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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/us/politics/15giuliani.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Giuliani Sells New York as Town He Tamed
October 15, 2007
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 13 - It was a depressed and devastated place: a cityshoulder-to-shoulder with welfare recipients, free-spending city officialsand greedy lawyers. New York was, in the telling of Rudolph W. Giuliani, ahaven of high taxes and high crime, crumbling buildings and filthy streets.It was governed by liberals and dominated by Democratic voters who did notagree with the ideas of Mr. Giuliani but who nonetheless twice elected himmayor.
This is Mr. Giuliani's New York - his portrait of the city he inherited whenhe became mayor in 1994, presented to the nation as he campaigns for theRepublican presidential nomination. His portrayal offers an insight into thedecidedly complicated relationship Mr. Giuliani has with the city that hasmade him such a formidable contender for his party's nomination.
Mr. Giuliani is at once running against New York City and embracing it. Itis his foil and fodder, a laugh line and an applause line. It is the city hehas tamed and the place where he stared down - as he tells appreciativeRepublicans to hearty applause - liberals, criminals, welfare recipients,big-spending City Council members and the editorial writers of The New YorkTimes. At times, talking about the city where he has lived most of his 63years, Mr. Giuliani sounds like he was a stranger in his own land.
"I got elected and re-elected honestly not because the people of New YorkCity agreed with my ideas," he told an appreciative audience at the YorkCounty Republican dinner in Rock Hill, S.C., on Thursday. "They didn't. Theyagreed with my results. You agree with my ideas."
"Gosh, there are more Republicans on this side of the room than there are inall of New York City," Mr. Giuliani said brightly at a breakfast the nextmorning in Columbia, as he gestured to the right side of a dining roomfilled with builders and brokers. "So I am really comfortable here."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/opinion/15mon2.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Temporary Victory on Clean Air
October 15, 2007
Editorial
Last week's record-breaking consent decree requiring American ElectricPower, the nation's largest utility, to pay $4.6 billion to clean up its actrepresents a satisfying, if delayed victory for the Clinton administrationand other plaintiffs who brought the suit eight years ago. More thananything, though, it is a victory for millions of people downwind of thecompany's plants who have been forced to breathe dirty air.
But before people start jumping for joy, they should know that the Bushadministration, while claiming some credit for this settlement, is stillactively trying to undermine the very law on which it was based.
The law in question is a key provision in the Clean Air Act called "newsource review." It says that companies that significantly upgrade a plant inorder to generate more power must also install state-of-the-art controls todeal with the increased pollution. The utilities have long resented thislaw, which requires costly investments, and Vice President Dick Cheneytargeted it for extinction in his infamous energy report in 2001.
Various courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld the law. Even so,the administration has paid little attention and is still doing everythingit can to torpedo the law by administrative means. The most recent assaultis a proposed rule that would exempt plants from having to install newcontrols as long as their hourly rate of emissions does not increase as aresult of any plant upgrade - even if total emissions skyrocket because theupgrades enable a plant to run longer and harder.
The A.E.P. settlement stems from an enforcement action brought in 1999 bythe Clinton administration and nine state attorneys general, including NewYork's Eliot Spitzer, against A.E.P. and six other utilities in the Midwestand South. The case was joined by 13 advocacy groups. Under the settlement,the company, which bitterly resisted the original suit, has agreed toinstall $4.6 billion in new pollution-control measures at 16 existingplants. The investments will sharply reduce the company's emissions ofsulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain, and nitrogen oxide, whichcontributes to urban smog.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/opinion/15krugman.html?ref=opinion
Gore Derangement Syndrome
October 15, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
By PAUL KRUGMAN
On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall StreetJournal's editors couldn't even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore's name.Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thoughtdeserved the prize more.
And at National Review Online, Iain Murray suggested that the prize shouldhave been shared with "that well-known peace campaigner Osama bin Laden, whoimplicitly endorsed Gore's stance." You see, bin Laden once said somethingabout climate change - therefore, anyone who talks about climate change is afriend of the terrorists.
What is it about Mr. Gore that drives right-wingers insane?
Partly it's a reaction to what happened in 2000, when the American peoplechose Mr. Gore but his opponent somehow ended up in the White House. Boththe personality cult the right tried to build around President Bush and theoften hysterical denigration of Mr. Gore were, I believe, largely motivatedby the desire to expunge the stain of illegitimacy from the Bushadministration.
And now that Mr. Bush has proved himself utterly the wrong man for the job -to be, in fact, the best president Al Qaeda's recruiters could have hopedfor - the symptoms of Gore derangement syndrome have grown even moreextreme.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sfl-flaalzheimers1015nboct15,0,5011066,print.story
New blood test may diagnose Alzheimer's early
By ANDREW POLLACK
The New York Times
October 15, 2007
Scientists reported progress Sunday toward one of medicine's long-soughtgoals: the development of a blood test that can accurately diagnoseAlzheimer's disease, and even do so years before truly debilitating memoryloss.
A team of scientists, based mainly at Stanford University, developed a testthat was about 90 percent accurate in distinguishing the blood of peoplewith Alzheimer's from the blood of those without the disease.
The test was about 80 percent accurate in predicting which patients withmild memory loss would go on to develop Alzheimer's disease two to six yearslater.
The study was paid for by the National Institute on Aging, the John DouglasFrench Alzheimer's Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association and Satoris, acompany co-founded by the study's lead researcher to commercialize the test.
The company said in a news release that it hoped to have a test availablefor research purposes next year. But even if the preliminary results arevalidated, it is likely to be a few years before a test is approved andready for use by doctors.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/washington/15assess.html?pagewanted=print
Pre-emptive Caution: The Case of Syria
By DAVID E. SANGER
October 15, 2007
News Analysis
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 - It was President Bush who, a year after the Sept. 11terrorist attacks, rewrote America's national security strategy to warn anynation that might be thinking of trying to develop atomic weapons that itcould find itself the target of a pre-emptive military strike.
But that was the fall of 2002, when the world looked very different from howit does in the fall of 2007. Now, the case of Syria, which Israeli andAmerican analysts suspect was trying to build a nuclear reactor, has becomea prime example of what can happen when Mr. Bush's first-term instincts runheadlong into second-term realities.
Five years later, dealing with nations that may have nuclear weaponsambitions - but are also staying within the letter of the NuclearNonproliferation Treaty - looks a lot more complicated than it once did.
This time it was the Israelis who invoked Mr. Bush's doctrine, determiningthat what they believed was a nascent Syrian effort to build a nuclearreactor could not be tolerated.
In a curious role reversal, some of Mr. Bush's own top advisers were urgingrestraint before Israel bombed the site on Sept. 6, raising questions aboutwhether the threat was too murky and too distant to warrant military action.Those are precisely the kinds of questions Mr. Bush's critics say shouldhave been raised about Iraq.
It may be months or years before all the mysteries surrounding the attack onSyria become clear. The silence of the Middle Eastern countries that wouldnormally condemn an Israeli attack suggested that they, too, were worriedabout what was happening in the Syrian desert. Then there is the question ofwhether, and how, North Korea may have been involved, since the reactorproject seemed similar to the one Kim Jong-il's government had designed togenerate plutonium for a small but potent nuclear arsenal.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101401245.html?hpid=topnews
Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled
Many Officials, However, Warn Of Its Resilience
By Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, October 15, 2007; A01
The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversibleblows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals toadvocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bushadministration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.
But as the White House and its military commanders plan the next phase ofthe war, other officials have cautioned against taking what they see as apremature step that could create strategic and political difficulties forthe United States. Such a declaration could fuel criticism that the Iraqconflict has become a civil war in which U.S. combat forces should not beinvolved. At the same time, the intelligence community, and some in themilitary itself, worry about underestimating an enemy that has shown greatresilience in the past.
"I think it would be premature at this point," a senior intelligenceofficial said of a victory declaration over AQI, as the group is known.Despite recent U.S. gains, he said, AQI retains "the ability for surpriseand for catastrophic attacks." Earlier periods of optimism, such asimmediately following the June 2006 death of AQI founder Abu Musabal-Zarqawi in a U.S. air raid, not only proved unfounded but were followedby expanded operations by the militant organization.
There is widespread agreement that AQI has suffered major blows over thepast three months. Among the indicators cited is a sharp drop in suicidebombings, the group's signature attack, from more than 60 in January toaround 30 a month since July. Captures and interrogations of AQI leadersover the summer had what a senior military intelligence official called a"cascade effect," leading to other killings and captures. The flow offoreign fighters through Syria into Iraq has also diminished, althoughofficials are unsure of the reason and are concerned that the broaderal-Qaeda network may be diverting new recruits to Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The deployment of more U.S. and Iraqi forces into AQI strongholds in Anbarprovince and the Baghdad area, as well as the recruitment of Sunni tribalfighters to combat AQI operatives in those locations, has helped to deprivethe militants of a secure base of operations, U.S. military officials said."They are less and less coordinated, more and more fragmented," Lt. Gen.Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, saidrecently. Describing frayed support structures and supply lines, Odiernoestimated that the group's capabilities have been "degraded" by 60 to 70percent since the beginning of the year.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101400956.html
The Republican Churchgoer's Candidate?
By Robert D. Novak
Monday, October 15, 2007; A15
The most surprising recent national polling result was an answer given bylikely Republican voters who attend church weekly when Gallup asked theirpresidential preference. A plurality chose Rudy Giuliani, a Catholic who in1999 said: "I don't attend regularly, but I attend occasionally." Theirchoice raises deep concern among prominent conservative Republicans who feelit would be a serious mistake for leaders of the religious right to scornthe former mayor of New York.
This is threatening to become a major problem because, contrary toconventional wisdom, Giuliani has stubbornly held on to first place innational surveys of Republican voters. His elevated status cannot be writtenoff as merely superior name identification. He no longer seems uncomfortableas a Republican and clearly dominated last week's presidential debate inDearborn, Mich. The real possibility that Giuliani might be the Republicannominee led a group of religious conservatives, who met in Salt Lake City onSept. 29 under the leadership of James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, toconsider a third-party alternative.
But the situation is not a simple confrontation between the Christian rightand Giuliani. The Gallup data suggest that Dobson and the Salt Lake Citygroup may be out of touch with rank-and-file churchgoers. A well-knownsocial conservative, who asked that his name not be used, is disturbed byDobson's statement he could not vote for Giuliani under any circumstances.Instead of being considered the lesser of two evils in a possible raceagainst Sen. Hillary Clinton, Giuliani seems to be the positive choice ofmillions of religious Americans.
In an aggregation of 1,690 interviews with Republicans andRepublican-leaning independents in four Gallup surveys during August andSeptember, Giuliani led with 27 percent (to Fred Thompson's 24 percent)among those who said they attended church at least once a week. Even morestartling was the result of interviews with voters without regard to partypreference. Among churchgoing Catholics, Giuliani led with a plus-38favorable rating (trailed by Sen. John McCain at plus-29, with Clintonbringing up the rear at minus-9).
There is certainly not much in Giuliani's background to attract religiousconservatives. A McGovern Democrat in 1972, he opposed term limits, schoolchoice and an end to rent controls during his successful 1993 campaign formayor. As the Republican mayor, he backed Democrat Mario Cuomo's losingfourth-term bid for governor of New York. He consistently has beenpro-choice, pro-gay rights (including civil unions) and pro-gun control. Howanybody that liberal can be the apparent choice of the religious right isattributed by Republican pollster Frank Luntz to Giuliani's reputation forfighting terrorism. "He has turned security into a social issue," Luntz toldme.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/orl-bk-nofutbol1014,0,6430916.story
Muslim teen in Palm Harbor barred from playing soccer due to head scarf
The Associated Press
4:04 PM EDT, October 14, 2007
PALM HARBOR
A Muslim teenager was forced to sit out a youth soccer tournament after areferee ruled the girl's head scarf was not part of her uniform and violatedgame rules.
Iman Khalil was forced to sit out the game Saturday even though parents, herteammates and even opposing players urged the referee to let her play.
The referee, Steve Richardson, stood by his decision after other officialschecked with the United Soccer Association and were told Iman could play thesecond half wearing the scarf, according to Hernando Heat assistant coachMike Duke.
A message left by The Associated Press for a Steve Richardson listed on theFlorida State Referees Association web site was not immediately returnedSunday.
The 15-year-old said that her white-and-blue head scarf has never been anissue in the two years she has played competitively for the team.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/271894.html
United States no longer the world's gold standard
Posted on Mon, Oct. 15, 2007
By H.D.S. GREENWAY
In half a century of reporting around the world, I have found that there wasusually a feeling that the United States stood for standards of liberty,human rights, and the dignity of mankind. The Bush administration has takenus off that gold standard and drained away much of that reservoir ofrespect. The horrors of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo have eaten away atAmerica's credibility and moral standing, dismaying our friends andempowering our enemies.
Washington shuddered recently when The New York Times revealed that theJustice Department, under the direction of Alberto Gonzales, had underminedthe will of Congress, the Supreme Court, as well as hard-won national andinternational standards, with secret legal opinions supporting torture.''Shocking'' was the word Republican Sen. Arlen Specter used, and well heshould.
Men and women of good will may differ on how much power the executive branchshould have, and how much of our privacy and civil liberties need to becurtailed in an age of terrorism. As the former deputy attorney general,James Comey, who tried to stem the tide of the administration's malfeasance,said: there are ''agonizing collisions'' between the law and the desire toprotect Americans. But no good will can be ascribed to those who secretlysought to undermine the republic by their underhanded advocacy of torture.
Instead of entering into an honest debate, the administration spoke of its''abhorrence'' of torture while at the same time secretly promoting it. Notsurprisingly, the fine hand of Vice President Dick Cheney and his counsel,David Addington, could be discerned. Despite his bluster, President Bush,''the decider,'' has turned out to be a weak president riddled withinsecurities masked by stubbornness, who has allowed his subordinates tognaw away at the Constitution.
Some lawmakers, notably Sen. John McCain, who knows a thing or two abouttorture from his years as a prisoner in Hanoi, tried to halt the moral rot.But the secret opinions of the Justice Department found that the DetaineeTreatment Act would not force any change in torture practices, allowing forwater-boarding and all the rest to continue.
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Dalla Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/101507dntexyouths.3a7dbb3.html
Young evangelical voters diverge from parents
09:21 AM CDT on Monday, October 15, 2007
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
wslater@dallasnews.com
One in an occasional series
WACO - Like most evangelical Christians, Alessandra Gonzalez tends to beconservative and Republican in her politics.
But for the 25-year-old and her peers, that means different things than itdoes for their elders.
For many conservative evangelical Christians younger than 30, family valuesmean more than the issues of gay marriage, abortion and prayer in school.Poverty, health care and the environment are also matters of faith.
"There's an awareness to be more savvy and to say, 'I can't be completelycaptured and represented by someone like Jerry Falwell.' I don't think thatflies anymore," said Ms. Gonzalez, a graduate student at Baylor University."Family really shapes your definition of values more than attending apolitical rally or being involved politically."
Evangelical Protestants have been one of the most faithful Republican votingblocs in recent presidential elections, but there are abundant signs themovement is fracturing as the 2008 contest approaches. The youngergeneration in particular is less wedded to the GOP and to the moral-valuesagenda espoused by an influential corps of Christian conservative leaders.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101401255.html
Values Voters to Meet GOP Candidates
Monday, October 15, 2007; A02
It's a Values Voters weekend in Washington, beginning Thursday evening witha film screening of "Bella," the latest release from the executive producerof "The Passion of the Christ," and concluding Sunday with a morning worshipservice featuring Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.
The event, billed as the Washington Briefing, will also feature appearancesby all eight major Republican presidential candidates. Sponsored in part byPerkins's group and by Focus on the Family, evangelical leader JamesDobson's organization, it claims to be "the largest gathering of valuesvoters from across the nation."
One late RSVP: former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. The council announcedlast Monday that he had agreed to speak, the final GOP candidate to do so.Just a few weeks ago, several evangelical leaders said they would considersupporting a third-party candidate if Giuliani, or any otherpro-abortion-rights candidate, were to become the Republican nominee. Twoother candidates, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Sen. SamBrownback (Kan.), have warned that such a strategy by the religious rightwould benefit Democrats.
"I think a third party only helps elect Hillary" Rodham Clinton, Huckabeesaid in an interview with washingtonpost.com. "I don't see that being a goodstrategy for those who really care about pushing a pro-family, pro-lifeagenda."
In an online chat with readers on washingtonpost.com, Brownback said that to"support a third party will ensure a Democrat being elected to the WhiteHouse."
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Florida Times-Union
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101507/opt_207792032.shtml
Ron Paul is only interesting candidate in a dull group
October 15, 2007
By MATT TOWERY
The Times-Union
Let's face it: There are just too many boring presidential debates withboring presidential candidates this go-round.
First off, could we please see at least one debate in which the moderator orquestioners don't try to dominate the airtime? Seeing an endless sea ofmiddle-age white men on a stage is bad enough, but having to listen to the"journalists" interact as if it were a talk show makes these debatesexcruciatingly painful to watch.
Second, isn't it time everyone owns up to the fact that - had he not beenlabeled "a nut" by the establishment early on - Ron Paul is by far the mostinteresting candidate in the entire GOP field?
Don't these other guys get it that repeating the same old tired phrases about "economic growth" and "free markets" is just driving their mostconservative base into fits of rage?
I have never seen a bigger cast of 1-inch deep characters in my life as wehave in both parties this time. Hillary Clinton is so far ahead that itmakes no sense for her to throw even a 5-yard pass, much less a Hail Mary.
Barack Obama seems so wrapped up in his charisma that he's lost the conceptof having any real substance. For my money, Joe Biden has been the only oneon the Democratic side willing to take a few risks or venture into anydegree of opposing viewpoints.
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USA TODAY
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/our-view-on-tax.html
Our view on tax equity: Democrats balk at easy way to narrow the wealth gap
Pricey lobbying effort slows bid to make rich partners pay fair share.
The Senate found time in recent months to declare English the officiallanguage of the federal government and to debate numerous symbolic,politically charged resolutions on Iraq and immigration.
But it might not get around to one particular - and eminently sensible - taxproposal. That lapse is noteworthy as a mark of Washington's willingness tolet lobbyists override the public's interests. The proposal would requirethe managers of hedge funds, private equity firms and partnerships to payincome tax on their income, just like people of lesser means. MajorityLeader Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently told lobbyists for these groups that theSenate wouldn't have time to take up the measure this year.
Reid, who controls the Senate floor schedule and who declined to provide theopposing view to this editorial, insists publicly that something could stillpass. Don't bet on it. The reason: It's not time that's working against thispush to restore fairness to the tax code. It's money.
The private equity industry has been on the defensive since earlier thisyear, when The Blackstone Group, a New York concern that buys and sellscompanies, went public. Blackstone's initial stock offering highlighted howcertain executives can make millions of dollars and pay taxes at a lowerrate than do school teachers and police officers.
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/10/15/a6a_blackburncol_1015.html
Bush is no Nobel conservative
By Tom Blackburn
Palm Beach Post columnist
Monday, October 15, 2007
What a week. Al Gore won the Pulitzer Prize for peace, and President Bushinvented a new definition of chutzpah.
The famous old definition of the useful Yiddish word was: A kid murders hisparents and then begs the court for mercy because he is an orphan. Mr.Bush's improved version is: A president creates the biggest budget deficitin American history, then calls in his friends to help his friends tocelebrate when he cuts that deficit in half.
That is what Mr. Bush did Thursday. The $162 billion deficit for the fiscalyear that ended Sept. 30 was indeed less than half of the $413 billion Mr.Bush produced in 2004. We are on a glide path to balance the budget. Insomeone else's term. The White House fact sheet issued to go with thecelebration fails to say that Mr. Bush inherited a deficit of $0.
The fact sheet does say that 11 million jobs have been created on Mr. Bush'swatch. It fails to say that is half of the number of jobs created during hispredecessor's administration. His predecessor was Bill Clinton, whose vicepresident was Nobel laureate Al Gore.
Mr. Bush's fact sheet also says that, as a percentage of gross domesticproduct, last year's deficit was lower than the 40-year average. What itdoesn't say is that the only administrations during those 40 years in whichthat percentage fell were those of Jimmy Carter and Mr. Clinton. Both areDemocrats. What pulled the 40-year average up were the administrations ofRonald Reagan and Mr. Bush's father.
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USAToday.com
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-10-14-SCHIP_N.htm
House Republicans feel heat in wake of SCHIP veto
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - The scarecrows adorning Main Street in thisaffluent Detroit suburb are symbolic of the frightening times ahead for Rep.Joe Knollenberg and other Republicans as they prepare to block a broadexpansion of children's health insurance this week.
On television and radio, in phone calls and e-mails, proponents of thefive-year, $35 billion increase are pressuring about 20 Republicans toswitch sides and help override President Bush's veto. The full-court pressincludes preachers, rock stars such as Paul Simon and sick kids in an effortto sway the result - or the next election.
Few Republicans have more to fear than Knollenberg, a former insurance agentwhose nearly 15-year grip on Michigan's 9th Congressional District has neverbeen as weak. His customary double-digit victories shrunk to 5 percentagepoints in 2006. Now, he's saddled with an increasingly unpopular war andpresident. Being perceived as voting against kids doesn't help.
SCHIP: House Dems vow continued push
So Knollenberg, with a self-described "target on my back," is prowlingcoffee shops, church bazaars and farmer's markets, running hard for anelection that's still 13 months away. He's doing most everything apolitician does - except, in this case, changing his position. Hesteadfastly refuses to endorse giving government health insurance tofamilies of four earning more than about $40,000, the "working poor" thatthe program was created for in 1997. Some families now earn as much as$72,000.
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USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-10-14-secret-sources-bill_N.htm?csp=34
Measure to shield reporters' secret sources likely to pass
By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - A House bill that would help reporters protect confidentialsources will pass easily this week, supporters say, despite opposition fromthe Bush administration.
"I believe we'll have a strong bipartisan vote," said Rep. Mike Pence,R-Ind., the bill's co-author.
The Justice Department sees the proposed reporters' shield law, as it iscalled, as an obstacle to law enforcement. It could "seriously impede ourability to investigate and prosecute national security matters," spokesmanPeter Carr said last week.
Even so, the bill has attracted an unusual right-left coalition.
Liberal Democrats, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have joinedconservative Republicans, such as Pence, to support the bill. Although nofloor vote has yet been scheduled in the Senate, the chamber's JudiciaryCommittee this month approved its version of the shield bill by a 15-2 vote.
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Monday, October 15, 2007
FLORIDA DIGEST October 15, 2007
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flftlpower1014seoct14,0,4584512,print.story
Fort Lauderdale will pursue putting power lines underground
City seeks help of utility consultant
By Brittany Wallman
October 14, 2007
Fort Lauderdale
Imagine a city with no power lines, no power poles, and with trees free togrow into a thick canopy. In this city, if a strong wind blew, a Category 1hurricane, for example, the lights in the homes wouldn't go out. Thegenerator would not be needed. Life would go on, with electricity poweringit.
This is the dream city that Fort Lauderdale's elected officials are talkingabout, as they discuss the possibility of moving power lines underground.
The cost to homeowners is unknown. Officials from Florida Power & Light Co.estimated the city would spend $300 million putting its lines underground.But the city would also have to work with Comcast and AT&T to have theirlines buried as well.
The City Commission voted 4-1 at the Oct. 2 meeting, with Mayor Jim Naugledissenting, to go back out for competitive bids for a utility consultant tohelp the city move forward. Only one qualified bidder responded the firsttime, and commissioners want to try again. Commissioners also agreed thecity should start negotiating with FPL about the utility's franchiseagreement, which ends in 2009.
Commissioners hope a consultant can help them decide how to go about buryingthe lines from FPL, Comcast and AT&T, and also assess the value of FPL'ssystem in Fort Lauderdale, in case the city opts to purchase it and hire adifferent company to run it. Commissioners also want to know whether theutility boxes could be buried underground.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpmath1015nboct15,0,417748,print.story
FAU tries to help struggling students pass math courses
By Scott Travis
October 15, 2007
FAU is trying to solve a tricky math problem.
Only half of all students pass freshman-level math courses. That's lowerthan the state's passing rate, which is about 62 percent.
"It's not an easy problem to tackle," said Ed Pratt, dean of undergraduatestudies at Florida Atlantic University. "At FAU, we have a large number ofnontraditional students who have not taken mathematics in two decades."
It doesn't help when many college algebra classes have 75 to 125 people inthem, FAU officials and students said.
So the university has started two pilot programs this year to boost its mathsuccess rates.
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/516/v-print/story/272082.html
Lauderdale switches parties one more time
Posted on Mon, Oct. 15, 2007
City Commissioner Cindi Hutchinson ditched the Republicans for the Democratslast week, changing her party affiliation -- again.
Hutchinson said she's always been a liberal, pro-choice Republican andopposes the Iraq war.
''For the last eight months or so, I have not aligned myself with theRepublican Party and the decisions they have been making at the federallevel and state level,'' she said.
Hutchinson cast her party switch as ``strictly personal.''
But she faces term limits in 18 months, so the time is ripe to positionherself to bid for another elected office. That's a lot easier as a Democratin Broward.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbikeatraffic1015nboct15,0,6832172.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Sunrise police, firefighters prepare for crowd of 25,000 at Ikea opening
Police, firefighters prepare for 25,000 1st-day shoppers
By Jennifer Gollan
October 15, 2007
Sunrise
Off-duty police officers will be called in to direct traffic, andfirefighter/paramedics will be at the ready in case of pandemonium andstampedes.
It's not every day a furniture store opens in Sunrise.
Not like this one, anyway.
Shoppers worldwide swarm the grand openings of Ikea stores like they wereretail Woodstock festivals, drawn by the relatively inexpensive and moderncouches, desks, beds and other items.
The Wednesday opening of the 293,000-square-foot store at the corner ofState Road 84 and 136th Avenue is expected to attract up to 25,000 people,with many lining up beginning today. A Sunrise ordinance prohibits shoppersfrom pitching tents, but sleeping bags and chairs will be allowed.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbminorities1015nboct15,0,1504271.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Florida's minority students shifting to private colleges
By Scott Travis
October 15, 2007
Florida's private colleges are outpacing the public university system whenit comes to attracting minority students.
A new report shows that 44 percent of Florida's private collegeundergraduate students are minorities. That's more than in the state publicuniversity system, where minority students account for about 40 percent ofall undergraduates. The statistics come from 2006 federal data in a reportby Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, an association thatrepresents private, nonprofit institutions.
Private-college students also tend to come from less affluent families thantheir public-college counterparts, data show. At private schools, 36 percentare from families with incomes less than $60,000, compared with 31 percentat public schools.
The figures are surprising, given that Florida public universities haveamong the nation's lowest tuition, about $3,200 for undergraduate classes.Private universities charge at least four times that.
"I've never seen one of our universities say, 'Can they afford it?' whendeciding whether to admit a student," said Ed Moore, executive director ofthe state independent colleges association.
more . . . . .
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/271890.html
Unrighteous verdict in Anderson case
Posted on Mon, Oct. 15, 2007
Martin Lee Anderson is still waiting for justice. On Friday, a jury inPanama City took only 90 minutes to acquit eight former boot-camp workers ofany responsibility for the death of this 14-year-old boy. Yet it isimpossible to square the most basic notion of justice with an unrighteousverdict that allows the defendants to walk away from his death without anyconsequences.
Punched, kicked
The boy died one day after a 30-minute confrontation with guards in which hewas punched, kicked and dragged after collapsing while running laps. No onecould watch that videotaped confrontation without wincing. Even by thetough-love standards of juvenile boot camps, the guards gave their youngcharge exceedingly harsh treatment. One of the defendants, a nurse, stood byand watched without raising a peep. She, too, gets to walk away.
The workers, in their defense, claim that there was no ''knowing''mistreatment of the teenager because they had not been told he had sicklecell trait, a normally benign condition. But that does not change the factthat the boy was in their custody, he was beaten and later died. Testimonyshowed he did not die from the beating but from suffocation, but it defiescommon sense to separate one event from the other and hold harmless thosewho were involved.
The workers were not charged with murder, which would have been excessive,but with aggravated manslaughter of a child. The jury could also haveconvicted them of lesser charges such as child neglect and culpablenegligence. Instead, the jurors needed only 90 minutes to clear them of allcharges.
Surely, serious consideration of the prosecution's case and sorting throughthe evidence and testimony following a three-week trial involving eightdefendants would have required more time. As a referendum on the value ofone person's life, the jury's rush to judgment in the case of Martin LeeAnderson is an insult to him, to his family and to anyone who cares aboutjustice in Florida.
more . . . . .
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/10/15/a6a_leadedit_bootcamp_1015.html
Coverup to acquittal, it's Panhandle 'justice'
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, October 15, 2007
Friday's acquittal of seven Panama City boot camp guards who beat a14-year-old boy until he fell limp and later died was as predictable as itwas outrageous.
Outrageous because a video recorded the guards on Jan. 5, 2006, undeniablykicking, hitting and shoving Martin Lee Anderson against a fence and to theground, even after he had fallen.
Outrageous because a nurse, also acquitted Friday, stood by, calling 911only after the boy had been abused for 40 minutes.
Outrageous because the coverup of Martin Lee Anderson's killing was soblatant that then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough County State AttorneyMark Ober to handle the investigation.
more . . . . .
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St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/14/Opinion/Latest_tax_plan_makes.shtml
Latest tax plan makes a bad situation worse
By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published October 14, 2007
Once again, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature are gripped bytax-cut fever. Once again, they are poised to embrace a quick fix to adifficult problem without regard to long-term consequences.
Let's recap: In January, legislators approved a property insurance fix thatleft the state financially vulnerable and has not significantly reducedpremiums. In June, they approved a constitutional amendment on propertytaxes that no one loved and was so poorly worded a judge threw it off theballot. Now they plan to approve another tax-cut amendment this week thatincludes Crist's simplistic campaign pledges they previously rejected.
If the governor and the Legislature don't have the vision or the courage tocreate a fairer property tax system, they should leave the job to theTaxation and Budget Reform Commission that is meeting now and has the powerto put amendments on the ballot in November 2008. Instead, they aredetermined to make a bad situation worse. Their constitutional amendment todouble the $25,000 homestead exemption and allow homeowners to take a SaveOur Homes tax break of up to $1-million with them when they move wouldextend and exacerbate the unfairness of the current system. It would requirefurther cuts in services by cities and counties already grappling with newlyrequired tax rate rollbacks and revenue caps, and it would not providesignificant relief to businesses and other nonhomesteaded property.
This amendment has none of the benefits of the now-abandoned super homesteadamendment, which eventually would have phased out Save Our Homes and put allhomesteaded property owners on equal footing. It has none of thethoughtfulness behind a plan the Senate approved earlier this year, whichwould have allowed homeowners to take a smaller Save Our Homes tax breakwith them to be phased out over time. It does protect public education fromlosing property tax money, but even the way it accomplishes that willconfuse voters.
The additional $25,000 homestead exemption and the Save Our Homesportability would not apply to school property taxes, which represent about40 percent of the overall property tax bill. So the savings are not going tobe nearly what voters might expect. A better way to protect schools wouldhave been to raise state revenue to offset straight-forward tax cuts, butthat would have required forward-thinking.
more . . . . .
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flftlpower1014seoct14,0,4584512,print.story
Fort Lauderdale will pursue putting power lines underground
City seeks help of utility consultant
By Brittany Wallman
October 14, 2007
Fort Lauderdale
Imagine a city with no power lines, no power poles, and with trees free togrow into a thick canopy. In this city, if a strong wind blew, a Category 1hurricane, for example, the lights in the homes wouldn't go out. Thegenerator would not be needed. Life would go on, with electricity poweringit.
This is the dream city that Fort Lauderdale's elected officials are talkingabout, as they discuss the possibility of moving power lines underground.
The cost to homeowners is unknown. Officials from Florida Power & Light Co.estimated the city would spend $300 million putting its lines underground.But the city would also have to work with Comcast and AT&T to have theirlines buried as well.
The City Commission voted 4-1 at the Oct. 2 meeting, with Mayor Jim Naugledissenting, to go back out for competitive bids for a utility consultant tohelp the city move forward. Only one qualified bidder responded the firsttime, and commissioners want to try again. Commissioners also agreed thecity should start negotiating with FPL about the utility's franchiseagreement, which ends in 2009.
Commissioners hope a consultant can help them decide how to go about buryingthe lines from FPL, Comcast and AT&T, and also assess the value of FPL'ssystem in Fort Lauderdale, in case the city opts to purchase it and hire adifferent company to run it. Commissioners also want to know whether theutility boxes could be buried underground.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpmath1015nboct15,0,417748,print.story
FAU tries to help struggling students pass math courses
By Scott Travis
October 15, 2007
FAU is trying to solve a tricky math problem.
Only half of all students pass freshman-level math courses. That's lowerthan the state's passing rate, which is about 62 percent.
"It's not an easy problem to tackle," said Ed Pratt, dean of undergraduatestudies at Florida Atlantic University. "At FAU, we have a large number ofnontraditional students who have not taken mathematics in two decades."
It doesn't help when many college algebra classes have 75 to 125 people inthem, FAU officials and students said.
So the university has started two pilot programs this year to boost its mathsuccess rates.
more . . . . .
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/516/v-print/story/272082.html
Lauderdale switches parties one more time
Posted on Mon, Oct. 15, 2007
City Commissioner Cindi Hutchinson ditched the Republicans for the Democratslast week, changing her party affiliation -- again.
Hutchinson said she's always been a liberal, pro-choice Republican andopposes the Iraq war.
''For the last eight months or so, I have not aligned myself with theRepublican Party and the decisions they have been making at the federallevel and state level,'' she said.
Hutchinson cast her party switch as ``strictly personal.''
But she faces term limits in 18 months, so the time is ripe to positionherself to bid for another elected office. That's a lot easier as a Democratin Broward.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbikeatraffic1015nboct15,0,6832172.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Sunrise police, firefighters prepare for crowd of 25,000 at Ikea opening
Police, firefighters prepare for 25,000 1st-day shoppers
By Jennifer Gollan
October 15, 2007
Sunrise
Off-duty police officers will be called in to direct traffic, andfirefighter/paramedics will be at the ready in case of pandemonium andstampedes.
It's not every day a furniture store opens in Sunrise.
Not like this one, anyway.
Shoppers worldwide swarm the grand openings of Ikea stores like they wereretail Woodstock festivals, drawn by the relatively inexpensive and moderncouches, desks, beds and other items.
The Wednesday opening of the 293,000-square-foot store at the corner ofState Road 84 and 136th Avenue is expected to attract up to 25,000 people,with many lining up beginning today. A Sunrise ordinance prohibits shoppersfrom pitching tents, but sleeping bags and chairs will be allowed.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbminorities1015nboct15,0,1504271.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Florida's minority students shifting to private colleges
By Scott Travis
October 15, 2007
Florida's private colleges are outpacing the public university system whenit comes to attracting minority students.
A new report shows that 44 percent of Florida's private collegeundergraduate students are minorities. That's more than in the state publicuniversity system, where minority students account for about 40 percent ofall undergraduates. The statistics come from 2006 federal data in a reportby Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, an association thatrepresents private, nonprofit institutions.
Private-college students also tend to come from less affluent families thantheir public-college counterparts, data show. At private schools, 36 percentare from families with incomes less than $60,000, compared with 31 percentat public schools.
The figures are surprising, given that Florida public universities haveamong the nation's lowest tuition, about $3,200 for undergraduate classes.Private universities charge at least four times that.
"I've never seen one of our universities say, 'Can they afford it?' whendeciding whether to admit a student," said Ed Moore, executive director ofthe state independent colleges association.
more . . . . .
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/271890.html
Unrighteous verdict in Anderson case
Posted on Mon, Oct. 15, 2007
Martin Lee Anderson is still waiting for justice. On Friday, a jury inPanama City took only 90 minutes to acquit eight former boot-camp workers ofany responsibility for the death of this 14-year-old boy. Yet it isimpossible to square the most basic notion of justice with an unrighteousverdict that allows the defendants to walk away from his death without anyconsequences.
Punched, kicked
The boy died one day after a 30-minute confrontation with guards in which hewas punched, kicked and dragged after collapsing while running laps. No onecould watch that videotaped confrontation without wincing. Even by thetough-love standards of juvenile boot camps, the guards gave their youngcharge exceedingly harsh treatment. One of the defendants, a nurse, stood byand watched without raising a peep. She, too, gets to walk away.
The workers, in their defense, claim that there was no ''knowing''mistreatment of the teenager because they had not been told he had sicklecell trait, a normally benign condition. But that does not change the factthat the boy was in their custody, he was beaten and later died. Testimonyshowed he did not die from the beating but from suffocation, but it defiescommon sense to separate one event from the other and hold harmless thosewho were involved.
The workers were not charged with murder, which would have been excessive,but with aggravated manslaughter of a child. The jury could also haveconvicted them of lesser charges such as child neglect and culpablenegligence. Instead, the jurors needed only 90 minutes to clear them of allcharges.
Surely, serious consideration of the prosecution's case and sorting throughthe evidence and testimony following a three-week trial involving eightdefendants would have required more time. As a referendum on the value ofone person's life, the jury's rush to judgment in the case of Martin LeeAnderson is an insult to him, to his family and to anyone who cares aboutjustice in Florida.
more . . . . .
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/10/15/a6a_leadedit_bootcamp_1015.html
Coverup to acquittal, it's Panhandle 'justice'
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, October 15, 2007
Friday's acquittal of seven Panama City boot camp guards who beat a14-year-old boy until he fell limp and later died was as predictable as itwas outrageous.
Outrageous because a video recorded the guards on Jan. 5, 2006, undeniablykicking, hitting and shoving Martin Lee Anderson against a fence and to theground, even after he had fallen.
Outrageous because a nurse, also acquitted Friday, stood by, calling 911only after the boy had been abused for 40 minutes.
Outrageous because the coverup of Martin Lee Anderson's killing was soblatant that then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough County State AttorneyMark Ober to handle the investigation.
more . . . . .
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/14/Opinion/Latest_tax_plan_makes.shtml
Latest tax plan makes a bad situation worse
By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published October 14, 2007
Once again, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature are gripped bytax-cut fever. Once again, they are poised to embrace a quick fix to adifficult problem without regard to long-term consequences.
Let's recap: In January, legislators approved a property insurance fix thatleft the state financially vulnerable and has not significantly reducedpremiums. In June, they approved a constitutional amendment on propertytaxes that no one loved and was so poorly worded a judge threw it off theballot. Now they plan to approve another tax-cut amendment this week thatincludes Crist's simplistic campaign pledges they previously rejected.
If the governor and the Legislature don't have the vision or the courage tocreate a fairer property tax system, they should leave the job to theTaxation and Budget Reform Commission that is meeting now and has the powerto put amendments on the ballot in November 2008. Instead, they aredetermined to make a bad situation worse. Their constitutional amendment todouble the $25,000 homestead exemption and allow homeowners to take a SaveOur Homes tax break of up to $1-million with them when they move wouldextend and exacerbate the unfairness of the current system. It would requirefurther cuts in services by cities and counties already grappling with newlyrequired tax rate rollbacks and revenue caps, and it would not providesignificant relief to businesses and other nonhomesteaded property.
This amendment has none of the benefits of the now-abandoned super homesteadamendment, which eventually would have phased out Save Our Homes and put allhomesteaded property owners on equal footing. It has none of thethoughtfulness behind a plan the Senate approved earlier this year, whichwould have allowed homeowners to take a smaller Save Our Homes tax breakwith them to be phased out over time. It does protect public education fromlosing property tax money, but even the way it accomplishes that willconfuse voters.
The additional $25,000 homestead exemption and the Save Our Homesportability would not apply to school property taxes, which represent about40 percent of the overall property tax bill. So the savings are not going tobe nearly what voters might expect. A better way to protect schools wouldhave been to raise state revenue to offset straight-forward tax cuts, butthat would have required forward-thinking.
more . . . . .
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Sunday, October 14, 2007
GLBT DIGEST October 14, 2007
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14alford.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Regrets Only
See "footnotes immediately below"
By HENRY ALFORD
I WANT to make it clear that everything you've heard and read is true.(1) Ican also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need toexamine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.(2) So if you're sothin-skinned that you took offense to a slip of the tongue that I had, thenI offer my apology. I am, am sorry that you were offended.(3)
We admit that several members of our organization allowed an internal powerstruggle to cloud good judgment.(4) We should have done better.(5) Isincerely apologize and hope people realize that conversations can be easilymanipulated in print.(6) And I don't care that he's black or green or purpleor whatever.(7)
I failed.(8) I acknowledge that mistakes were made here.(9) I'm not a badperson. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing.(10) I am not a bigot.(11)I never want to be portrayed as a guy who loses his cool.(12) That was avery intemperate remark made in the heat of the day yesterday in a verymisguided attempt to defend my boss.(13) When I called him "Pruneface," itwas campaign rhetoric.(14) I certainly would never intend to use theoffensive word in its technical sense, and I would not and could not underany circumstances question the parentage of your son, our currentgovernor.(15) Our trust has been broken, and only love can rebuild it.(16)
more....
--
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14alfordnotes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
October 14, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Footnotes to 'Regret Only'
1. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco re his affair with the wife of hisformer campaign manager, 2007.
2. Isaiah Washington, a star of "Grey's Anatomy," re an anti-gay slur hehurled at is co-star T. R. Knight 2007.
3. Scott James, a Fox News Radio 600 KCOL host, re his on-air remarksequating homosexuals with child molesters, 2007.
4. The president of the Fayetteville (N.C.) Woman's Club re its rejection ofa woman who would have been its first black member, 2007.
5. David Neeleman, the chief executive and founder of Jet Blue re thehundreds of passengers stranded at Kennedy Airport during an ice storm,2007.
6. The actress Sienna Miller re anti-Pittsburgh remarks she made in RollingStone, 2006.
7. Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, re accusing Barry Bonds of using steroidsand cheating on his wife and taxes, 2007.
8. Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman re the uncleanliness of Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center, 2007.
9. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales re the dismissal of United Statesattorneys, 2007.
10. Don Imus re racist comments he made about the Rutgers women's basketballteam, 2007.
43 more.....
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/world/europe/14Vatican.html
Monsignor Suspended; Reported to Say His Gay Sex Isn't Sin
October 14, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY, Oct. 13 (AP) - An Italian monsignor was suspended from hispost at the Vatican after he was reported to have said in a televisioninterview that he "didn't feel he was sinning" by having sex with gay men,the Vatican and news reports said Saturday.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters that, whilethe case was under investigation, the monsignor was suspended from his jobas a top official in the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, which aims toensure proper conduct by priests.
"The case is being handled with utmost reserve," Father Lombardi said.
A private Italian television network broadcast a program this month in whichsome priests were interviewed about their homosexuality. Vatican teachingholds that homosexuality is a sin.
The men, including the monsignor who was suspended, were interviewed withtheir faces obscured and their voices altered so that they would not berecognized. But Vatican officials recognized the Vatican office in which themonsignor was interviewed, the newspaper La Repubblica reported on Saturday.
During the interview the monsignor said he "didn't feel he was sinning" byhaving sex with gay men, La Repubblica reported.
The Vatican did not name the monsignor.
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/548/v-print/story/269338.html
Heeding a call to action
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
BY DANIEL SHOER ROTH
I always felt like a pariah.
Growing up Jewish in predominantly Catholic Venezuela and gay in a verymachista society gave me a sense of not belonging. Then, when I reachedadulthood, I became a Hispanic immigrant in a country whose culture wasunfamiliar to me. Because of that, I became sensitive to those who belongedto a minority. Or who, simply, suffered.
Like Lilly Luna of Homestead, a Mexican immigrant struggling to support herfamily. Or Garvin Webster Sr., who saw his son fatally shot outside hisAllapattah home. Or Morris Rosen, a centenarian in Sunny Isles Beach whosometimes feels lonely.
These are some of the faces of Miami who are often overlooked andunderserved, people overcoming tremendous odds to build a better life. Theyare the protagonists of my columns Punto de Partida -- ''The StartingPoint'' -- that ran in El Nuevo Herald over the past three years.
A year ago, Daniella Levine from the Human Services Coalition -- one of myregular sources -- suggested that my columns about South Florida's socialchallenges needed to reach a broader audience and cross our community'smajor language divide. And so this book was born. We invited communityleaders to write short essays that amplify and explain key points.
Our project tries to inspire you to take action. To give a hand to the lessfortunate. To respect those who are different. Punto de Partida is simply astarting point for us all.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Soulforce
www.soulforce.org/
Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights Concludes Saturday: Straight Friendsfrom Coast to Coast Will Keep Speaking Out for Equality
Already this week, straight supporters in Georgia, Arkansas, Maine, Iowa,Minnesota, South Carolina, New York, Alabama, Massachusetts, Washington,D.C., Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois,California, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan, and Utah havemade their voices heard. Tonight, events in Oregon and Colorado, as well asanother action in New York, round out this historic week.
Many states had more than one city participating in this original campaign,and each event took on a local flair. For instance, in Austin, Texas, alarge crowd gathered on the steps of the state Capitol. Soulforce ExecutiveDirector Jeff Lutes opened the rally and was followed by Anne Wynne (founderof Atticus Circle), Rev. Dr. Sid Hall, Representatives Mark Strama, DonnaHoward, and Valinda Bolton; City Council Member Brewster McCracken andTravis County Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt. They each spoke about theimportance of straight men and women coming out and standing up in supportof all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Thecrowd then enjoyed the music of Sarah Hickman, Craig Toungate, DjembabesDrummers, Susan Lincoln and the Hilde Girls. Students from the University ofTexas marched from the UT Tower to the Capitol to kick off the vigil, andafter the initial hour, a small group of dedicated citizens took shiftsvigiling throughout the night until 8am the next morning.
To watch news coverage of the Seven Straight Nights vigils in Austin, Texasand Raleigh, North Carolina go to www.sevenstraightnights.org/article/11
--
For The Bible Tells Me So -- Documentary Featuring Soulforce Now ShowingAcross the Country
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the SeattleInternational Film Festival, Dan Karslake's provocative, entertainingdocumentary, For The Bible Tells Me So, brilliantly reconciles homosexualityand Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctionedanti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and oftenmalicious) misinterpretation of the Bible.
Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very Americanfamilies -- including those of former House Majority Leader RichardGephardt, Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson, and the Reitan Family -- wediscover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having agay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu,Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg, Soulforce's MelWhite, and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For The Bible Tells Me So offers healing,clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scriptureand sexual identity. Much of the footage was taken from the Soulforce directaction outside Focus on the Family in May, 2005.
To watch the trailer and see a list of screenings go towww.soulforce.org/article/1306
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's Office
October 12, 2007
Contact: Beth Willon, (916) 319-2411
Núñez Statement on Veto of Assemblyman Leno's Marriage Equality Bill
SACRAMENTO-Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has released the followingstatement on the veto of AB 43 (Leno):
"I am proud that twice now the California Legislature has approvedAssemblyman Mark Leno's legislation to guarantee equal marriagerights for all Californians. While I am disappointed the governor hasagain vetoed this basic extension of fairness, I firmly believe thatthe day will come soon when California law is on the right side ofthis issue-- and the right side of history. The California Assemblywill continue working to make that happen."
--
Veto Message from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/AB%2043%20veto%20message.pdf
To the Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning Assembly Bill 43 without my signature.
As I stated in vetoing similar legislation in 2005, I am proudCalifornia is a leader in recognizing and respecting domesticpartnerships. I believe that all Californians are entitled to fullprotection under the law and should not be discriminated againstbased upon their sexual orientation. I support current domesticpartnership rights and will continue to vigorously defend andenforce these rights.
In 2000, the voters approved Proposition 22, a challenge to whichis currently pending before the California Supreme Court. Imaintain my position that the appropriate resolution to this issue isto allow the Court to rule on Proposition 22. The people ofCalifornia should then determine what, if any, statutory changesare needed in response to the Court's ruling.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Metropolitan Community Church Honors Human Rights Watch
Award Recognizes Groundbreaking Work on LGBT Rights
(New York, June 29, 2007) - The Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) - afellowship of Christian churches with a special ministry to lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender people - will present its triennial Human RightsAward to Human Rights Watch on July 4. The award recognizes Human RightsWatch's groundbreaking work defending LGBT people worldwide from violence,discrimination, and abuse. "Faith used as a pretext for hatred often fuelsviolence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people," saidScott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender RightsProgram at Human Rights Watch. "For the Metropolitan Community Church,religion means inclusion, and we are proud to work with them in spreadingthe message that human rights are for everyone."
Founded in 1968, Metropolitan Community Church is the largest and oldestworldwide Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry to LGBTpeople and communities. The church's United Fellowship presents its HumanRights Award every three years at its International General Conference. Thisyear, Scott Long will accept the award at the conference in Scottsdale,Arizona.
The Metropolitan Community Church has almost 300 local congregations in 28countries. Each year, almost a quarter of a million people attend MCC'sprograms and services. It has collaborated successfully with LGBT groups incountries such as Jamaica, Romania and South Africa to foster publicacceptance and promote human rights.
"Human Rights Watch works to build a world in where everyone's rights willbe respected, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity,"said Long. "The Metropolitan Community Church is a vital part of this commonstruggle."
The award recognizes Human Rights Watch for these achievements againstprejudice and persecution, among others:
* Human Rights Watch played a central part in ending a massivecrackdown on men having sex with men in Egypt. After years of research,Human Rights Watch in 2004 released a report on the government campaign inwhich hundreds, possibly even thousands, were arrested and tortured. The dayafter its release and the accompanying high-level advocacy, the crackdownstopped.
* Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS and LGBT Rights Programs brought humanrights groups in Jamaica into a coalition to condemn widespread violenceagainst gay men. Its report on the issue, called "explosive" by the Jamaicanmedia, sparked an unprecedented debate within Jamaica about the rights ofLGBT people and the struggle against HIV/AIDS. The report also gave strengthto a growing movement to repeal Jamaica's colonial-era sodomy laws.
* Human Rights Watch played a key role in realizing the "YogyakartaPrinciples on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relationto Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," developed by a group ofinternational law experts meeting last year in Indonesia. The principles setout standards for how states should ensure full equality for lesbian, gay,bisexual, and transgender people. They also affirm that human rights do notadmit exceptions.
* Human Rights Watch has documented abuses against LGBT Iranians,supported over a hundred asylum claimants in dozens of countries, and helpedchange refugee policies to safeguard LGBT people in exile.
"Homophobic violence fuels the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica and around theworld, and Human Rights Watch works to combat both," said Rebecca Schleifer,advocate for the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program. "In Jamaica, I've seenhow MCC has created spaces for people living with HIV to live and worship,and has helped link human rights and faith communities."
Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS Program has been documenting human rightsabuses linked to HIV/AIDS - including state-sponsored violence anddiscrimination against LGBT people, and outreach workers to them - since2001. Human Rights Watch's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender RightsProgram - the first of its kind at a major mainstream human rightsorganization - was formed in 2004. Scott Long was its founding director.
Long has nearly 20 years of experience in fighting abuses based on sexualorientation and gender identity. He launched his human rights career inEastern Europe, where his documentation of arrests and torture underRomania's repressive anti-gay measures helped draw global attention to theeffects of sodomy laws.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Ave, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118
Tel.: 212 290 4700
Fax: 212 736 1300
http://www.hrw.org/lgbt
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Pelosi's ENDA 'Bargain":The Inside Story (Gay City News)
http://gaycitynews.com:80/site/news.cfm?newsid=18913390&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6
At a late afternoon meeting on October 12 in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi'soffice, representatives of the Democratic leadership informed key LGBTadvocates that it planned to move forward with a vote on a revised versionof the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) covering sexual orientationbut not gender identity and expression.
But in what was intended as a concession to leading LGBT organizations whohave waged an uphill struggle for more than two weeks to salvage the fullyinclusive version of the bill introduced earlier this year, Pelosi pledgedto allow a floor vote on that original formulation once advocates indicatethey have the votes to secure passage.
It is not at all certain that Pelosi's bargain will be widely accepted.
The plan would involve a hearing next week by the Labor and EducationCommittee next week and a floor vote the following week.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which indicated early last week that unlikethe preponderance of LGBT groups nationwide, it would not oppose eitherversion of ENDA Democratic leaders decided to move, hailed the outcome ofthe meeting. The group, in a written release issued at about 7 p.m., said ithad "secure[d an] unprecedented commitment" from the speaker, elsewhereterming it a "promise."
"This commitment by the speaker of the House is an unprecedented departurefrom the usual delays seen in Congress on an issue that has already beenconsidered by the full House," HRC said in its release.
Joe Solmonese, HRC's president, pledged to continue the group's "ramped up"efforts to secure congressional support for employment protections thatinclude the transgender community.
"Now the real work begins," Solmonese said. "We must maintain the momentumwe have built up to persist in educating members of Congress and the publicabout issues facing the transgender community."
Asked how other groups represented at the meeting - including the NationalGay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the National Center for TransgenderEquality (NCTE), Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays(PFLAG), and the National Stonewall Democrats - viewed the decision reached,Solmonese, in an early evening telephone interview, said, "In no way would Icharacterize others as embracing this. Ultimately I hope they will comearound."
Referring back to a statement he had made nine days earlier to Gay CityNews, Solmonese conceded that the group's need, as lead lobbyist for thecommunity on Capitol Hill, to always be "an allied partner" with pro-gaymembers of Congress meant, "We are out of step with the rest of theorganizations because of who we are."
The other groups at the Pelosi meeting are among 270 nationwide that haveorganized under the ad hoc umbrella ENDAUnited.org and pledged to oppose anyvote on ENDA that does not include gender protections.
Mara Keisling, executive director of NCTE, the leading gender rights groupin the ENDAUnited.org effort, made clear in a phone interview after theCapitol Hill meeting that her group was not backing down. As Matt Foreman,NGLTF's leader, characterized the lobbying push earlier in the week, the"ask" to members of Congress would continue to be that they support atrans-inclusive measure and oppose any other.
Keisling pledged to be back on Capitol Hill Tuesday pressing the fight tohave the inclusive version of ENDA be the only one the House votes on.
Asked about the decision to move forward with the sexual orientation-onlybill, Keisling challenged the assumption of that question by saying, "Thedecision has been made that they intend to move ahead. This would be anhistoric first that they would hold a vote on a piece of civil rightslegislation that is not supported by any LGBT or civil rights group" exceptHRC.
"There is a lot of anger," Keisling continued. "And a lot of disappointmentwith HRC. There is disappointment with this strategy, but it is not lay-downdisappointment. No one has yet been willing to explain why we need to moveforward on a bill that has no chance to be passed into law at this time."
In a written statement issued hours after the Pelosi meeting, Foreman said,"We completely disagree with this proposed strategy - it simply makes nosense. If the goal is moving an ENDA that protects all of us, passing aflawed, gay-only bill utterly undermines that objective. The notion that theHouse of Representatives will be willing to revisit a different ENDA beforethe end of the calendar year - when it has been unwilling or unable to takeup a single pro-gay matter over the last 34 years - is more thanimplausible. We will do everything possible to convince members to end thismisguided course of action."
Throughout the week, Barney Frank, the out gay Massachusetts Democrat who ischief ENDA sponsor and the lawmaker who first pushed to strip the measure ofits trans protections, has been sharply critical of advocates urging Housemembers to vote no on a gay rights bill and has also faulted the tenor oftheir lobbying.
Characterizing the rhetoric of those groups demanding that gender identitybe part of the bill as, "How dare you think about doing a partial bill,you've betrayed us," Frank, at an October 11 press conference said, "Theanger is very counterproductive and it's going to make it hard to mobilizesupport in the future."
He argued that Democrats from marginal districts who are brought around tosupport a gay rights bill cannot then be subjected to criticism from theLGBT community for the political risk they have taken.
"This is a moment of truth as far as I'm concerned for responsible liberalsin the Democratic Party," Frank added. "The question is can we governresponsibly?"
He insisted that the House "not allow ourselves to defeat each other bygiving the most passionate and involved and engaged groups a veto over anystrategy that might make a real advance."
Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda(ESPA), New York's LGBT rights lobby, took issue with Frank's politicalcalculus, saying that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shouldnot be advising its candidates, especially those facing potential toughraces, that they can expect political kudos for taking a tough vote if thebill falls short of what the community is demanding.
"I don't think these folks should be given cover," Van Capelle said, addingthat was the message he is giving members of New York's House delegation,four of whom he said he spoke to on Friday.
By week's end, in fact, it appeared that Frank's grip on ENDA leadershipamong his fellow Democrats was eroding - a dynamic that might have led to alate Friday afternoon meeting in Pelosi's office.
Democratic Congressmen Jerry Nadler, who represents the West Side ofManhattan and portions of Brooklyn, and Rush Holt of Princeton, New Jersey,have now gone public with their opposition to Frank's strategy.
Amy Rutkin, Nadler's out lesbian chief of staff, told Gay City News, "Jerrytold people at the Empire State Pride Agenda dinner [Thursday] that if he isunsuccessful in making ENDA fully inclusive, he will vote against it."
Rutkin indicated that Nadler had conveyed his position to Frank, but wouldnot characterize their conversation.
Nadler will be elaborating on his position in an interview with thisnewspaper on Monday.
Steven Goldstein of Garden State Equality wrote in an e-mail that Holt"announced last week that he would vote NO on an ENDA stripped of genderidentity, and we expect some other Democrats in our New Jersey Congressionaldelegation to follow suit."
Frank told Gay City News in a telephone interview Friday that while Holt hastaken an explicit stand that "he'll never vote for a bill that doesn'tinclude transgenders," Nadler "is saying he would vote for it, just don't doit now."
Frank characterized Nadler's posture as "holding the Congress to a higher
standard than what New York has," where sexual orientation is protected, butnot gender identity.
Joe Tarver, ESPA's communications director, said that Nadler's announcementwas "very important because it reflects where New York's community is andwhere much of the community around the country is. His position will beheard by members of the New York delegation and make them think again beforevoting on a watered-down version. If they believe that a vote for a sexualorientation-only bill will be praised by the community, they need to thinkagain."
Frank said that the Pride Agenda would have more credibility on this issue"if I heard there was a strong push to repeal the New York law and notreinstate it until it included transgenders."
Tarver responded by saying, "It's 2007. Congressman Frank needs to listen towhere the community is on this issue now."
Tarver said the Pride Agenda has written to every member of the New Yorkdelegation urging them to adopt the Nadler stance and noted Van Capelle'sone-on-one conversations. But the group is not releasing a count on wheremembers are at this point.
"We had 20 sponsors of the inclusive ENDA from the New York delegation," hesaid, "but now that they have other alternatives [because of Frank'sproposal], it becomes more difficult to predict."
Asked whether there been any push back from the Pride Agenda's constituencyover its stance, Tarver responded, "None."
Frank said he was not surprised that New Yorkers aren't pushing back because"they have their bill. This is not for them. They're already protected."
Congressman Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who represents portions of Brooklynand Queens, was asked by Gay City News at the ESPA dinner if he will voteagainst a non-inclusive ENDA and replied, "I think I would, but I hope wedon't get to that place. The reason I don't want to stake out a firm line isbecause I hope we don't get to that place."
Daniel Dromm, an out gay leader from Queens who is a Democratic districtleader in the 39th Assembly District, said he had "expressed his concern toCongressman Joseph Crowley" that they want a no vote on a non-inclusiveENDA, but had not heard back. Rohit Mahajan, communications director forCrowley, told Gay City News that the Queens Democrat "is going to supportBarney Frank's sexual orientation-only bill" if that is all that comes tothe floor.
Brice Peyre from Manhattan/Queens Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney'soffice said that "she is fully supportive of transgender inclusion," butthat she was attending her mother's funeral in Virginia and not reachable.
The LGBT Democratic clubs in New York have been united in pushing Housemembers here to oppose a non-inclusive ENDA. Allen Roskoff, president of theJim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, said of Nadler, "Jerry's commitment tovoting no on any bill that does not include the transgender community is aprincipled position which is to be respected, applauded, and imitated. WhatBarney Frank is doing is a disgrace and hurtful. He is living in anotherera."
Transgender activist Melissa Sklarz, a member of the National StonewallDemocrats board, wrote in an e-mail message that she is "thrilled" that"Nadler sees the need to help the LGBT community stay united and fight forjustice and equality for all."
Sklarz wrote, "Barney Frank should have worked more openly with us or let usknow that this was on the table. No one knew this until two weeks ago,although the professional lobbyists saw this coming in the spring as apossibility."
Foreman praised Nadler for publicly backing their strategy.
"I saw him last night and literally kissed his hand," he said. "This is abold and courageous stand for full equality that I know he has expressed toCongressman Frank. We appreciate that as well."
Foreman would not say who else in the House has committed to theENDAUnited.org strategy, but insisted, "We have the votes to pass" a fullyinclusive ENDA. He acknowledged that the tougher battle is to make sure ENDAsupporters would be willing to stand firm against Republican amendments onthe House floor to strip the gender identity provisions from the bill.
That strategy would force a straight up or down vote on transgender rights,one Frank is convinced the community at present would lose. Depending on thespecific parliamentary maneuver gay rights opponents take, the result couldmean having the bill sent back to committee, effectively killing it for thetime being.
Solmonese said that at Friday's meeting the vote count discussion focusednot on the number of ayes in favor of a trans-inclusive bill, but rather thenumber of firm nays to beat back a Republican troublemaking amendment, knownas a recommit motion. Those votes are not there, he said.
But Nadine Smith of Equality Florida challenged that conclusion.
"If the inclusive bill were brought forward, we believe a slim majoritywould support it," she said. "We believe the motion to recommit will fail ifthe [Democratic] leadership stops sending mixed messages, preachinginclusive language but insisting the votes to support it won't exist."
Florida currently offers no protections in state law for LGBT people.
Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat and the only other out lesbian or gaymember of Congress, made clear on October 11 that she thinks the originalENDA with transgender protections should be brought to the floor, even if itmeans a potentially crippling amendment effort by the GOP.
"Perhaps some of these hostile efforts will be successful," Baldwin said ina written statement. "That should not deter our work. We must bring thestrongest possible bill to the floor of the House for a vote. If ouradversaries wish to erode protections in the bill, we must be prepared toface that challenge and make our case. However, I believe it is a mistake toconcede defeat on any issue, before our opponents even raise it."
She stopped short, however, of urging her colleagues to oppose thetrimmed-down Frank version of the bill.
Asked to explain how an activist like Smith, who works in a state withneither a gay rights law nor gender identity protections, is willing to holdout for a fully-inclusive approach to federal legislation rather than goingfor a quick gay rights gain, Frank responded, "I don't think they speak fortheir people," adding that "average gay men and lesbians" he speaks to wouldbe very happy with an ENDA that protects them on the basis of sexualorientation if a more inclusive bill is not possible now.
Pelosi's office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101307taiwan.htm
Taiwan Gays Grow In Visibility
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 13, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Taipei) Thousands of gays, lesbians and transsexuals marched through thestreets of Taipei Saturday in the capital's biggest pride celebration todate.
Five years ago only a handful of people turned out. This year some 10,000people took part, more than four-times the number from a year ago.
Like pride parades in Europe and America it was led off by the rainbow flagwith marchers decked out in often outrageous costumes. But uniquely Asian,the marchers also carried banners - red considered a symbol of sex, orangefor power.
And like parades elsewhere Taipei gays tied a message to the partying -"we're here, we're queer, and want our rights".
LGBT civil rights bills have been languishing for years in Parliament.
more....
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid49648.asp
October 09, 2007
What It Means to Be Trans
LGBT leadership just went on record in a big way by insisting that ENDAshould be trans-inclusive. Maybe now it's important to know what"transgender" really means
By Joanne Herman
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 9, 2007
For months now, an amazing coalition of LGBT organizations has workedtirelessly toward passage of the first transgender-inclusive EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act bill in Congress. Yet in a weak moment at the veryend of September, key legislators got cold feet and threw us out. Reactionwas immediate and overwhelming. Almost all of the country's LGBTorganizations -- the list continues to grow -- spoke out loud and clear inopposition to this ejection. Legislators had no choice but to give atrans-inclusive ENDA another chance.
If the developments of the last few days have you wanting to know more aboutwhat "transgender" really means, you've come to the right place. In the next800 words I'll cover the key things you need to know. You may not be awarethat I've actually written 20 Advocate.com columns over the past two yearson transgender awareness -- you can find links to all of them on my own Website. But no matter; I'll include links below where my back columns providemore information on particular topics.
more....
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[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14alford.html?pagewanted=print
October 14, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Regrets Only
See "footnotes immediately below"
By HENRY ALFORD
I WANT to make it clear that everything you've heard and read is true.(1) Ican also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need toexamine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.(2) So if you're sothin-skinned that you took offense to a slip of the tongue that I had, thenI offer my apology. I am, am sorry that you were offended.(3)
We admit that several members of our organization allowed an internal powerstruggle to cloud good judgment.(4) We should have done better.(5) Isincerely apologize and hope people realize that conversations can be easilymanipulated in print.(6) And I don't care that he's black or green or purpleor whatever.(7)
I failed.(8) I acknowledge that mistakes were made here.(9) I'm not a badperson. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing.(10) I am not a bigot.(11)I never want to be portrayed as a guy who loses his cool.(12) That was avery intemperate remark made in the heat of the day yesterday in a verymisguided attempt to defend my boss.(13) When I called him "Pruneface," itwas campaign rhetoric.(14) I certainly would never intend to use theoffensive word in its technical sense, and I would not and could not underany circumstances question the parentage of your son, our currentgovernor.(15) Our trust has been broken, and only love can rebuild it.(16)
more....
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14alfordnotes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
October 14, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Footnotes to 'Regret Only'
1. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco re his affair with the wife of hisformer campaign manager, 2007.
2. Isaiah Washington, a star of "Grey's Anatomy," re an anti-gay slur hehurled at is co-star T. R. Knight 2007.
3. Scott James, a Fox News Radio 600 KCOL host, re his on-air remarksequating homosexuals with child molesters, 2007.
4. The president of the Fayetteville (N.C.) Woman's Club re its rejection ofa woman who would have been its first black member, 2007.
5. David Neeleman, the chief executive and founder of Jet Blue re thehundreds of passengers stranded at Kennedy Airport during an ice storm,2007.
6. The actress Sienna Miller re anti-Pittsburgh remarks she made in RollingStone, 2006.
7. Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, re accusing Barry Bonds of using steroidsand cheating on his wife and taxes, 2007.
8. Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman re the uncleanliness of Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center, 2007.
9. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales re the dismissal of United Statesattorneys, 2007.
10. Don Imus re racist comments he made about the Rutgers women's basketballteam, 2007.
43 more.....
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/world/europe/14Vatican.html
Monsignor Suspended; Reported to Say His Gay Sex Isn't Sin
October 14, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY, Oct. 13 (AP) - An Italian monsignor was suspended from hispost at the Vatican after he was reported to have said in a televisioninterview that he "didn't feel he was sinning" by having sex with gay men,the Vatican and news reports said Saturday.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters that, whilethe case was under investigation, the monsignor was suspended from his jobas a top official in the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, which aims toensure proper conduct by priests.
"The case is being handled with utmost reserve," Father Lombardi said.
A private Italian television network broadcast a program this month in whichsome priests were interviewed about their homosexuality. Vatican teachingholds that homosexuality is a sin.
The men, including the monsignor who was suspended, were interviewed withtheir faces obscured and their voices altered so that they would not berecognized. But Vatican officials recognized the Vatican office in which themonsignor was interviewed, the newspaper La Repubblica reported on Saturday.
During the interview the monsignor said he "didn't feel he was sinning" byhaving sex with gay men, La Repubblica reported.
The Vatican did not name the monsignor.
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/548/v-print/story/269338.html
Heeding a call to action
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
BY DANIEL SHOER ROTH
I always felt like a pariah.
Growing up Jewish in predominantly Catholic Venezuela and gay in a verymachista society gave me a sense of not belonging. Then, when I reachedadulthood, I became a Hispanic immigrant in a country whose culture wasunfamiliar to me. Because of that, I became sensitive to those who belongedto a minority. Or who, simply, suffered.
Like Lilly Luna of Homestead, a Mexican immigrant struggling to support herfamily. Or Garvin Webster Sr., who saw his son fatally shot outside hisAllapattah home. Or Morris Rosen, a centenarian in Sunny Isles Beach whosometimes feels lonely.
These are some of the faces of Miami who are often overlooked andunderserved, people overcoming tremendous odds to build a better life. Theyare the protagonists of my columns Punto de Partida -- ''The StartingPoint'' -- that ran in El Nuevo Herald over the past three years.
A year ago, Daniella Levine from the Human Services Coalition -- one of myregular sources -- suggested that my columns about South Florida's socialchallenges needed to reach a broader audience and cross our community'smajor language divide. And so this book was born. We invited communityleaders to write short essays that amplify and explain key points.
Our project tries to inspire you to take action. To give a hand to the lessfortunate. To respect those who are different. Punto de Partida is simply astarting point for us all.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Soulforce
www.soulforce.org/
Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights Concludes Saturday: Straight Friendsfrom Coast to Coast Will Keep Speaking Out for Equality
Already this week, straight supporters in Georgia, Arkansas, Maine, Iowa,Minnesota, South Carolina, New York, Alabama, Massachusetts, Washington,D.C., Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois,California, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan, and Utah havemade their voices heard. Tonight, events in Oregon and Colorado, as well asanother action in New York, round out this historic week.
Many states had more than one city participating in this original campaign,and each event took on a local flair. For instance, in Austin, Texas, alarge crowd gathered on the steps of the state Capitol. Soulforce ExecutiveDirector Jeff Lutes opened the rally and was followed by Anne Wynne (founderof Atticus Circle), Rev. Dr. Sid Hall, Representatives Mark Strama, DonnaHoward, and Valinda Bolton; City Council Member Brewster McCracken andTravis County Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt. They each spoke about theimportance of straight men and women coming out and standing up in supportof all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Thecrowd then enjoyed the music of Sarah Hickman, Craig Toungate, DjembabesDrummers, Susan Lincoln and the Hilde Girls. Students from the University ofTexas marched from the UT Tower to the Capitol to kick off the vigil, andafter the initial hour, a small group of dedicated citizens took shiftsvigiling throughout the night until 8am the next morning.
To watch news coverage of the Seven Straight Nights vigils in Austin, Texasand Raleigh, North Carolina go to www.sevenstraightnights.org/article/11
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For The Bible Tells Me So -- Documentary Featuring Soulforce Now ShowingAcross the Country
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the SeattleInternational Film Festival, Dan Karslake's provocative, entertainingdocumentary, For The Bible Tells Me So, brilliantly reconciles homosexualityand Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctionedanti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and oftenmalicious) misinterpretation of the Bible.
Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very Americanfamilies -- including those of former House Majority Leader RichardGephardt, Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson, and the Reitan Family -- wediscover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having agay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu,Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg, Soulforce's MelWhite, and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For The Bible Tells Me So offers healing,clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scriptureand sexual identity. Much of the footage was taken from the Soulforce directaction outside Focus on the Family in May, 2005.
To watch the trailer and see a list of screenings go towww.soulforce.org/article/1306
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's Office
October 12, 2007
Contact: Beth Willon, (916) 319-2411
Núñez Statement on Veto of Assemblyman Leno's Marriage Equality Bill
SACRAMENTO-Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has released the followingstatement on the veto of AB 43 (Leno):
"I am proud that twice now the California Legislature has approvedAssemblyman Mark Leno's legislation to guarantee equal marriagerights for all Californians. While I am disappointed the governor hasagain vetoed this basic extension of fairness, I firmly believe thatthe day will come soon when California law is on the right side ofthis issue-- and the right side of history. The California Assemblywill continue working to make that happen."
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Veto Message from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/AB%2043%20veto%20message.pdf
To the Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning Assembly Bill 43 without my signature.
As I stated in vetoing similar legislation in 2005, I am proudCalifornia is a leader in recognizing and respecting domesticpartnerships. I believe that all Californians are entitled to fullprotection under the law and should not be discriminated againstbased upon their sexual orientation. I support current domesticpartnership rights and will continue to vigorously defend andenforce these rights.
In 2000, the voters approved Proposition 22, a challenge to whichis currently pending before the California Supreme Court. Imaintain my position that the appropriate resolution to this issue isto allow the Court to rule on Proposition 22. The people ofCalifornia should then determine what, if any, statutory changesare needed in response to the Court's ruling.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Metropolitan Community Church Honors Human Rights Watch
Award Recognizes Groundbreaking Work on LGBT Rights
(New York, June 29, 2007) - The Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) - afellowship of Christian churches with a special ministry to lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender people - will present its triennial Human RightsAward to Human Rights Watch on July 4. The award recognizes Human RightsWatch's groundbreaking work defending LGBT people worldwide from violence,discrimination, and abuse. "Faith used as a pretext for hatred often fuelsviolence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people," saidScott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender RightsProgram at Human Rights Watch. "For the Metropolitan Community Church,religion means inclusion, and we are proud to work with them in spreadingthe message that human rights are for everyone."
Founded in 1968, Metropolitan Community Church is the largest and oldestworldwide Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry to LGBTpeople and communities. The church's United Fellowship presents its HumanRights Award every three years at its International General Conference. Thisyear, Scott Long will accept the award at the conference in Scottsdale,Arizona.
The Metropolitan Community Church has almost 300 local congregations in 28countries. Each year, almost a quarter of a million people attend MCC'sprograms and services. It has collaborated successfully with LGBT groups incountries such as Jamaica, Romania and South Africa to foster publicacceptance and promote human rights.
"Human Rights Watch works to build a world in where everyone's rights willbe respected, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity,"said Long. "The Metropolitan Community Church is a vital part of this commonstruggle."
The award recognizes Human Rights Watch for these achievements againstprejudice and persecution, among others:
* Human Rights Watch played a central part in ending a massivecrackdown on men having sex with men in Egypt. After years of research,Human Rights Watch in 2004 released a report on the government campaign inwhich hundreds, possibly even thousands, were arrested and tortured. The dayafter its release and the accompanying high-level advocacy, the crackdownstopped.
* Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS and LGBT Rights Programs brought humanrights groups in Jamaica into a coalition to condemn widespread violenceagainst gay men. Its report on the issue, called "explosive" by the Jamaicanmedia, sparked an unprecedented debate within Jamaica about the rights ofLGBT people and the struggle against HIV/AIDS. The report also gave strengthto a growing movement to repeal Jamaica's colonial-era sodomy laws.
* Human Rights Watch played a key role in realizing the "YogyakartaPrinciples on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relationto Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," developed by a group ofinternational law experts meeting last year in Indonesia. The principles setout standards for how states should ensure full equality for lesbian, gay,bisexual, and transgender people. They also affirm that human rights do notadmit exceptions.
* Human Rights Watch has documented abuses against LGBT Iranians,supported over a hundred asylum claimants in dozens of countries, and helpedchange refugee policies to safeguard LGBT people in exile.
"Homophobic violence fuels the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica and around theworld, and Human Rights Watch works to combat both," said Rebecca Schleifer,advocate for the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program. "In Jamaica, I've seenhow MCC has created spaces for people living with HIV to live and worship,and has helped link human rights and faith communities."
Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS Program has been documenting human rightsabuses linked to HIV/AIDS - including state-sponsored violence anddiscrimination against LGBT people, and outreach workers to them - since2001. Human Rights Watch's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender RightsProgram - the first of its kind at a major mainstream human rightsorganization - was formed in 2004. Scott Long was its founding director.
Long has nearly 20 years of experience in fighting abuses based on sexualorientation and gender identity. He launched his human rights career inEastern Europe, where his documentation of arrests and torture underRomania's repressive anti-gay measures helped draw global attention to theeffects of sodomy laws.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Ave, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118
Tel.: 212 290 4700
Fax: 212 736 1300
http://www.hrw.org/lgbt
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Pelosi's ENDA 'Bargain":The Inside Story (Gay City News)
http://gaycitynews.com:80/site/news.cfm?newsid=18913390&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6
At a late afternoon meeting on October 12 in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi'soffice, representatives of the Democratic leadership informed key LGBTadvocates that it planned to move forward with a vote on a revised versionof the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) covering sexual orientationbut not gender identity and expression.
But in what was intended as a concession to leading LGBT organizations whohave waged an uphill struggle for more than two weeks to salvage the fullyinclusive version of the bill introduced earlier this year, Pelosi pledgedto allow a floor vote on that original formulation once advocates indicatethey have the votes to secure passage.
It is not at all certain that Pelosi's bargain will be widely accepted.
The plan would involve a hearing next week by the Labor and EducationCommittee next week and a floor vote the following week.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which indicated early last week that unlikethe preponderance of LGBT groups nationwide, it would not oppose eitherversion of ENDA Democratic leaders decided to move, hailed the outcome ofthe meeting. The group, in a written release issued at about 7 p.m., said ithad "secure[d an] unprecedented commitment" from the speaker, elsewhereterming it a "promise."
"This commitment by the speaker of the House is an unprecedented departurefrom the usual delays seen in Congress on an issue that has already beenconsidered by the full House," HRC said in its release.
Joe Solmonese, HRC's president, pledged to continue the group's "ramped up"efforts to secure congressional support for employment protections thatinclude the transgender community.
"Now the real work begins," Solmonese said. "We must maintain the momentumwe have built up to persist in educating members of Congress and the publicabout issues facing the transgender community."
Asked how other groups represented at the meeting - including the NationalGay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the National Center for TransgenderEquality (NCTE), Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays(PFLAG), and the National Stonewall Democrats - viewed the decision reached,Solmonese, in an early evening telephone interview, said, "In no way would Icharacterize others as embracing this. Ultimately I hope they will comearound."
Referring back to a statement he had made nine days earlier to Gay CityNews, Solmonese conceded that the group's need, as lead lobbyist for thecommunity on Capitol Hill, to always be "an allied partner" with pro-gaymembers of Congress meant, "We are out of step with the rest of theorganizations because of who we are."
The other groups at the Pelosi meeting are among 270 nationwide that haveorganized under the ad hoc umbrella ENDAUnited.org and pledged to oppose anyvote on ENDA that does not include gender protections.
Mara Keisling, executive director of NCTE, the leading gender rights groupin the ENDAUnited.org effort, made clear in a phone interview after theCapitol Hill meeting that her group was not backing down. As Matt Foreman,NGLTF's leader, characterized the lobbying push earlier in the week, the"ask" to members of Congress would continue to be that they support atrans-inclusive measure and oppose any other.
Keisling pledged to be back on Capitol Hill Tuesday pressing the fight tohave the inclusive version of ENDA be the only one the House votes on.
Asked about the decision to move forward with the sexual orientation-onlybill, Keisling challenged the assumption of that question by saying, "Thedecision has been made that they intend to move ahead. This would be anhistoric first that they would hold a vote on a piece of civil rightslegislation that is not supported by any LGBT or civil rights group" exceptHRC.
"There is a lot of anger," Keisling continued. "And a lot of disappointmentwith HRC. There is disappointment with this strategy, but it is not lay-downdisappointment. No one has yet been willing to explain why we need to moveforward on a bill that has no chance to be passed into law at this time."
In a written statement issued hours after the Pelosi meeting, Foreman said,"We completely disagree with this proposed strategy - it simply makes nosense. If the goal is moving an ENDA that protects all of us, passing aflawed, gay-only bill utterly undermines that objective. The notion that theHouse of Representatives will be willing to revisit a different ENDA beforethe end of the calendar year - when it has been unwilling or unable to takeup a single pro-gay matter over the last 34 years - is more thanimplausible. We will do everything possible to convince members to end thismisguided course of action."
Throughout the week, Barney Frank, the out gay Massachusetts Democrat who ischief ENDA sponsor and the lawmaker who first pushed to strip the measure ofits trans protections, has been sharply critical of advocates urging Housemembers to vote no on a gay rights bill and has also faulted the tenor oftheir lobbying.
Characterizing the rhetoric of those groups demanding that gender identitybe part of the bill as, "How dare you think about doing a partial bill,you've betrayed us," Frank, at an October 11 press conference said, "Theanger is very counterproductive and it's going to make it hard to mobilizesupport in the future."
He argued that Democrats from marginal districts who are brought around tosupport a gay rights bill cannot then be subjected to criticism from theLGBT community for the political risk they have taken.
"This is a moment of truth as far as I'm concerned for responsible liberalsin the Democratic Party," Frank added. "The question is can we governresponsibly?"
He insisted that the House "not allow ourselves to defeat each other bygiving the most passionate and involved and engaged groups a veto over anystrategy that might make a real advance."
Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda(ESPA), New York's LGBT rights lobby, took issue with Frank's politicalcalculus, saying that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shouldnot be advising its candidates, especially those facing potential toughraces, that they can expect political kudos for taking a tough vote if thebill falls short of what the community is demanding.
"I don't think these folks should be given cover," Van Capelle said, addingthat was the message he is giving members of New York's House delegation,four of whom he said he spoke to on Friday.
By week's end, in fact, it appeared that Frank's grip on ENDA leadershipamong his fellow Democrats was eroding - a dynamic that might have led to alate Friday afternoon meeting in Pelosi's office.
Democratic Congressmen Jerry Nadler, who represents the West Side ofManhattan and portions of Brooklyn, and Rush Holt of Princeton, New Jersey,have now gone public with their opposition to Frank's strategy.
Amy Rutkin, Nadler's out lesbian chief of staff, told Gay City News, "Jerrytold people at the Empire State Pride Agenda dinner [Thursday] that if he isunsuccessful in making ENDA fully inclusive, he will vote against it."
Rutkin indicated that Nadler had conveyed his position to Frank, but wouldnot characterize their conversation.
Nadler will be elaborating on his position in an interview with thisnewspaper on Monday.
Steven Goldstein of Garden State Equality wrote in an e-mail that Holt"announced last week that he would vote NO on an ENDA stripped of genderidentity, and we expect some other Democrats in our New Jersey Congressionaldelegation to follow suit."
Frank told Gay City News in a telephone interview Friday that while Holt hastaken an explicit stand that "he'll never vote for a bill that doesn'tinclude transgenders," Nadler "is saying he would vote for it, just don't doit now."
Frank characterized Nadler's posture as "holding the Congress to a higher
standard than what New York has," where sexual orientation is protected, butnot gender identity.
Joe Tarver, ESPA's communications director, said that Nadler's announcementwas "very important because it reflects where New York's community is andwhere much of the community around the country is. His position will beheard by members of the New York delegation and make them think again beforevoting on a watered-down version. If they believe that a vote for a sexualorientation-only bill will be praised by the community, they need to thinkagain."
Frank said that the Pride Agenda would have more credibility on this issue"if I heard there was a strong push to repeal the New York law and notreinstate it until it included transgenders."
Tarver responded by saying, "It's 2007. Congressman Frank needs to listen towhere the community is on this issue now."
Tarver said the Pride Agenda has written to every member of the New Yorkdelegation urging them to adopt the Nadler stance and noted Van Capelle'sone-on-one conversations. But the group is not releasing a count on wheremembers are at this point.
"We had 20 sponsors of the inclusive ENDA from the New York delegation," hesaid, "but now that they have other alternatives [because of Frank'sproposal], it becomes more difficult to predict."
Asked whether there been any push back from the Pride Agenda's constituencyover its stance, Tarver responded, "None."
Frank said he was not surprised that New Yorkers aren't pushing back because"they have their bill. This is not for them. They're already protected."
Congressman Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who represents portions of Brooklynand Queens, was asked by Gay City News at the ESPA dinner if he will voteagainst a non-inclusive ENDA and replied, "I think I would, but I hope wedon't get to that place. The reason I don't want to stake out a firm line isbecause I hope we don't get to that place."
Daniel Dromm, an out gay leader from Queens who is a Democratic districtleader in the 39th Assembly District, said he had "expressed his concern toCongressman Joseph Crowley" that they want a no vote on a non-inclusiveENDA, but had not heard back. Rohit Mahajan, communications director forCrowley, told Gay City News that the Queens Democrat "is going to supportBarney Frank's sexual orientation-only bill" if that is all that comes tothe floor.
Brice Peyre from Manhattan/Queens Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney'soffice said that "she is fully supportive of transgender inclusion," butthat she was attending her mother's funeral in Virginia and not reachable.
The LGBT Democratic clubs in New York have been united in pushing Housemembers here to oppose a non-inclusive ENDA. Allen Roskoff, president of theJim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, said of Nadler, "Jerry's commitment tovoting no on any bill that does not include the transgender community is aprincipled position which is to be respected, applauded, and imitated. WhatBarney Frank is doing is a disgrace and hurtful. He is living in anotherera."
Transgender activist Melissa Sklarz, a member of the National StonewallDemocrats board, wrote in an e-mail message that she is "thrilled" that"Nadler sees the need to help the LGBT community stay united and fight forjustice and equality for all."
Sklarz wrote, "Barney Frank should have worked more openly with us or let usknow that this was on the table. No one knew this until two weeks ago,although the professional lobbyists saw this coming in the spring as apossibility."
Foreman praised Nadler for publicly backing their strategy.
"I saw him last night and literally kissed his hand," he said. "This is abold and courageous stand for full equality that I know he has expressed toCongressman Frank. We appreciate that as well."
Foreman would not say who else in the House has committed to theENDAUnited.org strategy, but insisted, "We have the votes to pass" a fullyinclusive ENDA. He acknowledged that the tougher battle is to make sure ENDAsupporters would be willing to stand firm against Republican amendments onthe House floor to strip the gender identity provisions from the bill.
That strategy would force a straight up or down vote on transgender rights,one Frank is convinced the community at present would lose. Depending on thespecific parliamentary maneuver gay rights opponents take, the result couldmean having the bill sent back to committee, effectively killing it for thetime being.
Solmonese said that at Friday's meeting the vote count discussion focusednot on the number of ayes in favor of a trans-inclusive bill, but rather thenumber of firm nays to beat back a Republican troublemaking amendment, knownas a recommit motion. Those votes are not there, he said.
But Nadine Smith of Equality Florida challenged that conclusion.
"If the inclusive bill were brought forward, we believe a slim majoritywould support it," she said. "We believe the motion to recommit will fail ifthe [Democratic] leadership stops sending mixed messages, preachinginclusive language but insisting the votes to support it won't exist."
Florida currently offers no protections in state law for LGBT people.
Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat and the only other out lesbian or gaymember of Congress, made clear on October 11 that she thinks the originalENDA with transgender protections should be brought to the floor, even if itmeans a potentially crippling amendment effort by the GOP.
"Perhaps some of these hostile efforts will be successful," Baldwin said ina written statement. "That should not deter our work. We must bring thestrongest possible bill to the floor of the House for a vote. If ouradversaries wish to erode protections in the bill, we must be prepared toface that challenge and make our case. However, I believe it is a mistake toconcede defeat on any issue, before our opponents even raise it."
She stopped short, however, of urging her colleagues to oppose thetrimmed-down Frank version of the bill.
Asked to explain how an activist like Smith, who works in a state withneither a gay rights law nor gender identity protections, is willing to holdout for a fully-inclusive approach to federal legislation rather than goingfor a quick gay rights gain, Frank responded, "I don't think they speak fortheir people," adding that "average gay men and lesbians" he speaks to wouldbe very happy with an ENDA that protects them on the basis of sexualorientation if a more inclusive bill is not possible now.
Pelosi's office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
=
365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101307taiwan.htm
Taiwan Gays Grow In Visibility
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 13, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Taipei) Thousands of gays, lesbians and transsexuals marched through thestreets of Taipei Saturday in the capital's biggest pride celebration todate.
Five years ago only a handful of people turned out. This year some 10,000people took part, more than four-times the number from a year ago.
Like pride parades in Europe and America it was led off by the rainbow flagwith marchers decked out in often outrageous costumes. But uniquely Asian,the marchers also carried banners - red considered a symbol of sex, orangefor power.
And like parades elsewhere Taipei gays tied a message to the partying -"we're here, we're queer, and want our rights".
LGBT civil rights bills have been languishing for years in Parliament.
more....
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid49648.asp
October 09, 2007
What It Means to Be Trans
LGBT leadership just went on record in a big way by insisting that ENDAshould be trans-inclusive. Maybe now it's important to know what"transgender" really means
By Joanne Herman
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 9, 2007
For months now, an amazing coalition of LGBT organizations has workedtirelessly toward passage of the first transgender-inclusive EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act bill in Congress. Yet in a weak moment at the veryend of September, key legislators got cold feet and threw us out. Reactionwas immediate and overwhelming. Almost all of the country's LGBTorganizations -- the list continues to grow -- spoke out loud and clear inopposition to this ejection. Legislators had no choice but to give atrans-inclusive ENDA another chance.
If the developments of the last few days have you wanting to know more aboutwhat "transgender" really means, you've come to the right place. In the next800 words I'll cover the key things you need to know. You may not be awarethat I've actually written 20 Advocate.com columns over the past two yearson transgender awareness -- you can find links to all of them on my own Website. But no matter; I'll include links below where my back columns providemore information on particular topics.
more....
=
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NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 14, 2007
**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 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/14weapons.html?hp
October 14, 2007
Analysts Find Israel Struck a Nuclear Project Inside Syria
By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Israel's air attack on Syria last month was directedagainst a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was apartly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Koreahas used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel, according toAmerican and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports.
The description of the target addresses one of the central mysteriessurrounding the Sept. 6 attack, and suggests that Israel carried out theraid to demonstrate its determination to snuff out even a nascent nuclearproject in a neighboring state. The Bush administration was divided at thetime about the wisdom of Israel's strike, American officials said, and somesenior policy makers still regard the attack as premature.
more...
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14sun1.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
October 14, 2007
Editorial
Spies, Lies and FISA
As Democratic lawmakers try to repair a deeply flawed bill on electroniceavesdropping, the White House is pumping out the same fog of fear anddisinformation it used to push the bill through Congress this summer.President Bush has been telling Americans that any change would deny thegovernment critical information, make it easier for terrorists toinfiltrate, expose state secrets, and make it harder "to save Americanlives."
There is no truth to any of those claims. No matter how often Mr. Bush saysotherwise, there is also no disagreement from the Democrats about the needto provide adequate tools to fight terrorists. The debate is over whetherthis should be done constitutionally, or at the whim of the president.
The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, requires a warrantto intercept international communications involving anyone in the UnitedStates. A secret court has granted these warrants quickly nearly every timeit has been asked. After 9/11, the Patriot Act made it even easier toconduct surveillance, especially in hot pursuit of terrorists.
more....
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14friedman.html?ref=opinion
October 14, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Succeed Al Gore?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Seeing Al Gore so deservedly share the Nobel Peace Prize, it is impossiblenot to note the contrast in his leadership and that of George W. Bush.
Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush each faced a crucible moment. For Mr. Gore, it waswinning the popular vote and having the election taken away from him by aRepublican-dominated Supreme Court. For Mr. Bush, it was the shockingterrorist attack on 9/11.
Mr. Gore lost the presidency, but in the dignity and grace with which hegave up his legal fight, he united America. Then, faced with what to do withthe rest of his life, he took up a personal crusade to combat climatechange, even though the odds were stacked against him, his soapbox wassmall, his audiences were measured in hundreds, and his critics were legion.Nevertheless, Mr. Gore stuck with it and over time has played a central rolein building a global consensus for action on this issue.
more....
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/education/13harvard.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2007
First Woman Takes Reins at Harvard
By SARA RIMER
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 12 - Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University's firstfemale president, was inaugurated Friday and offered a spirited defense ofAmerican higher education against demands that it quantify what it isteaching and focus primarily on training a global work force.
"The essence of a university is that it is uniquely accountable to the pastand to the future - not simply or even primarily to the present," said Dr.Faust, 60, a Civil War historian and the former head of the RadcliffeInstitute for Advanced Study at the university.
"A university is not about results in the next quarter," Dr. Faust said. "Itis not even about who a student has become by graduation. It is aboutlearning that molds a lifetime, learning that transmits the heritage ofmillennia; learning that shapes the future."
In clear opposition to pressure from the federal government for universitiesto prove they are accountable by quantifying how well they teach, she calledon higher education institutions themselves "to seize the initiative indefining what we are accountable for."
more....
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/889/v-print/story/270659.html
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
Report ranks jobs by rates of depression
By KEVIN FREKING
People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinkshave the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year,according to a government report available Saturday.
Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, andyounger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.
Almost 11 percent of personal care workers - which includes child care andhelping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs - reporteddepression lasting two weeks or longer.
During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at leastfour other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy,concentration and self-image.
Workers who prepare and serve food - cooks, bartenders, waiters andwaitresses - had the second highest rate of depression among full-timeemployees at 10.3 percent.
more....
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/269755.html
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
You call it a 'prank,' but I call it terror
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
This will be a history of rope.
It strikes me that such a history is desperately needed just now. It seemsthe travesty in Jena, La., has spawned a ghastly trend. Remember how whitestudents at Jena High placed nooses in a tree last year to communicateantipathy toward their African-American classmates? Now it's happening allover.
A noose is left for a black workman at a construction site in the Chicagoarea. In Queens, a woman brandishes a noose to threaten her black neighbors.A noose is left on the door of a black professor at Columbia University. Andthat's just last week. Go back a little further and you have similarincidents at the University of Maryland in College Park, at a policedepartment on Long Island, on a Coast Guard cutter, in a bus maintenancegarage in Pittsburgh.
Mark Potok, the director of the Intelligence Project of the Southern PovertyLaw Center, told USA Today, ``For a dozen incidents to come to the public'sattention is a lot. I don't generally see noose incidents in a typicalmonth. We might hear about a handful in a year.''
The superintendent of schools in Jena famously dismissed the originalincident as a ''prank.'' It was an astonishing response, speaking volumesabout the blithe historical ignorance of people who have found it convenientnot to peer too closely at the atrocities of the past lest they beaccidentally . . . moved.
But watching this trend unfold, it occurs to me that maybe what we need hereis the opposite of ignorance. Maybe what we need is information. Maybe whatwe need is a history of rope.
A history of rope would have to include, in 1904, Luther Holbert and hiswife, who had their fingers chopped off and handed out as souvenirs. Holbertwas beaten so badly one of his eyes came out. It hung by a thread. A largecorkscrew was used to bore into the couple's flesh. It tore out big chunksof them each time it was withdrawn. A rope was used to tie them to the tree.
A history of rope would have to include, in 1917, Rufus Moncrief, who wasbeaten senseless by a mob. They used a saw to cut off his arms and otherwisemutilated him. The mob hanged Moncrief. Then, for good measure, they hangedhis dog. Ropes were used for both.
A history of rope would have to include, in 1918, Mary Turner, burned alivein Valdosta, Ga. A man used a hog-splitting knife to slash her swollenstomach. The baby she had carried nearly to term tumbled out and managed twocries before the man crushed its head beneath his heel. A rope was used totie Turner upside down in a tree.
A history of rope would include thousands of Turners, Moncriefs andHolberts. It would range widely across the geography of this nation and theyears of the last two centuries. A history of rope would travel from Cairo,Ill., in 1909 to Fort Lauderdale in 1935 to Urbana, Ohio, in 1897 toWrightsville, Ga., in 1903, to Leitchfield, Ky., in 1913 to Newbern, Tenn.in 1902. And beyond.
You might say the country has changed since then, and it has. The problemis, it's changing again.
It feels as if in recent years we the people have backward traveled fromeven the pretense of believing our loftiest ideals. It has becomefashionable to decry excessive ''political correctness,'' deride''diversity,'' sneer at the ''protected classes.'' Code words sanding downhatred's rough edge. ''State's rights'' for the new millennium. And now, outcome the nooses. Just a prank, the man says.
Mary Turner would argue otherwise. I find it useful to remember her, usefulto be reminded of things we would rather forget. To remember her is tounderstand that there is no prank here.
A history of rope would drown your conscience in blood.
=
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-1014edit1oct14,0,978401.story
A dangerous political stunt
Editorial
October 14, 2007
There is no shortage of pressing issues deserving of congressionalattention, from immigration reform to national intelligence. But last week,some members were fixated on the distant past, examining terrible eventsthat occurred some 90 years ago during the disintegration of the OttomanEmpire.
By a 27-21 vote, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a nonbindingresolution whose only point was to state its opinion on a matter ofhistory -- which is that the mass killing of Armenians by Turks amounted to"genocide." And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime supporter of theresolution, has promised a floor vote. Do you feel better now?
Most Americans probably don't, because a political stunt like this will notbring back the dead or punish the guilty. All it does is antagonize thepeople and government of Turkey, who have been of crucial help to ourefforts in Iraq and Afghanistan -- at a time when the U.S. is not swampedwith friends in that part of the world. It suggests that Congress isfundamentally unserious.
more....
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/v-print/story/271106.html
McCain, Giuliani campaigns blast Romney
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
BY JANET HOOK
Republican presidential candidates Saturday intensified a contentious debateabout which of the front-runners best reflects the mainstream of theirparty, as Mitt Romney's rivals lambasted his recent claim to represent the``Republican wing of the Republican party.''
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in an unusually sharp attack, pointed to Romney'srecord of support for liberal causes while he was governor of Massachusetts.
''As we all know, when he ran for office in Massachusetts, being aRepublican wasn't much of a priority,'' McCain said at a speech in NewHampshire. McCain was responding to remarks made by Romney on Fridayportraying himself as the most reliable conservative of the GOPfront-runners.
''Conservatives that have heard me time and again recognize that I do speakfor the Republican wing of the Republican Party,'' Romney said, whilecriticizing former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
FIGHTING FOR BASE
The increasingly personal sniping underscores how none of the GOP candidateshas a lock on the party's conservative wing -- and how many of them arestruggling to do so because their records include significant departuresfrom party orthodoxy.
more . . . . .
=
Paul-Moor.com
http://www.paul-moor.com/
Former Pres. Jimmy Carter on CNN as to whether Bush's USA uses torture:"I don't think it, I KNOW it!"
=
[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
#####
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/14weapons.html?hp
October 14, 2007
Analysts Find Israel Struck a Nuclear Project Inside Syria
By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Israel's air attack on Syria last month was directedagainst a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was apartly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Koreahas used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel, according toAmerican and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports.
The description of the target addresses one of the central mysteriessurrounding the Sept. 6 attack, and suggests that Israel carried out theraid to demonstrate its determination to snuff out even a nascent nuclearproject in a neighboring state. The Bush administration was divided at thetime about the wisdom of Israel's strike, American officials said, and somesenior policy makers still regard the attack as premature.
more...
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14sun1.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
October 14, 2007
Editorial
Spies, Lies and FISA
As Democratic lawmakers try to repair a deeply flawed bill on electroniceavesdropping, the White House is pumping out the same fog of fear anddisinformation it used to push the bill through Congress this summer.President Bush has been telling Americans that any change would deny thegovernment critical information, make it easier for terrorists toinfiltrate, expose state secrets, and make it harder "to save Americanlives."
There is no truth to any of those claims. No matter how often Mr. Bush saysotherwise, there is also no disagreement from the Democrats about the needto provide adequate tools to fight terrorists. The debate is over whetherthis should be done constitutionally, or at the whim of the president.
The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, requires a warrantto intercept international communications involving anyone in the UnitedStates. A secret court has granted these warrants quickly nearly every timeit has been asked. After 9/11, the Patriot Act made it even easier toconduct surveillance, especially in hot pursuit of terrorists.
more....
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14friedman.html?ref=opinion
October 14, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Succeed Al Gore?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Seeing Al Gore so deservedly share the Nobel Peace Prize, it is impossiblenot to note the contrast in his leadership and that of George W. Bush.
Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush each faced a crucible moment. For Mr. Gore, it waswinning the popular vote and having the election taken away from him by aRepublican-dominated Supreme Court. For Mr. Bush, it was the shockingterrorist attack on 9/11.
Mr. Gore lost the presidency, but in the dignity and grace with which hegave up his legal fight, he united America. Then, faced with what to do withthe rest of his life, he took up a personal crusade to combat climatechange, even though the odds were stacked against him, his soapbox wassmall, his audiences were measured in hundreds, and his critics were legion.Nevertheless, Mr. Gore stuck with it and over time has played a central rolein building a global consensus for action on this issue.
more....
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/education/13harvard.html?pagewanted=print
October 13, 2007
First Woman Takes Reins at Harvard
By SARA RIMER
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 12 - Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University's firstfemale president, was inaugurated Friday and offered a spirited defense ofAmerican higher education against demands that it quantify what it isteaching and focus primarily on training a global work force.
"The essence of a university is that it is uniquely accountable to the pastand to the future - not simply or even primarily to the present," said Dr.Faust, 60, a Civil War historian and the former head of the RadcliffeInstitute for Advanced Study at the university.
"A university is not about results in the next quarter," Dr. Faust said. "Itis not even about who a student has become by graduation. It is aboutlearning that molds a lifetime, learning that transmits the heritage ofmillennia; learning that shapes the future."
In clear opposition to pressure from the federal government for universitiesto prove they are accountable by quantifying how well they teach, she calledon higher education institutions themselves "to seize the initiative indefining what we are accountable for."
more....
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/889/v-print/story/270659.html
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
Report ranks jobs by rates of depression
By KEVIN FREKING
People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinkshave the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year,according to a government report available Saturday.
Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, andyounger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.
Almost 11 percent of personal care workers - which includes child care andhelping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs - reporteddepression lasting two weeks or longer.
During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at leastfour other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy,concentration and self-image.
Workers who prepare and serve food - cooks, bartenders, waiters andwaitresses - had the second highest rate of depression among full-timeemployees at 10.3 percent.
more....
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/269755.html
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
You call it a 'prank,' but I call it terror
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
This will be a history of rope.
It strikes me that such a history is desperately needed just now. It seemsthe travesty in Jena, La., has spawned a ghastly trend. Remember how whitestudents at Jena High placed nooses in a tree last year to communicateantipathy toward their African-American classmates? Now it's happening allover.
A noose is left for a black workman at a construction site in the Chicagoarea. In Queens, a woman brandishes a noose to threaten her black neighbors.A noose is left on the door of a black professor at Columbia University. Andthat's just last week. Go back a little further and you have similarincidents at the University of Maryland in College Park, at a policedepartment on Long Island, on a Coast Guard cutter, in a bus maintenancegarage in Pittsburgh.
Mark Potok, the director of the Intelligence Project of the Southern PovertyLaw Center, told USA Today, ``For a dozen incidents to come to the public'sattention is a lot. I don't generally see noose incidents in a typicalmonth. We might hear about a handful in a year.''
The superintendent of schools in Jena famously dismissed the originalincident as a ''prank.'' It was an astonishing response, speaking volumesabout the blithe historical ignorance of people who have found it convenientnot to peer too closely at the atrocities of the past lest they beaccidentally . . . moved.
But watching this trend unfold, it occurs to me that maybe what we need hereis the opposite of ignorance. Maybe what we need is information. Maybe whatwe need is a history of rope.
A history of rope would have to include, in 1904, Luther Holbert and hiswife, who had their fingers chopped off and handed out as souvenirs. Holbertwas beaten so badly one of his eyes came out. It hung by a thread. A largecorkscrew was used to bore into the couple's flesh. It tore out big chunksof them each time it was withdrawn. A rope was used to tie them to the tree.
A history of rope would have to include, in 1917, Rufus Moncrief, who wasbeaten senseless by a mob. They used a saw to cut off his arms and otherwisemutilated him. The mob hanged Moncrief. Then, for good measure, they hangedhis dog. Ropes were used for both.
A history of rope would have to include, in 1918, Mary Turner, burned alivein Valdosta, Ga. A man used a hog-splitting knife to slash her swollenstomach. The baby she had carried nearly to term tumbled out and managed twocries before the man crushed its head beneath his heel. A rope was used totie Turner upside down in a tree.
A history of rope would include thousands of Turners, Moncriefs andHolberts. It would range widely across the geography of this nation and theyears of the last two centuries. A history of rope would travel from Cairo,Ill., in 1909 to Fort Lauderdale in 1935 to Urbana, Ohio, in 1897 toWrightsville, Ga., in 1903, to Leitchfield, Ky., in 1913 to Newbern, Tenn.in 1902. And beyond.
You might say the country has changed since then, and it has. The problemis, it's changing again.
It feels as if in recent years we the people have backward traveled fromeven the pretense of believing our loftiest ideals. It has becomefashionable to decry excessive ''political correctness,'' deride''diversity,'' sneer at the ''protected classes.'' Code words sanding downhatred's rough edge. ''State's rights'' for the new millennium. And now, outcome the nooses. Just a prank, the man says.
Mary Turner would argue otherwise. I find it useful to remember her, usefulto be reminded of things we would rather forget. To remember her is tounderstand that there is no prank here.
A history of rope would drown your conscience in blood.
=
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-1014edit1oct14,0,978401.story
A dangerous political stunt
Editorial
October 14, 2007
There is no shortage of pressing issues deserving of congressionalattention, from immigration reform to national intelligence. But last week,some members were fixated on the distant past, examining terrible eventsthat occurred some 90 years ago during the disintegration of the OttomanEmpire.
By a 27-21 vote, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a nonbindingresolution whose only point was to state its opinion on a matter ofhistory -- which is that the mass killing of Armenians by Turks amounted to"genocide." And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime supporter of theresolution, has promised a floor vote. Do you feel better now?
Most Americans probably don't, because a political stunt like this will notbring back the dead or punish the guilty. All it does is antagonize thepeople and government of Turkey, who have been of crucial help to ourefforts in Iraq and Afghanistan -- at a time when the U.S. is not swampedwith friends in that part of the world. It suggests that Congress isfundamentally unserious.
more....
=
MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/v-print/story/271106.html
McCain, Giuliani campaigns blast Romney
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
BY JANET HOOK
Republican presidential candidates Saturday intensified a contentious debateabout which of the front-runners best reflects the mainstream of theirparty, as Mitt Romney's rivals lambasted his recent claim to represent the``Republican wing of the Republican party.''
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in an unusually sharp attack, pointed to Romney'srecord of support for liberal causes while he was governor of Massachusetts.
''As we all know, when he ran for office in Massachusetts, being aRepublican wasn't much of a priority,'' McCain said at a speech in NewHampshire. McCain was responding to remarks made by Romney on Fridayportraying himself as the most reliable conservative of the GOPfront-runners.
''Conservatives that have heard me time and again recognize that I do speakfor the Republican wing of the Republican Party,'' Romney said, whilecriticizing former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
FIGHTING FOR BASE
The increasingly personal sniping underscores how none of the GOP candidateshas a lock on the party's conservative wing -- and how many of them arestruggling to do so because their records include significant departuresfrom party orthodoxy.
more . . . . .
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Paul-Moor.com
http://www.paul-moor.com/
Former Pres. Jimmy Carter on CNN as to whether Bush's USA uses torture:"I don't think it, I KNOW it!"
=
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#####
FLORIDA DIGEST October 14, 2007
**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.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpcivil1013pnoct14,0,3136938,print.story
Two legislators seek to expand anti-discrimination law
Democrats want to add sexual orientation
By Mark Hollis
October 14, 2007
Two Democratic state legislators from Palm Beach County have filed billsthat would prohibit discrimination in Florida based on sexual orientation inemployment, housing and public accommodations.
The measures, which the sponsors say will face strong opposition in theRepublican-led Legislature, would expand state law that provides legalrecourse for people maligned based on their age, color, disability, maritalstatus, national origin, race and religion.
State Sen. Ted Deutch and Rep. Kelly Skidmore, both of Boca Raton, aresponsoring the bills, which they hope to be heard in the spring 2008 regularlegislative session. The bills are similar, though Skidmore's also addressesdiscrimination based on "gender identity or expression."
Several Florida counties and cities, including West Palm Beach and LakeWorth, have enacted ordinances offering similar protections.
Rand Hoch, an attorney and president of the Palm Beach County Human RightsCouncil, which sought the legislation, said the bill would spread thoseprotections statewide. "Every Floridian, no matter where they live, shouldhave the same rights," he said.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbmanorscops1014nboct14,0,4812166,print.story
Remarks on Web site target Wilton Manors police chief, gay residents
By Elizabeth Baier
October 14, 2007
It started with a vague question about Wilton Manors Police Chief RichardPerez that implied he played favorites.
Though it did not mention him by name, the May 9 posting on the city's forumon leoaffairs.com, a Web site for law enforcement agencies that encouragesfrank discussion, quickly changed the way officers in the small Browardcommunity vent and communicate.
Writers have called the Wilton Manors Police Department a "HORRIBLE place towork" and described the agency as "filled with backstabbing, 'yes' men &women, fear, intimidation and retaliation."
The initial author of the "Where to start ..." message board, identifiedonly by the name "Lovin the Manors," started what is now one of the longestthread of comments posted to the 48 topics on the city's forum.
As of Saturday, the thread had been viewed 5,098 times and readers had added101 comments.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flftlpower1014seoct14,0,4584512,print.story
Fort Lauderdale will pursue putting power lines underground
City seeks help of utility consultant
By Brittany Wallman
October 14, 2007
Fort Lauderdale
Imagine a city with no power lines, no power poles, and with trees free togrow into a thick canopy. In this city, if a strong wind blew, a Category 1hurricane, for example, the lights in the homes wouldn't go out. Thegenerator would not be needed. Life would go on, with electricity poweringit.
This is the dream city that Fort Lauderdale's elected officials are talkingabout, as they discuss the possibility of moving power lines underground.
The cost to homeowners is unknown. Officials from Florida Power & Light Co.estimated the city would spend $300 million putting its lines underground.But the city would also have to work with Comcast and AT&T to have theirlines buried as well.
The City Commission voted 4-1 at the Oct. 2 meeting, with Mayor Jim Naugle dissenting, to go back out for competitive bids for a utility consultant tohelp the city move forward. Only one qualified bidder responded the firsttime, and commissioners want to try again. Commissioners also agreed thecity should start negotiating with FPL about the utility's franchiseagreement, which ends in 2009.
Commissioners hope a consultant can help them decide how to go about buryingthe lines from FPL, Comcast and AT&T, and also assess the value of FPL'ssystem in Fort Lauderdale, in case the city opts to purchase it and hire adifferent company to run it. Commissioners also want to know whether theutility boxes could be buried underground.
more . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editnbimmigrationpnoct14,0,3794692.story
Humane approach works better than crackdown in immigration crisisSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
October 14, 2007
ISSUE: Towns that penalize renting to or hiring illegal immigrants arerethinking the strategy.
For all those who think the answer to illegal immigration is barringemployers and landlords from hiring or renting to undocumented workers, lookno further than Riverside, N.J.
Last year, the factory town passed just such an ordinance - one of a growingnumber across the country to do so. And its impact was crippling, eventhough the law was never enforced.
Within months, according to a The New York Times story, hundreds ofimmigrants fled, and with them went much of the traffic and noise thatfollowed them there. But so did Riverside's economic stability.
Without immigrant workers or clientele, many businesses closed , and thetown's budget strained under the cost of fighting off legal challenges tothe ordinance. To get some relief, Riverside rescinded the measure.
more...
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/269770.html
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
Lawmakers miss rare chance to fix property-tax
The last time state lawmakers celebrated a property-tax fix, they botchedthe job so badly that a circuit-court judge ruled that the measure could notbe put on the ballot. After meeting in special session last week, with theurgency of a football team needing a fourth-quarter miracle, lawmakers againare celebrating a potential property-tax fix. Don't uncork the champagnejust yet. The deal they're considering has the look of a desperation passthat could end up in the stands.
Superficially, the proposed deal is appealing, even though the cuts wouldfall far short of expectations. Renters and low-income seniors would get abreak. Homeowners would get portability and doubled homestead exemptions.Schools would be exempt from any additional tax cuts. Save Our Homes wouldbe spared. And first-time home buyers would get a break on the market valueof their new home. What's not to like about this deal?
Long-lasting solutions
As with any major reconfiguration of a basic tax structure, the devil is inthe details. As always, there will be consequences to every change made. Achange that helps one group, hurts another. A push here produces a blipthere. Finding the right balance isn't simply a matter of giving selectconstituent groups a break.
This is why it would be smarter for lawmakers to take a deep breath, silencetheir egos and let the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission do its job. Thecommission is uniquely qualified to handle tax and budget issues, and --fortuitously -- the group convened this year in rare, once-every-20-yearssessions. The commission's year-long, deliberative process is designed toproduce a more-lasting solution to difficult tax and policy issues.
more...
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/270166.html
WESTON
SCHOOL BOARD MUST CHOOSE SITE NOW
For the next several years, Weston's high school students will graduate froma school burdened with more than twice the population it was meant to hold.Weston's Cypress Bay High was built to house 3,000 students, but its studentbody is 5,500. Of those, 4,000 are on the school's main campus and 1,500ninth-graders attend portable classrooms in Sunrise.
Blame the Broward County School Board, which should have chosen a site for anew high school by now. The board has dithered over choosing a home for HighSchool MMM. In partial defense of the School Board, there is somejustification: Broward is close to build-out. Few large parcels areavailable for development; wetlands must be protected; and costs areprohibitive.
It doesn't take a genius to know that the problem is here to stay. The boardencountered the same dilemma when choosing High School LLL's site, its lastforay into this area. The board and district administration need to startseeking alternatives to the sprawling campuses associated with high schools.So far, however, board members have shown no inclination to think outsidethe box. They refused, for instance, to consider building a multilevel highschool over a parking garage on the parking lot of Cypress Bay High.
On Wednesday, the School Board got a thorough presentation on the tworemaining sites for High School MMM -- a parcel on Southwest 36th Street andthe future Southwest 196th Avenue on the western edge of Weston and 60 acreson a golf course at Bonaventure Country Club on Bonaventure Boulevard.
more...
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/12/Opinion/Colleges__open_doors_.shtml
Colleges' open doors starting to swing shut
By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published October 12, 2007
Not many businesses could serve more customers on last year's budget, butthat's what Florida community colleges are expected to do. Predictably, thestudents are the ones who pay the price.
This year, as economic strains grip the state, some 50,000 new students arepouring into the state's 28 community colleges. The problem is that some ofthe doors will be closed to them. Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville,for example, won't be offering some upper-level science courses.Pasco-Hernando Community College is struggling to provide enough remedialcourses and has cut back on library hours.
"We don't want to close the open door, because that's our mission," saysPasco-Hernando president Katherine Johnson. "(But) you can only hire so manyfaculty. We're pretty maxed out as far as our ability to assist students."
As state higher education policy goes, this is criminal. The universitiesalready have been forced to freeze enrollment because of repeated statebudget cuts over the past decade. That alone puts more pressure on communitycolleges, as high school seniors explore their other options. So whathappens when the doors to community college are also forced to close? Whathappens when the nursing student can't get the science course necessary forgraduation because it is full?
In cutting college funding this week, lawmakers are blaming economicconditions and the $1.1-billion state budget shortfall. Higher education hasbeen getting what former Gov. Jeb Bush once called budgetary "crumbs" evenwhen times were good. The very formula the Legislature uses, which basesfunding on previous years' enrollment, ignores the cyclical nature ofcommunity colleges. When the economy is rough, workers often look to improvetheir skills to qualify for better jobs. They often do so at a communitycollege.
When the open-door institutions are faced with the prospect of closingdoors, Florida is shortchanging both its students and its economic future.
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpcivil1013pnoct14,0,3136938,print.story
Two legislators seek to expand anti-discrimination law
Democrats want to add sexual orientation
By Mark Hollis
October 14, 2007
Two Democratic state legislators from Palm Beach County have filed billsthat would prohibit discrimination in Florida based on sexual orientation inemployment, housing and public accommodations.
The measures, which the sponsors say will face strong opposition in theRepublican-led Legislature, would expand state law that provides legalrecourse for people maligned based on their age, color, disability, maritalstatus, national origin, race and religion.
State Sen. Ted Deutch and Rep. Kelly Skidmore, both of Boca Raton, aresponsoring the bills, which they hope to be heard in the spring 2008 regularlegislative session. The bills are similar, though Skidmore's also addressesdiscrimination based on "gender identity or expression."
Several Florida counties and cities, including West Palm Beach and LakeWorth, have enacted ordinances offering similar protections.
Rand Hoch, an attorney and president of the Palm Beach County Human RightsCouncil, which sought the legislation, said the bill would spread thoseprotections statewide. "Every Floridian, no matter where they live, shouldhave the same rights," he said.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbmanorscops1014nboct14,0,4812166,print.story
Remarks on Web site target Wilton Manors police chief, gay residents
By Elizabeth Baier
October 14, 2007
It started with a vague question about Wilton Manors Police Chief RichardPerez that implied he played favorites.
Though it did not mention him by name, the May 9 posting on the city's forumon leoaffairs.com, a Web site for law enforcement agencies that encouragesfrank discussion, quickly changed the way officers in the small Browardcommunity vent and communicate.
Writers have called the Wilton Manors Police Department a "HORRIBLE place towork" and described the agency as "filled with backstabbing, 'yes' men &women, fear, intimidation and retaliation."
The initial author of the "Where to start ..." message board, identifiedonly by the name "Lovin the Manors," started what is now one of the longestthread of comments posted to the 48 topics on the city's forum.
As of Saturday, the thread had been viewed 5,098 times and readers had added101 comments.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flftlpower1014seoct14,0,4584512,print.story
Fort Lauderdale will pursue putting power lines underground
City seeks help of utility consultant
By Brittany Wallman
October 14, 2007
Fort Lauderdale
Imagine a city with no power lines, no power poles, and with trees free togrow into a thick canopy. In this city, if a strong wind blew, a Category 1hurricane, for example, the lights in the homes wouldn't go out. Thegenerator would not be needed. Life would go on, with electricity poweringit.
This is the dream city that Fort Lauderdale's elected officials are talkingabout, as they discuss the possibility of moving power lines underground.
The cost to homeowners is unknown. Officials from Florida Power & Light Co.estimated the city would spend $300 million putting its lines underground.But the city would also have to work with Comcast and AT&T to have theirlines buried as well.
The City Commission voted 4-1 at the Oct. 2 meeting, with Mayor Jim Naugle dissenting, to go back out for competitive bids for a utility consultant tohelp the city move forward. Only one qualified bidder responded the firsttime, and commissioners want to try again. Commissioners also agreed thecity should start negotiating with FPL about the utility's franchiseagreement, which ends in 2009.
Commissioners hope a consultant can help them decide how to go about buryingthe lines from FPL, Comcast and AT&T, and also assess the value of FPL'ssystem in Fort Lauderdale, in case the city opts to purchase it and hire adifferent company to run it. Commissioners also want to know whether theutility boxes could be buried underground.
more . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editnbimmigrationpnoct14,0,3794692.story
Humane approach works better than crackdown in immigration crisisSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
October 14, 2007
ISSUE: Towns that penalize renting to or hiring illegal immigrants arerethinking the strategy.
For all those who think the answer to illegal immigration is barringemployers and landlords from hiring or renting to undocumented workers, lookno further than Riverside, N.J.
Last year, the factory town passed just such an ordinance - one of a growingnumber across the country to do so. And its impact was crippling, eventhough the law was never enforced.
Within months, according to a The New York Times story, hundreds ofimmigrants fled, and with them went much of the traffic and noise thatfollowed them there. But so did Riverside's economic stability.
Without immigrant workers or clientele, many businesses closed , and thetown's budget strained under the cost of fighting off legal challenges tothe ordinance. To get some relief, Riverside rescinded the measure.
more...
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/269770.html
Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007
Lawmakers miss rare chance to fix property-tax
The last time state lawmakers celebrated a property-tax fix, they botchedthe job so badly that a circuit-court judge ruled that the measure could notbe put on the ballot. After meeting in special session last week, with theurgency of a football team needing a fourth-quarter miracle, lawmakers againare celebrating a potential property-tax fix. Don't uncork the champagnejust yet. The deal they're considering has the look of a desperation passthat could end up in the stands.
Superficially, the proposed deal is appealing, even though the cuts wouldfall far short of expectations. Renters and low-income seniors would get abreak. Homeowners would get portability and doubled homestead exemptions.Schools would be exempt from any additional tax cuts. Save Our Homes wouldbe spared. And first-time home buyers would get a break on the market valueof their new home. What's not to like about this deal?
Long-lasting solutions
As with any major reconfiguration of a basic tax structure, the devil is inthe details. As always, there will be consequences to every change made. Achange that helps one group, hurts another. A push here produces a blipthere. Finding the right balance isn't simply a matter of giving selectconstituent groups a break.
This is why it would be smarter for lawmakers to take a deep breath, silencetheir egos and let the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission do its job. Thecommission is uniquely qualified to handle tax and budget issues, and --fortuitously -- the group convened this year in rare, once-every-20-yearssessions. The commission's year-long, deliberative process is designed toproduce a more-lasting solution to difficult tax and policy issues.
more...
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/270166.html
WESTON
SCHOOL BOARD MUST CHOOSE SITE NOW
For the next several years, Weston's high school students will graduate froma school burdened with more than twice the population it was meant to hold.Weston's Cypress Bay High was built to house 3,000 students, but its studentbody is 5,500. Of those, 4,000 are on the school's main campus and 1,500ninth-graders attend portable classrooms in Sunrise.
Blame the Broward County School Board, which should have chosen a site for anew high school by now. The board has dithered over choosing a home for HighSchool MMM. In partial defense of the School Board, there is somejustification: Broward is close to build-out. Few large parcels areavailable for development; wetlands must be protected; and costs areprohibitive.
It doesn't take a genius to know that the problem is here to stay. The boardencountered the same dilemma when choosing High School LLL's site, its lastforay into this area. The board and district administration need to startseeking alternatives to the sprawling campuses associated with high schools.So far, however, board members have shown no inclination to think outsidethe box. They refused, for instance, to consider building a multilevel highschool over a parking garage on the parking lot of Cypress Bay High.
On Wednesday, the School Board got a thorough presentation on the tworemaining sites for High School MMM -- a parcel on Southwest 36th Street andthe future Southwest 196th Avenue on the western edge of Weston and 60 acreson a golf course at Bonaventure Country Club on Bonaventure Boulevard.
more...
=
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/12/Opinion/Colleges__open_doors_.shtml
Colleges' open doors starting to swing shut
By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published October 12, 2007
Not many businesses could serve more customers on last year's budget, butthat's what Florida community colleges are expected to do. Predictably, thestudents are the ones who pay the price.
This year, as economic strains grip the state, some 50,000 new students arepouring into the state's 28 community colleges. The problem is that some ofthe doors will be closed to them. Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville,for example, won't be offering some upper-level science courses.Pasco-Hernando Community College is struggling to provide enough remedialcourses and has cut back on library hours.
"We don't want to close the open door, because that's our mission," saysPasco-Hernando president Katherine Johnson. "(But) you can only hire so manyfaculty. We're pretty maxed out as far as our ability to assist students."
As state higher education policy goes, this is criminal. The universitiesalready have been forced to freeze enrollment because of repeated statebudget cuts over the past decade. That alone puts more pressure on communitycolleges, as high school seniors explore their other options. So whathappens when the doors to community college are also forced to close? Whathappens when the nursing student can't get the science course necessary forgraduation because it is full?
In cutting college funding this week, lawmakers are blaming economicconditions and the $1.1-billion state budget shortfall. Higher education hasbeen getting what former Gov. Jeb Bush once called budgetary "crumbs" evenwhen times were good. The very formula the Legislature uses, which basesfunding on previous years' enrollment, ignores the cyclical nature ofcommunity colleges. When the economy is rough, workers often look to improvetheir skills to qualify for better jobs. They often do so at a communitycollege.
When the open-door institutions are faced with the prospect of closingdoors, Florida is shortchanging both its students and its economic future.
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
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