners.

The big fear among some HIV charities is that the committee has no power toinsist on local PCT compliance and that some PCTs will simply ignore thecommittee's request.

If the cuts are not cancelled, it will mean that the NHS money allocated forHIV prevention work among gay men in London next year will be less than halfthe money invested in 1997.

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Express Gay News

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS07068+29-Nov-2007+PRN20071129

SF Attorney Drexel A. Bradshaw Successfully Represents Gay Man AgainstPartner's...

Thu Nov 29, 2007
12:42pm EST

SF Attorney Drexel A. Bradshaw Successfully Represents Gay ManAgainstPartner's FamilySiblings Blocked from 'Dis-inheriting' DomesticPartner of their Gay BrotherWho Died from CancerSAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 29/PRNewswire/ -- In a potentially landmark case, SanFrancisco Attorney DrexelA. Bradshaw (http://www.bradshawassociates.com) has won a case on behalf ofa Gay man whose rights to inherit under California's Domestic Partner Lawhad been challenged by the family of his deceased domestic partner. Thedeceased man's siblings had forced their brother to execute a new trust --cutting out his partner of 14 years -- while the manwas schizophrenic, onnarcotics, and in the final stages of battling cancer. Bradshaw'ssuccessful litigation charged that the family had attempted to unlawfullyoverturn the man's will while he was in not in a mental state to doso.

"This case should be a warning to certain 'blood family members' that theycannot swoop in and take away what rightfully belongs to a DomesticPartner,"said Bradshaw. "Our client had been together with this man for over14 yearand had cared for and accompanied the decedent to numerous surgeriesand been by his side throughout his fight with cancer."

According to Bradshaw, California's landmark Domestic Partner legislationstates that upon the death of a married person, one-half of thecommunityproperty belongs to the surviving spouse and the other half belongsto the decedent. Bradshaw successfully argued that registered domesticpartners have the same obligations and rights under law as are granted toand imposed upon spouses and that property acquired during a marriage is thecommunity propertyof both spouses.

"The family of our client's dying partner used his compromised conditiontotry and overturn a lawfully executive will," Bradshaw continued, havingargued that the man's psychiatric disorder, weakened state, and high dosesof morphine show that decedent was of unsound mind and susceptible to undueinfluence at the time his siblings attempted to execute a new trust which,ineffect, would have dis-inherited the man's domestic partner. "During hisbattle with cancer, the decedent's delusions caused him to believe that hehad ended his relationship with our client, which was not true, and leavethe entirety of his estate to his siblings."

Media Contacts: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry



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The Stranger - Seattle

http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/christian_conservatives_attack_alaska_ai

Christian Conservatives Attack Alaska Airlines
Posted by Dan Savage on November 29 at 9:22 AM

Alaska is making nice with the gays, and the Christian haters aren'thappy-and no, Alaska, those little bible verse cards aren't going to saveyou now.



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/11-29/view/editorial/4228.cfm

Leading by example on World AIDS Day
Whether you're negative or positive, you can make a difference in the fight

By STEPHEN?J. FALLON, Ph.D.
Thursday, November 29, 2007

HERE'S SOMETHING sort of overwhelming about World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. How canany of us wrap our minds around a disease that infects 4 million peopleworldwide each year, and threatens the health of 47 million - mostlyuntreated - who are living with the virus today, according to the JointUnited Nations Program on HIV/AIDS?

The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 is "Leadership." Yet the average gayAmerican does not have the means to make a significant contribution to thefight against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa or the Caribbean.

But HIV/AIDS also impacts our own communities here at home. A recent U.S.Centers for Disease Control & Prevention study found that one in five gay orbisexual white men in major cities is living with HIV; among minority menwho have sex with men, nearly half were infected.

What can you do to make a difference? Think globally but act locally. WorldAIDS Day Global Steering Committee member Linda Hartke said, "Leadership canimply the power and authority to make a difference, to lead by action andexample." Here are some actions you can take to make a difference here athome.

If you're HIV negative:

Double-check your HIV status with a new HIV test. Three-quarters of youngergay/bisexual men who were HIV infected had not known their status and 59percent had expected their risk was low, according to another large CDCstudy.

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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/lgbt-summer-institute.

Call for Proposals

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Psychology SummerInstitute

We are pleased to announce that the first International Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual, and Transgender Psychology Summer Institute is now acceptingapplications for the 2008 program.

A collaboration between the Departments of Psychology and Women's Studies atthe University of Michigan, the Summer School is a week-long residentialprogram in Ann Arbor, Michigan from August 3rd to 8th, 2008.

The Institute will provide a unique venue for an intensive exchange of ideasamong senior, junior and graduate student scholars located across LGBTpsychology. Ten leading scholars in the field of LGBT psychology from the USand the UK will provide attendees with mentorship to foster theirprofessional development as emerging LGBT psychologists,including:

* Lisa Diamond (University of Utah)
* Rafael Diaz (San Francisco State University)
* Oliva Espin (San Diego State University)
* Peter Hegarty (University of Surrey, UK)
* Lih-Mei Liao (University College London, UK)
* Allen Omoto (Claremont Graduate University)
* Charlotte Patterson (University of Virginia)
* Esther Rothblum (San Diego State University)
* Stephanie Sanders (Indiana University)
* Leonore Tiefer (Independent Scholar)

These "senior scholars" represent expertise across the sub-fields ofbiological psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology,developmental psychology, feminist psychology, health psychology, sexology,social psychology, and the history of psychology. It is our hope that theInstitute will help us create an 'invisible college' of interdisciplinaryand international psychologists working in this area.

Dr. Gregory Herek (University of California, Davis) will also participate inselected activities via video link.

more....



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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/11/112907jersey.htm

Political Ads Attack New Jersey Gays

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: November 29, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Trenton, New Jersey) A conservative group opposed to same-sex marriage haslaunched radio ads throughout New Jersey using children's voices to denouncegay unions.

The ads begin with an announcer saying "If we change the definition ofmarriage.." but is interrupted by a child.

"Grandma, my teacher said if grandpa was a girl that's ok, you can still bemarried,'" the voice says.

The announcer then returns to say: "Our kids will be taught a new way ofthinking: 'God creating Adam and Eve is so old-fashioned.'"

"Thinking the unthinkable: 'If my dad married a man, who would be my mom?'"

more . . . . .



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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/11/113007romney.htm

Gay Republicans Slam Romney In New Ad

by The Associated Press
Posted: November 30, 2007 - 8:00 am ET

(Washington) A Republican gay rights advocacy group accuses Mitt Romney of"Mitt-flops" in a new radio ad that criticizes the former Massachusettsgovernor on his tax record.

The ad by the Log Cabin Republicans notes that Romney signed legislation in2003 that increased taxes on New Hampshire residents who worked inMassachusetts. It also says Romney raised taxes on businesses, a pointRomney disputes by saying he was merely closing tax loopholes.

"Mitt Flops - sounds like something you'd wear to the beach, but they couldcost you," the ad states. "Let's see. Running for governor, Mitt Romney saidhe'd balance the budget without raising taxes. So what'd he really do? Heraised taxes on some New Hampshire residents who worked in Massachusetts,taxing their income and their pensions."

The ad represents yet another anti-Romney campaign by an independentpolitical group that is hitting the airwaves with six weeks before the NewHampshire primary. This weekend, the Republican Majority for Choice, a groupthat advocates abortion rights, is running television and newspaper ads inNew Hampshire and Iowa accusing Romney of flip-flopping on abortion.

The radio ad represents the second effort by the Log Cabin Republicans tocast Romney as a flip-flopper. Last month, the group aired an ad in Iowa andon national cable that sought to undercut his support among socialconservatives.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/11/113007clinton.htm

Clinton Calls For Sweeping Action On AIDS

by The Associated Press
Posted: November 30, 2007 - 8:00 am ET

(Lake Forest, California) Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton used an appearance atone of the nation's largest evangelical churches Thursday to sketch a broadagenda to take on disease around the globe, calling it "the right thing todo."

The centerpiece of a speech laced with Biblical references and reflectionson her own faith was a call to spend billions of dollars to combat HIV/AIDSand other infectious diseases at home and abroad. She said she would try tostamp out malaria deaths in Africa within eight years.

Money and government alone cannot solve the problems, she said. AIDS "is aproblem of our common humanity, and we are called to respond with love, withmercy and with urgency," she said.

With the presidential campaign intensifying in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Clinton was alone among leading candidates to fly to coastalCalifornia to appear at Saddleback Church in Orange County, where pastor andbest-selling author Rick Warren convenes a conference each year to highlightthe global threat posed by HIV/AIDS.

Earlier this week Clinton released her proposal to combat the spread ofHIV/AIDS, which focuses in part on fighting the spread of the illness inminority communities. As president, she would double the HIV/AIDS researchbudget at the National Institutes of Health - to $5.2 billion annually - andspend at least $50 billion within five years around the globe.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/11/113007mon.htm

AIDS Monastery Ordered Closed In Myanmar

by The Associated Press
Posted: November 30, 2007 - 9:30 am ET

(Bangkok, Thailand) A Buddhist monastery that provided a hospice for AIDSpatients has been closed down by the regime in Myanmar, which is also stillarresting dissidents, the top U.S. diplomat in the country said Friday.

The monastery, in the biggest city Yangon, was raided Thursday. "Apparently,it was ordered closed. No one knows why," said Shari Villarosa, charged'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar.

She was speaking to reporters during a visit to Bangkok in neighboringThailand.

Three military trucks arrived outside the Maggin Monastery and told everyoneinside to leave, according to the online edition of The Irrawaddy, a newsmagazine run by Myanmar exiles in Thailand. The AIDS patients were moved bythe authorities to an unknown location, it said.

The monastery, which also gave AIDS treatment, was raided during the junta'scrackdown on pro-democracy activists in September for involvement inmonk-led protests.

more . . . . .


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