NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS April 22, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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

-Universities' Intellectual Property Stance Criticized
Getting medicines to people who need them in developing countries is a topgoal of public health experts worldwide, many of whom note that people aredying all the time of diseases for which treatments exist. Universities,whose scientists' research is crucial to many of those drugs and which enjoya share of royalties on some of those drugs, are finding themselves drawninto a debate that has as much to do with the economics of thepharmaceutical industry as anything that takes place in a laboratory. Atissue are negotiations being encouraged by the World Health Organization ona new treaty on international patent rights. While there is no finaldocument to accept or reject, among the ideas being proposed are severalthat would seek to loosen patent protection on drugs used to treat somediseases, and provisions that would embrace the idea of internationalcontests - with large cash prizes - taking the place of internationalintellectual property rights to encourage drug companies to work on suchresearch.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/22/ip


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

-A contaminated blood thinner from China has been found in drug supplies in11 countries, and federal officials said Monday they had discovered a clearlink between the contaminant and severe reactions now associated with 81deaths in the United States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/health/policy/22fda.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain
Donald R. Diamond, a wealthy Arizona real estate developer, was racing tosnap up a stretch of virgin California coast freed by the closing of an Armybase a decade ago when he turned to an old friend, Senator John McCain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/us/politics/22diamond.html?hp

-Clueless in America
We don't hear a great deal about education in the presidential campaign.
It's much too serious a topic to compete with such fun stuff as Hillary tossingback a shot of whiskey, or Barack rolling a gutter ball.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/opinion/22herbert.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: The Great Escape
Over the past 15 months, I've been writing pretty regularly about thepresidential campaign, which has meant thinking a lot about attack ads,tracking polls and which campaign is renouncing which over-the-line commentfrom a surrogate that particular day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/opinion/22brooks.html?ref=opinion

-In Clinton vs. Obama, Age Is a Great Predictor
Jay Leno recently made fun of a commercial for Senator Hillary RodhamClinton, in which she referred to playing pinochle as a child at hergrandfather's lake house in Pennsylvania.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/us/politics/22age.html?hp

-Political Memo
Dream Ticket Sounds Good to Many Democrats (Except the Candidates)
Imagine President Barack Obama is preparing his first State of the Unionmessage. Would he want Vice President Hillary Rodham Clinton tut-tuttingwith edits or suggesting how she could write it better? Would he want tohear Second Spouse Bill Clinton wax on and on about favorite lines from hisown speeches.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/us/politics/22ticket.html

-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized former U.S. President
Jimmy Carter on Tuesday for holding talks with Hamas and said she hadadvised him against it. "We counseled President Carter against going to theregion and particularly against having contact with Hamas," said Rice,adding that only Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could be party tonegotiations with Israel. "(Abbas) is the Palestinian leadership that iscommitted to peace."
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-palestinians-israel-rice.html

-Libya Seeks Exemption for Its Debt to Victims
WASHINGTON - One by one, top executives of American oil companies metprivately over the last year with Libya's leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi,often in his signature Bedouin tent, as they lined up contracts allowingthem to tap into the country's oil reserves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/washington/22libya.html

-DNA Is Taken From Sect's Children
DENVER - Laboratory workers began taking DNA samples on Monday from the 416children seized in a raid earlier this month on a polygamist religious groupin West Texas, as preparations were under way to send the children intoindefinite protective state custody.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/us/22raid.html

-The (Yes) Low Cost of Higher Ed
ON Oct. 2, 2003, board members at the University of Virginia filed into theUpper East Oval Room of the Rotunda, the centerpiece of Thomas Jefferson'scampus design, for one of their regular meetings. As usual, they were joinedby the university's top administrators. Just before the meeting began, amember of U.Va.'s public affairs staff walked over to John T. Casteen III,the university president, to hand him a clipping from that morning'snewspaper.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/education/edlife/essay.html


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

-Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women
Historic Reversal, Found in 1,000 Counties, May Be Result of Smoking and Obesity
For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy isfalling for a significant number of American women.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102406.html?hpid=topnews

-Military Waivers for Ex-Convicts Increase
The Army admitted about one-fourth more recruits last year with a record oflegal problems ranging from felony convictions and serious misdemeanors todrug crimes and traffic offenses, as pressure to increase the size of U.S.ground forces led the military to grant more waivers for criminal conduct,according to new data released yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042103295.html?hpid=moreheadlines&hpid=topnews

-Ethanol's Failed Promise
The willingness to try, fail and try again is the essence of scientificprogress. The same sometimes holds true for public policy. It is in thisspirit that today, Earth Day, we call upon Congress to revisit recentlyenacted federal mandates requiring the diversion of foodstuffs forproduction of biofuels. These "food-to-fuel" mandates were meant to moveAmerica toward energy independence and mitigate global climate change. Butthe evidence irrefutably demonstrates that this policy is not delivering oneither goal. In fact, it is causing environmental harm and contributing to agrowing global food crisis.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102555.html

-Not Quite Like Ike
How on earth is the Republican Party going to sell John McCain? Once the
Democrats stop doing the job, I mean.
Image consultants could try to portray McCain as a latter-day DwightEisenhower. I've actually heard Republicans try to make the comparison, butit won't work without rounding up and destroying all the history books.
McCain served his country courageously, getting shot down over Vietnam andspending years as a prisoner of war. All that Ike did was, um, save theworld. I'm seeing a slight imbalance here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102552.html

-Clinton in the Wilderness
It was nice of Hillary Clinton to issue, as all the candidates did, astatement about Passover, the Jewish holiday of the season. Clinton said shewas "deeply moved" by its message of freedom and human dignity, but sheshould have plowed on past Exodus and into Numbers and Deuteronomy. It isthere that she can find a lesson for herself -- how Moses, after all he haddone, was not allowed to step foot in "the good land that is beyond theJordan." For Moses, that was Israel. For Clinton, it's the White House.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102553.html

-Radio To Stay Tuned To
"Radio Free Europe? Does that still exist?"
That was the question; the speaker was an Important Public Broadcaster,visiting Europe for a few days last week. It wasn't a surprising query, asthese things go, or an ignorant one. Not many other Americans know thatRadio Free Europe still exists, so why should he?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102551.html

-Aggression in Georgia
Vladimir Putin steps up his campaign against Russia's democratic neighbor --and bets that NATO won't respond.
LAST MONTH, NATO sent a muddled message to Ukraine and Georgia, fragileEuropean democracies that are seeking membership in the Western alliance.
Pressed by President Bush, a NATO summit meeting issued a statementdeclaring that the two countries "will become members of NATO" someday. Butthe alliance also deferred the requests of their governments for "membershipaction plans," the bureaucratic vehicle for joining, at the insistence ofFrance and Germany -- which made it clear they were deferring to Russianobjections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102566.html

-No Seats for Sale
The Supreme Court should uphold the 'Millionaires' Amendment' governingcongressional races.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102565.html

-8 Questions About The Pennsylvania Primary
What will it take to be declared the winner in Pennsylvania today?
1. Conventional wisdom has taken such a beating in this campaign thatsetting expectations for today's primary continues to confound the experts.
The only thing everyone can agree on is that, given the makeup ofPennsylvania -- an older population with a significant blue-collarconstituency and a sizable proportion of Roman Catholics -- Sen. HillaryRodham Clinton should win the popular vote. But as Democrat Matt Bennett putit, the candidates are like publicly -traded companies that need to hit anearnings target to lift their stock price.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102805.html?hpid=topnews

-US seeks to block Zimbabwe-bound Chinese arms
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is intervening with governments insouthern Africa to prevent a Chinese ship carrying weapons for Zimbabwe'ssecurity forces from unloading its cargo, The Associated Press has learned.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042200497.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-AP-Yahoo poll: Economy top worry, but barely affecting votes
WASHINGTON -- The economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on theminds of voters. But do the growing economic worries give a particular edge to any presidential candidate? Not so far, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Monday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042100537.html


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

-Obama on tonight's 'Daily Show'
PITTSBURGH - Debate moderators are now a punch line for Sen. Barack Obama.
During a taping for this evening's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," theIllinois Democrat had some fun amid a busy final day of campaigning beforeTuesday's Pennsylvania primary.
http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/obama_on_tonights_daily_show.html

-Clinton missed her chance to change course of race
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - In last Wednesday's Democratic debate, ABC News anchorCharlie Gibson gave Hillary Clinton a chance to transform the presidentialrace - and she didn't take it.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/22/clinton_missed_her_chance_to_change_course_of_race/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z

-Flag question should be put to Clinton too
The Old Glory question directed at Barack Obama during last week'spresidential primary debate was fair enough.
"I want to know if you believe in the American flag," began Pennsylvaniavoter Nash McCabe in a video snippet. McCabe went on to wonder why Obamadoesn't "wear the flag," a reference to his usual unwillingness to sport atiny lapel pin that some believe bespeaks authentic patriotism.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-zorn-22-apr22,1,234691.column

=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST April 22, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

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

-Thousands of ailing Florida smokers to split $600 million tobacco fund
Thousands of sick smokers in Florida could be eligible for money from a $600million fund in a landmark Miami-Dade County case against the country's fivelargest tobacco companies.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbsmokers0422sbapr22,0,5620379.story

-Nuts to this idea
Talk about a nutty idea
This has to be a joke, right?
This idea that state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, wants to ban dangling truckornaments that are replicas of male genitalia - he can't be serious. He sayshe's offended by the ornaments, but really, this must be some kind ofhumorous diversion from stressful, serious talk about budgets and insuranceand things like that.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editgstesticlecappnapr22,0,3134722.story


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

-McCain outpaces rivals in Florida donations
Wearing the mantle of the presumptive nominee, Republican John McCain postedhis best fundraising month in Florida, collecting about $1.5 million inMarch and outraising the Democrats who are still slugging it out.
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/504441.html

-EDUCATION
Grades for Florida schools under review
A House panel approved a bill that would change Florida's school grading;the bill sparked a 16-hour fight among lawmakers.
http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/504571.html

-CLIMATE CHANGE
Forecast of rising waters paints bleak future for S. Fla. coasts
A Miami-Dade research group said that codes, land-use, transportation andother policies must change to combat the threat of rising seas.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/504564.html


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

-Business groups sue to block new Florida guns-at-work law
Business interests filed suit in federal court on Monday seeking to blockthe guns-at-work law Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law less than a weekbefore.
http://floridacapitalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/CAPITOLNEWS/804220326

-Ultrasound bill is blow to women
Florida legislators have found some solid ground on which to buildgrandstanding bills this session.
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/OPINION01/804220306/1006/OPINION

-Lawmakers burn the midnight oil on CSX deal
A House budget panel worked into late Monday evening on Central Florida'scommuter rail agreement with CSX Corp., questioning the complex legalliability deal and ridership expectations for the commuter line.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/04/lawmakers-burn.html

-Program keeps the mentally ill out of state jails
There are 10 mental health courts in Florida, one in Duval County. Themission of Nassau's mental health court - one of 10 statewide - is to keepmentally ill people out of Florida's jails, said Judi Evans of Florida'sNational Alliance on Mental Illness. It was the first such court inNortheast Florida
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/042208/met_270732226.shtml

-Health Care Compromise Seen
TALLAHASSEE - House Speaker Marco Rubio may agree to drilling into statetrust funds to blunt the devastating budget cuts lawmakers are poised tomake to health care for dying Medicaid patients, organ transplant recipientsand other fragile Florida residents.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/22/me-health-care-compromise-seen/?news-metro


=

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

GLBT DIGEST April 21, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

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

-Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, 72, Dies in Rome
Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the Vatican's leading voice in defense oftraditional family values and in opposition to abortion, contraception andgay marriage, died of cardiac arrest on Saturday in Rome, the Vatican saidSunday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/europe/21trujillo.html?sq=GAY&st=nyt&scp=2&pagewanted=print


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

-Benedict: Protect Children from Future Abuse
A papal apology to those sexually abused by Catholic priests is certainlylong overdue and it is good that Pope Benedict met with some of the victimsof sexual abuse by priests on his U.S. trip.But as Mother Jones was fond ofsaying, "Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living." We need toknow from Pope Benedict how future abuse will be stopped. Bernie McDaid, oneof the survivors of priestly sexual abuse who met with the Pope, rightlycalled attention to the fact that this abuse is still going on and willcontinue to go on unless something is done about it. He said in an interviewwith CNN that he told the pope he was an altar boy when he was abused and"it wasn't just sexual abuse, it was spiritual abuse. And I want you to knowthat. And then I told him that he has a cancer growing in his ministry, andneeds to do something about it." This cancer has not been eradicated, andindeed, it may be getting worse because Benedict himself, as well as theVatican leaders, do not seem to understand what are the root causes ofpriestly abuse of children, both boys and girls.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/susan_brooks_thistlethwaite/2008/04/benedict_protect_children_from.html


=
Steve Rothaus
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-GayWired.com: Media Milestones -- The Evolution of the Gay Press
Political scientists sometimes suggest the greatest predictor of anyAmerican's political affiliation is really pretty simple. Just ask how hisor her parents are registered.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/04/gaywiredcom-med.html


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

-Obama Leads Campaign Cash Race
(Washington) Barack Obama began the month of April with a 5-1 cash advantageover a debt-saddled Hillary Rodham Clinton, setting the stage for hislopsided spending in the crucial primary state of Pennsylvania.

-Clinton, Obama Mount Attack Ads In Countdown To Pa. Primary
(Johnstown, Pennsylvania) Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama areswapping some of the most negative attacks of the campaign, each unleashingtelevision ads that accuse the other of maintaining ties to specialinterests they both claim to reject.

-Poll: Economy Top Issue, But Barely Affecting Poll
(Washington) The economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on theminds of voters. But do the growing economic worries give a particular edgeto any presidential candidate? Not so far, according to an AssociatedPress-Yahoo News poll released Monday.

-Mob Ransacks Rome Gay Center
(Rome) Rome police are searching for members of a mob of youths who burstinto the city's LGBT center, ransacking the building.

-Colombia Court Gives More Rights To Gay Couples
(Bogota) Colombia's Colombia's Constitutional Court has ruled that thegovernment must extend pension benefits to same-sex partners.


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

-London: Livingstone Launches Gay Policies
After a successful trip to Soho earlier this week Ken Livinsgtone haslaunched his lesbian and gay manifesto, "Making London the most lesbian andgay friendly city in the world". The document contains 20 key pledges forthe LGBT community including a promise to working with schools and employersto stamp out homophobic bullying and homophobia.

-Vigil Held For Gay Priest Killed On 9/11
A special tribute to Fire Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who died onSeptember 11th, was held Saturday night ahead of the pope's visit to the World Trade Center site. Those inattendance urged Pope Benedict XVI to remember the openly-gay priest.

-Feisty Vancouver Gay Bookstore That Challenged Canada Customs up For Sale
They've been bombed three times, received death threats and stood before thered-robed justices of the Supreme Court of Canada. No, Jim Deva and BruceSmyth are not killers or terrorists. The soft-spoken Vancouver men sellbooks. And in some peoples' eyes, Deva says, that made the gay owners ofLittle Sister's Book & Art Emporium dangerous.

-The Gay Man's Search for Sex and Love Online
It seems everyone is looking for love in all the wrong places. And if youbelieve the latest research from the LOGO Channel, 48-percent of gay menclaim they're looking for "love" on line. With such a high demand, thereseems to be an ever-growing supply of places to look. That's right: Gone arethe days when you actually had to leave your house to meet that specialsomeone. Now you can just log on and click to your favorite site to find Mr.Right, or in most cases, Mr. Right Now.

-Passage of Transgender Law Shows How K.C. Has Evolved
April 3 was a historic day in Kansas City. But first, a littleher-to-history lesson will help you appreciate that day even more. As youmay know, in the late 1980s, the Kansas City, Mo., City Council debated anordinance that would have added sexual orientation to the list of protectedclasses under the city's existing anti-discrimination ordinance (whichcovers employment, housing, lending, public accommodations, etc.). Accordingto the Kansas City Star reports I have read, the proposed ordinance was verycontroversial. Hundreds of pro-gay-rights and anti-gay-rights activistsreportedly crowded into the Council's chamber each time the ordinance wasdiscussed. Ultimately, the Council voted, 8-5, to send the measure back tocommittee, effectively killing it. One of those City Council members votingto return the measure was then-Councilman (now U.S. Rep.) Emanuel Cleaver.

-My Night on the Tiles With Chelsea
Her dad was just the same. The agreement was to meet at Bump at 10 first,before hitting the other bars and clubs of Philadelphia's gaybourhood,including Sisters, a lesbian joint, and finally Woodies, the biggest andmost popular of them all. But it's 11 and my fag-hag for the night (I amsure she wouldn't mind the term) is missing in action.

- 'You're Going To Be Gay'
"Stereotypes are funny," said Shann Carr, stirring a cup of tea at Michael'sDiner in Rancho Mirage. She flips her book open to a page of a girl in afootball uniform. "It might not be politically correct, but sometimesstereotypes are there for a reason," she said.

-Senate Backs Gay-and-Lesbian Anti-Discrimination Protection
The Senate gave initial backing to expanding anti-discrimination protectionsfor gays and lesbians on Friday. The measure (Senate Bill 200) takes thestate's current anti-discrimination laws and adds sexual orientation to thelist of things, such as race or national origin, that can't be considered.
It would be illegal to deny gays and lesbians everything from apartmentrentals and a seat in a restaurant to burial plots.


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

-Pennsylvania: Not to flog a dead horse, or rather a horse that is stillgalloping along but ought to be dead, we suggest that last week's prize forwaste of the public's time should go to the state Senate Judiciary Committeehearing in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse. The hearing wason Senate Bill 1250, a proposed state constitutional amendment that wouldban same-sex marriage or "the functional equivalent of marriage" for gays,in other words, civil unions. Gay marriage in Pennsylvania has been outlawedfor a dozen years but that explains only a part of the folly.

-UTICA - For Melissa Clark, there has been frustrations, disappointments anddiscrimination throughout her life. But she has refused to let anything holdher back. Melissa Clark is a transgender woman. At Friday's Pride along theMohawk meeting to push for equal marriage rights for the lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender community, Clark said she was ready for yet anotheruphill battle. Current New York State law does not allow for same-sexmarriages. Clark's partner is a woman, and because Clark is transgender,they are a lesbian couple who can't marry or raise children the same way asa heterosexual couple.


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

-UK: Online gay museum opens for business
Museum professionals have feted the launch of the online national LGBTmuseum Proud Heritage. The website has its first working day open to thepublic today. Plans for a physical museum were discussed at the Stonewallhustings for the candidates for Mayor of London on Saturday.

-Russians protest their country's gay blood ban
Activists in Russia have written to the country's Ministry of Health to askwhy previous assurances that regulations banning gay men from donating areto be removed have not resulted in action.

-Website celebrates Africa's gay heroes
A Supreme Court judge, an HIV treatment campaigner and an anti-apartheidactivist all feature on a new website highlighting African heroes. All threeare from South Africa.
The website, africansuccess.org, was created by Kadija Traoré Bush.

-N'Sync star speaks out for Day of Silence
Proudly out former boy band star Lance Bass speaks out against gaydiscrimination in a new public service announcement for the Gay, Lesbian andStraight Education Network released this week.

-Gay bishop to attend Lambeth conference despite previous rejection
The most senior openly gay cleric in the Anglican Communion, Gene Robinsonintends to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference to be held in Caterburydespite previously refusing to.


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

-UK: Proud Heritage Museum web site
This was launched this weekend. Principally of interest to Brits buthope other will take an interest.
http://www.proudheritage.org/home/content


=
OUTSpoken Families
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-Thursday, April 24 is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day!
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is upon us! For over fifteen years,organizers of the yearly event have encouraged parents to show theirchildren not only what they do for a living but also how their children canbegin to envision their own adults lives with families, careers and otherresponsibilities. Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is also anopportunity for LGBTQ-headed families to show the joy and diversity offamily constellations to colleagues and co-workers. Simply introducingyourself as LGBTQ and a parent to people at work will spark thought andconversations about what it truly means for employers and co-workers tosupport the family lives of the people they work with. .... If youparticipate, let us know. Share your story by sending an email toOUTSpoken@familyequality.org!
www.familyequality.org/

=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS April 21, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

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

-Obama Struggles to Win White Vote In Rural Pennsylvania
MUNCY VALLEY, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Barack Obama's efforts to woo whitevoters in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary have been hurt by his commentson small town bitterness and his association with an outspoken pastor,residents of Muncy Valley say.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-politics-obama-race.html?scp=4&sq=GAY&st=nyt

-In Push Before Vote, Obama Sharpens Tone
READING, Pa. - Senator Barack Obama sharpened his tone against SenatorHillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday as the six-week Pennsylvania primarycontest raced to a close, with the rivals marshaling extensive resources ina battle for undecided voters and delegates that could determine whether theDemocratic nominating fight carries on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/politics/21dems.html?hp

-Millionaires' Amendment
Politics loves money, and wealthy candidates have a big advantage when theyrun for public office. We fear that field will never be level, but federalcampaign finance law does give a much-needed break to candidates whoseopponents spend a lot of their own money on their campaigns.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/opinion/21mon1.html?ref=opinion

-Protecting a Basic Freedom
The effort to enact a federal shield law for journalists got a much-neededbipartisan boost last week. Speaking before a press group, Senator JohnMcCain announced his support for the Free Flow of Information Act. Themeasure would give reporters limited protection against being compelled toreveal confidential sources in federal court. Senator Barack Obama andSenator Hillary Clinton officially signed on as co-sponsors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/opinion/21mon3.html?ref=opinion

-Making Your Money Last as Long as You Live
EVEN for people who have built up a decent nest egg, deciding how to use itis one of the demands of early retirement. The good life may be withinreach, but the financial logistics still require careful attention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/business/retirement/21draw.html?hp

-Carter Says Hamas Open to Peace Deal
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hamas would accept a deal creating a Palestinian statein the West Bank and Gaza Strip if it was approved by Palestinians in avote, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Monday after talks withHamas leaders.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/news-palestinians-israel-carter.html?hp

-20 Bodies Found in Sea Near Bahamas
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- The bodies of 20 migrants have been recovered fromthe sea near the Bahamas after their boat apparently capsized, the U.S.Coast Guard said Monday as it searched for survivors.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Bahamas-Migrants-Drown.html?hp

-France Tries to Limit Olympics Fallout
PARIS - After a wave of anti-French protests in China, President NicolasSarkozy of France is sending three top officials there this week in adiplomatic charm offensive to limit the political and economic fallout fromthe controversy surrounding the preparations for the Beijing Olympic Games.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/world/europe/22france.html?hp

-Merck Profit Jumps on Gain
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Drugmaker Merck (NYSE:MRK) & Co.'s on Monday reportedthat its profit almost doubled in the first quarter due to a $1.4 billiondistribution from a partner drug company; its sales were slightly higherthan a year ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-NJ-Earns-Merck.html

-Eli Lilly Profit Doubles on Higher Sales
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. said strong sales forCymbalta and Cialis helped double its first-quarter profit, but resultsmissed Wall Street expectations.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Eli-Lilly.html

-List of McCain Fund-Raisers Includes Prominent Lobbyists
Senator John McCain has staked his campaign for the presidency in large parton his reputation as a reformer intent on curbing the influence of money inpolitics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/politics/21bundlers.html


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

-What's the Matter With Obama
Traveling the country the past few months, I have encountered habitualRepublican voters so entranced by Barack Obama's potential to lead thenation that they plan to vote for him in November. Once Hillary Clinton'ssupporters return to the fold, Obama Republicans could produce a Democraticpresidential landslide. But Obama's recent missteps jeopardize their supportand imperil his election.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001754.html

-MCCAIN-FEINGOLD ACT
Justices to Hear Challenge of Law That Affects Self-Funded CandidatesWealthy, self-financed congressional candidate Jack Davis says theMcCain-Feingold Act's "Millionaire's Amendment," which raises thecontribution limits for opponents of wealthy, self-financed candidates, isnot only unfair but also unconstitutional, and his lawyers will try topersuade the Supreme Court of that tomorrow.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001827.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-Hunger Pains for Mubarak
It's well known that the run-up in oil prices in recent years has had theunpleasant consequence of enlivening autocrats in oil-producing countries,from Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hugo Chávez. Now the latestswing in global commodities seems to be triggering a reverse effect: Asprices for bread and rice soar, dictators are tottering.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001752.html

-Election Year Folly
Mr. McCain's irresponsible economic plan
WITH ONE significant exception, the essence of Sen. John McCain's speech oneconomic policy last week could be summed up as, "Let's just get me elected,and then we can talk seriously." Of course, the presumptive Republicannominee is far from the first candidate, and he's certainly not the only onein this campaign, to put political advantage over telling unpleasant truths.
This is why he deserves credit for an element that is minor, as far asdollar amounts go, but still politically risky: his proposal to requirewealthier seniors to pay higher premiums for prescription drug coverage.
This would affect just 5 percent of seniors, with incomes of more than$164,000 a year per couple, and it would bring in only about $2 billion overfive years. But it is one sensible step in the battle to control Medicarespending, and the howls of outrage with which it was greeted by Democratsillustrate the difficulty of dealing with entitlement spending.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001810.html

-Mr. Bush's Train Wreck
The president raised a legitimate concern in his climate speech. Too badhe's the cause of it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001806.html

-In Search of an AIDS Vaccine
Rededication follows disappointment.
LAST FALL, after trials of a promising AIDS vaccine from Merck & Co. cameback with alarming results, they were canceled. Health experts knew thesignificance of that, but when The Post reported on the enormity of thesituation last month, many were astounded. Not only did the vaccine notprotect trial participants from infection with HIV, the virus that causesAIDS, but it also appeared to make them more susceptible to contracting thedisease. At least a half-dozen other trials were stopped or put on hold. TheMerck disappointment was branded as a "catastrophe" by one scientist and assetting the race for a cure "back to square one" by others. The hyperbole isunderstandable, but some perspective is in order.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001811.html

-Anchorage mayor to challenge Stevens for Senate
JUNEAU, Alaska -- The mayor of Anchorage plans to run for the Senate seatheld by Ted Stevens since 1968, he said Sunday, ending months ofspeculation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/20/AR2008042001918.html?hpid=sec-politics


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

-White House challenges release of visitor logs
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is challenging a court ruling thatWhite House visitor logs are public documents, saying releasing the recordswould infringe on the separation of powers.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/politics-11/1208762948223000.xml&storylist=washington

=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST April 21, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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

-Gay marriage amendment limits rights
My sister and I were born in the same country, the United States. We are 22months apart, she is the elder. We went to the same schools learning aboutour rights and how we are so lucky to live in this free country thatprovides us with equal opportunities. Somehow along the way, I ended uphaving more rights than her. I grew up, fell in love and got married. Shegrew up, fell in love, and is prohibited under law from getting married.
Why? Because she is gay.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum21amendmentsbapr21,0,406341.story

-Shutting off ocean outfalls good goal, but implementation could make matters worse
ISSUE: Legislature moves toward shutting off ocean-polluting wastewater outfall pipes. South Florida has treated the ocean like a toilet long enough.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editnbwastewaterpnapr21,0,2298934.story


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

-Increasing water flow into Everglades
The Everglades are a treasure; a unique ecosystem found nowhere else in theworld. Thousands of people representing a range of interests have workeddiligently to protect and restore the Everglades ecosystem. For years wehave focused on one of the most troublesome barriers to restoration -- theTamiami Trail. I am pleased to report that we have just reached asignificant milestone: We have completed a draft plan for allowing morewater to flow under Tamiami Trail and into Everglades National Park.
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/503494.html

-CAMPAIGN 2008 | SUPERDELEGATES
Florida superdelegates could be super tiebreakers
They are a bunch of mostly middle-aged lawyers and politicians who can'tdecide between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But there's also a37-year-old single mom and an 80-year-old grandmother, a retired small-townmillworker and an author of best-selling books on corporate America, as wellas a couple of supporters of former candidates John Edwards and DennisKucinich. Superdelegates could emerge as super tiebreakers -- but whetherFlorida's votes will count remains undecided.
http://www.miamiherald.com/540/story/501969.html

-Murder reward rises to $5,000
The reward has grown to $5,000 in case of Simmie L. Williams Jr.,17-year-old Fort Lauderdale boy who was gunned down earlier this year.
Police posted fliers at Sistrunk Boulevard and 10th Avenue Monday, hopingthe $5,000 reward will help in the Simmie Williams murder case. Almost twomonths later, there are few witnesses and few leads into who killed SimmieWilliams, a 17-year-old gunned down while dressed like a woman in a part ofFort Lauderdale known for transvestite prostitution. Police are asking forhelp.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/495949.html


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

-Crist, Rubio rivalry revived as both turn to health insurance
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist is marching into the final days of thelegislative session hoping to bring home his one priority that can't fallvictim to state budget reductions.
His health insurance proposal doesn't cost the state a cent, which means itcan't be cut by bean counters frantically looking for savings. But the issuehas forced Crist into another staring contest with a familiar foe: HouseSpeaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/04/20/m1a_crist_0420.html

-Reports don't tell whole story of child sex abuse
Records and experts reveal a different picture of perpetrators.
A man is accused of asking an 11-year-old girl to don "her little blackdress and her necklace" before taking her to an abandoned house in St. JohnsCounty where she is raped.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/042108/met_270510717.shtml

-Vacancies may help Crist reshape state's high court
Gov. Charlie Crist has said little about his pending opportunity to name astate Supreme Court justice -- the first of three vacant court seats heshould be able to fill over the next two years.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-capview2008apr20,0,6589465.column

-Medicaid Cuts - This Is Going to Hurt
Lawmakers struggle with vitally needed programs that are too costly not tocut. Florida taxpayers keep Evelyn Williams alive by paying for kidney dialysis.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080421/NEWS/804210378/1004


=
Broward: Rally - April 26th, 11am - 1pm
Make our Primary Votes Count as cast on January 29th
Come Join Us on Saturday, April 26th 11:00 am-1:00 pm
"Count the Florida Votes Rally" At the Seminole Tribal Auditorium
6300 Stirling Road Hollywood, FL 33024
on Saturday, April 26th, 11am - 1pm
Cost $10.00 per person pay at the door
Meet the Democratic Candidates For the offices of Broward County Sheriff,Florida Senator District 31, Supervisor of Elections. Lunch will beserved. There will be music and dancing with a DJ.

=

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

GLBT DIGEST April 20, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

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

-
The Joy of Marriage Was Ours, for a While
GAY marriage was never my issue - until I actually tried it. A little more than four years ago I stood in the glorious, echoing rotunda of San Francisco City Hall, looking into my partner's eyes and vowing love forever.
Little did I grasp then that enthusiastically participating in this sunny rite of passage would expose me to its depressing shadow side. I surprised myself, getting married. I had boycotted the weddings of many straight friends (and political allies in our battle for equality), resenting them as one by one they chose to embrace their privilege, leaving us gays and lesbians stranded. In the subsequent years, the gay civil rights movement steadily inched forward, securing a few legal rights for couples that varied state by state. In California, my partner and I signed a benefitless domestic partnership registry in 2001, and then, a scant two years later, we were granted a whole lot of separate-but-nearly-equal benefits involving inheritance, medical issues, adoption and state taxation. It frankly seemed enough for me. I worried that the gay movement's focus on marriage was eclipsing our community's ability to ally with others on the global issues that increasingly fueled my own political passions: namely, environmental sustainability and economic justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/fashion/20love.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=gay&st=nyt&oref=slogin


=
Steve Rothaus
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-The Rev. John J. McNeill 'on the occasion of the Pope Coming to Town'
This editorial was written by John J. McNeill, author of The Church and The Homosexual, Taking A Chance on God, Freedom, Glorious Freedom, and Both Feet Planted Firmly in Midair.

Toward a Theology of Fallibility
When Pope Benedict comes to Ground Zero in New York City he will be greeted by a giant banner with a painting of Michael Judge, the Gay Franciscan priest, whose life is recorded in the documentary, Saint of 9/11. That banner signifies the ambiguous state of many Gay, Lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Catholics toward the Pope. We share the respect and love of the Catholic community for the Vicar of Christ and wish him well. At the same time we are profoundly aware of how wrong he is in his understanding and judgment on Gayness as "intrinsic disorder". We are deeply conscious that we cannot accept and live out his teaching on homosexuality without destroying our mental and spiritual health. What is bad psychology has to bebad theology. We find ourselves in the same position as children of a homophobic parent, who, while still loving their parent, must separate off and take distance from that parent's homophobia, if they are to live happy and healthy lives. We Roman Catholic Gays have found it necessary to undergo the same maturing process in our spiritual lives that Jesus asked his disciples to undergo at the last supper.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/


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

-All The President's Women and Men
If election 2008 sweeps a Democratic administration into office, who in our community might be walking the halls of the White House and weighing in on key policy decisions? The Advocate takes a look at some potential power players.
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid53553.asp


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

-'You're Going To Be Gay'
"Stereotypes are funny," said Shann Carr, stirring a cup of tea at Michael's Diner in Rancho Mirage. She flips her book open to a page of a girl in a football uniform. "It might not be politically correct, but sometimes stereotypes are there for a reason," she said.


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

-Illinois: A measure that aimed to extend survivor benefits to the same-sex partners of Chicago Public School teachers failed, 43-67, after a long debate. HB 4731 was sponsored by openly gay state Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, who vowed to keep fighting for its passage despite the setback.
The measure would have extended survivor benefits, at no cost to taxpayers, to the same-sex partners of Chicago Public School teachers who have passed away.

-I've been waiting. The media flavor of the month is the Texas polygamist compound. We've seen the children, shielded by sheets, removed from the compound. We've seen the women of the compound plead for the return of their children. We've seen people who have escaped the compound recount their experience. The media has generally focused on the report of abuse within the compound and the marriages of girls as young as 14 to men in their 50s.
I've been waiting for the same-sex marriage shoe to drop. Michael Graham of Boston's WTKK dropped it today. Michael was inquiring why Massachusetts' liberals were not supporting the polygamists. After all, Massachusetts is the home to same-sex marriage, so why wouldn't we support the polygamists of Texas?


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

-Straight male machismo underpins all tyranny
In a speech to the European Feminist Summit in London last month, activist and human rights advocate Peter Tatchell argued that by challenging traditional heterosexual masculinity, the queer emancipation movement can contribute to the liberation of all of humanity. Queer liberation is not a mere minority issue, nor purely a question of personal lifestyle, civil rights or sexual freedom. It is, or can be, socially transformative, with the potential to aid all emancipation struggles everywhere. Queers deviate from traditional masculinity. We reject the orthodox model of what it is to be a man. By so doing, we are sexual subversives who unravel the straight machismo that underpins all relations of oppression and exploitation.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7299.html


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

-Many in the international gay community are anxiously awaiting the release of HRW's gay Iran report, which was expected to be released in fall of 2006, because the report will greatly assist making life better for Iranian gay people. As we wait for the report to be made public, people interested in how HRW currently views the situation of gays in Iran should look at a video of a March 31 lecture at Harvard by HRW's gay director Scott Long. I think the eventual release of HRW's gay Iran report, along with the recent lecture, will do much good for the plight of Iranian gays and the global gay activist movement. Go here to access the link to the one-hour video of Long's lecture:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp/previous_events.html

-Chicago is finally organizing its first-ever IDAHO event on May 17th, focusing on solidarity with Russian LGBT people who are organizing the 3rd annual Moscow Pride, despite hostility of the authorities. Given that our Russian friends will be applying right around May 17th for a permit for their Pride event later in the month (May 31st), pressuring the Russian authorities at that time and letting them know that people around the world are watching will hopefully lessen any repression they might contemplate.


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

-Psychiatrists: Let's Talk about Homosexuality
Psychiatric group will host 'historic' symposium on faith and therapy. Two social conservatives will share the stage with two pro-homosexual speakers in a notable attempt at a "balanced discussion" sponsored by theAmerican Psychiatric Association (APA). The pro-homosexual speakers - Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly homosexual Episcopalian in New Hampshire, and Dr. David Scasta, past president of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists - will seek "common ground and new perspectives" with two onservatives: the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of South Baptist Theological Seminary and a member of the Focus on the Family board of directors; and Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College. "The symposium acknowledges the role of religious belief as a core variable in the development of sexual identity," Throckmorton told citizenLink. "To my knowledge, this meeting, distinguished by diversity of religious viewpoints, is unprecedented at APA." The symposium is scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m. EDT, on Monday, May 5, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000007174.cfm

-This week in Washington Blade
http://www.washblade.com/


=
From Transgender Equality
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article

-200 transgender rights advocates lobby Congress
Visitors from 29 states ask lawmakers to oppose gay-only ENDA
Nearly 200 transgender rights activists and their supporters descendedon Washington from 29 states this week to urge Congress to supportlegislation aimed at ending discrimination and violence.
Participants in a March 14 lobby day organized by the Washington-basedNational Center for Transgender Equality said they hoped to put asidethe sharp disagreements that surfaced last year over a decision byHouse Democratic leaders to remove transgender protections from theEmployment Non-Discrimination Act.
"Our lobbying will educate lawmakers about our lives, who we are andwhy we are working hard to end discrimination against all people butespecially people who face from discrimination because of their genderidentity," said Mara Keisling, the Center's executive director.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/4-17/news/national/4594.cfm


=

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

NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS April 20, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.



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

-Giuliani Breaks Rules By Having Communion At Papal Mass
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twice-divorced former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani took Communion at a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict on Saturday, breaching rules that bar those who remarry outside the Church from doing so. As he left New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral with his third wife, Judith, the failed presidential candidate confirmed to Reuters that he took Communion from a priest. Asked if he was uncomfortable with having broken the Church ban on the divorced and remarried taking Communion, Giuliani said, "No."
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-pope-usa-giuliani.html?sq=gay&st=nyt&scp=7&pagewanted=print

-The Torture Sessions
Ever since Americans learned that American soldiers and intelligence agents were torturing prisoners, there has been a disturbing question: How high up did the decision go to ignore United States law, international treaties, the Geneva Conventions and basic morality? The answer, we have learned recently, is that - with President Bush's clear knowledge and support - some of the very highest officials in the land not only approved the abuse of prisoners, but participated in the detailed planning of harsh interrogations and helped to create a legal structure to shield from justice those who followed the orders. We have long known that the Justice Department tortured the law to give its Orwellian blessing to torturing people, and that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a list of ways to abuse prisoners. But recent accounts by ABC News and The Associated Press said that all of the president's top national security advisers at the time participated in creating the interrogation policy: Vice President Dick Cheney; Mr. Rumsfeld; Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser; Colin Powell, the secretary of state;
John Ashcroft, the attorney general; and George Tenet, the director of central intelligence. These officials did not have the time or the foresight to plan for the afte
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/opinion/20sun1.html?ref=opinion

-Senator McCain Digs In
John McCain needs to come up with a plan that shows how he would govern without adding to the fiscal damage of the past eight years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/opinion/20sun2.html?ref=opinion

-Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded "the gulag of our times" by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.
The administration's communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo. To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as "military analysts" whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world. Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

-Clintons Sort Friends: Past and Present
WASHINGTON - Nancy Larson's most difficult conversation was, by far, the one with Chelsea Clinton.
"It was just heartbreaking," said Mrs. Larson, a Democratic National Committee member from Minnesota and, more to the point, a superdelegate who had initially pledged herself to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. This was last Saturday, after the former first daughter learned that Mrs. Larson would be shifting her allegiance to Senator Barack Obama. "She is a delightful young woman who loves her mother very much," Mrs. Larson said.
"She was really pushing me. She kept asking me why I was doing this. She just kept asking, 'Why? Why?' "
It is a question many in the Clinton camp are asking these days, sometimes in conversations far less civil than that one. After nearly two decades building relationships with a generation of Democrats, Mrs. Clinton has recently suffered a steady erosion of support for her presidential campaign from the party stalwarts who once formed the basis of her perceived juggernaut of "inevitability."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/us/politics/20loyalty.html?hp

-U.S. Commanders Seeking to Widen Pakistan Attacks
WASHINGTON - American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to United States officials. The requests have been rebuffed for now, the officials said, after deliberations in Washington among senior Bush administration officials who fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan's new government, which is negotiating with the militants, and destabilize an already fragile security situation. American commanders would prefer that Pakistani forces attack the militants, but Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas have slowed recently to avoid upsetting the negotiations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/world/asia/20pstan.html?hp


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

-An Olympic Force for Change
A rash of protests disrupted the Olympic torch relays in San Francisco, Paris and London. Hu Jia, a Chinese activist, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison this month for "inciting subversion" of Communist Party rule. The central government continues to crack down on unrest in Tibet. What was to be a triumphant medal count for China is quickly becoming a tally of its human rights abuses. It looks as if the Olympics are doing little to change China, and China is doing a lot to change the Olympics. But the Chinese government is one thing; 1.3 billion Chinese people are another. It is important not to conflate China with the Chinese government. The Olympics have stirred an enormous outpouring of nationalism within China and among Chinese abroad. We should not dismiss Chinese nationalism as part and parcel of the Communist machine. Nationalism has forged civic engagement, cutting across groups normally divided by age, class and geography. This engagement leads to greater awareness of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Far from legitimizing an authoritarian regime, the Olympics foster the kind of nationalism that will help the Chinese carve out a civil society, which may be the best antidote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/18/AR2008041802715.html

-Democrats' Damaging Brawl
As a rule, presidential elections are not won or lost by what happens in April. But last week, more and more Democratic officeholders and strategists were worrying out loud about the possibility that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are running themselves into trouble with their unending battle for the nomination. The negativity of the campaigning for Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary is spotlighting issues that can easily be exploited in the general election by Republican John McCain. And the increasingly personal tone of the Clinton-Obama exchanges is draining some of the enthusiasm from Democrats, who have believed for many months that 2008 would be their year for victory. Even so, according to this month's Post-ABC News poll, there is still no strong demand from grass-roots Democrats for the two senators to end their battle and turn to the challenge posed by McCain. By a margin of 53 percent to 41 percent, those surveyed said that it is more important that their favorite candidate win, even if the race goes into the summer, than that the race end as soon as possible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/18/AR2008041802702.html

-Thanking Our GIs
Better benefits, including a college education, would reward troops and entice recruits.
TO DATE, 56 senators and more than 200 representatives have signed on to legislation to revamp GI educational benefits. They recognize that the men and women fighting today's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting their due. But if Congress is serious about doing right by America's veterans, it has to do more than come up with a list of names. It's time to enact a new GI bill and pay for it. Impetus for the bill comes from Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), a veteran with a family history of military service. Mr. Webb and a co-sponsor, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), also a veteran, rightly argue that post-Sept. 11 veterans are being shortchanged by a system designed for peacetime that has not kept pace with increased college costs.
Their bill, introduced in January 2007, would be true to the original GI bill enacted after World War II in providing a cost-free education to those who serve in the military.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041901603_pf.html

-A Worsening Food Crisis
The U.S. and its allies need to act.
THE WORLD'S most dangerous conflicts stem from religion and ideology -- tragic proof that man does not live by bread alone. But when bread is hard to get, that, too, causes unrest. And lately, it has been very expensive indeed: The World Bank estimates that global food prices have risen 83 percent in the last three years. Hence, food riots in Haiti, Egypt and Ethiopia and the use of troops in Pakistan and Thailand to protect crops and storage centers. Many countries are banning or limiting food exports. World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick says that 33 countries are at risk of food-related upheaval. Famine may revisit North Korea, parts of Africa or, disastrously for U.S. foreign policy, Afghanistan. To many, the villain is biofuels. U.S. and European ethanol programs, intended as an antidote to climate change and an alternative to OPEC oil, stand accused of snatching food from the world's hungry. According to India's finance minister, ethanol is "a crime against humanity." And it is part of the problem. The more corn becomes ethanol, the less will be available as food for people and livestock. In the U.S. farm belt, heavy ethanol subsidies, such as a tax break of 51 cents a gallon, encourage the shift. These subsidies were already questionable, in economic terms, before the commodity crunch. That they might contribute to hardship for the world's poor is another argument for reducing them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041901601.html

-Mexico's Unfinished Reform
President Calderón tackles the state oil monopoly -- and the anti-democratic forces that support it.
THOUGH YOU wouldn't know it from listening to the Democratic presidential candidates, Mexico's biggest economic problem is not the North American Free Trade Agreement but its failure to open its economy even more widely to investment and trade. The single largest obstacle to Mexican growth is the country's state oil monopoly, Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. Created in 1938, the company has become synonymous with inefficiency and corruption;
though it supplies 40 percent of Mexico's government revenue, its production has declined 10 percent in the last three years, largely because it lacks the capital or expertise to tap offshore oil reserves. Now Mexico's courageous president, Felipe Calderón, has proposed a modest reform aimed at easing this bottleneck. Legislation he introduced in the Mexican Congress would allow Pemex to contract out exploration, drilling and refining to foreign companies and to pay bonuses in lieu of ownership shares in any new fields. The reform could allow a substantial boost in Mexican production and income and could save the country from massive imports of refined products -- while still preserving state control over oil resources, a near-sacred principle in Mexican politics.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041901600.html

-New Genetic Tests Offer Deeper Look at Accused
Twenty years after DNA fingerprints were first admitted in criminal trials, genes are being used to "testify" in ways never before possible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/19/ST2008041902299.html?hpid=topnews

-Obama Tries to Hold Off Clinton
On a whistle-stop tour of Pa., candidate tries to regain momentum, apply pressure to opponent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041902035.html?hpid=topnews


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

-Obama experiences reverse snobbery
Why do Americans look up for people to look down on? We Americans sometimes baffle ourselves with ambivalence toward ambition and success. We applaud "merit," for example, yet we turn up our noses at "elitists." We root for the little guy, yet again and again we elect the wealthy, the powerful and the insider-connected. In fact, we seem to love elites. It's the snoots we can't stand. That's why Sen. Hillary Clinton figured she could block rival Sen. Barack Obama's momentum in their Democratic presidential nomination race by playing the "elitist" card.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/OPINION03/804200308/1031

-Democratic battle helps pump up base
WASHINGTON - In Indiana, which holds its Democratic primary in two weeks, more than 150,000 people have registered to vote in just the past four months, and state officials are preparing for a record turnout.
In Virginia, the state Democratic Party has raised nearly twice as much money this year as it had at this point in the last presidential election, thanks largely to Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton battling for the primary there, party officials say. And in Pennsylvania, Tuesday's key Democratic primary has helped the Democrats build a lead of 1-million registered voters over the Republicans. As Obama and Clinton claw through this unusually long and increasingly nasty primary season, the central question for many Democrats is not who will win, but whether the party will be helped or harmed by the fight.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/article464529.ece

-Obama's patriotism
BARACK OBAMA believes his patriotism can't be challenged. Maybe he should talk to Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry. "I am absolutely confident that during the general election that when I'm in a debate with John McCain, people are not going to be questioning my patriotism, they are going to be questioning how can you make people's lives a little better," declared Obama during last week's contentious debate with Hillary Clinton.
Obama wants the race for the White House to be about hope. It probably won't be. In 1988, Dukakis said the campaign was about "competence, not ideology."
His opponent, George H.W. Bush, made it all about ideology. The GOP turned Dukakis into a civil liberties-loving elitist who let convicted felons free to strike again. The attack on Dukakis also zeroed in on his veto of a bill requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Dukakis vetoed the egislation after an advisory opinion from the state supreme court called it unconstitutional. The facts didn't matter. The Massachusetts governor was pounded on the Pledge. At one point during the campaign, a Republican senator also falsely claimed that Kitty Dukakis had burned an American flag during an antiwar demonstration in the 1960s.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/04/20/obamas_patriotism/

-To some extent, presidential race is contest of 'cool'
McCain, Clinton work hard to show they're 'with it' as younger voters are drifting to Obama
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5713844.html

-For McCain, a 2d run, a shifting image
Senator John McCain commands one of the strongest brands in American politics: maverick Republican, reformer, willing to challenge the party hierarchy. But that image, cemented during his failed first run for the White House eight years ago, has been scuffed on his way to becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. To woo the GOP's conservative base, McCain has repositioned himself to align with the party mainstream on some key issues and downplayed others that once defined his independence.
Along the way, McCain has made clear that despite a flair for the impolitic or unpredictable, he hews more clos ely to conservative Republican orthodoxy than his rebel reputation suggests. McCain insists he has never budged from his lifelong belief in less government and less taxation. But whoever wins the Democratic nomination will surely argue that behind McCain's antipolitician label, he has always been cozy with the agents of the special interests he rails against.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/20/for_mccain_a_2d_run_a_shifting_image/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z


=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST April 20, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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

-With two weeks to go, it's getting "Nutz" in Tallahassee
If you haven't been paying attention to the Legislature's 2008 session, here's a recap:
Starting July 1, it will be legal to bring your gun to work, but you'll have to keep it locked in your car. No word yet on whether companies will replace Casual Fridays with Winchester Wednesdays. It's still legal to hang fake bull testicles on the bumper of your pickup truck, but a state senator wants to neuter displays of the so-called "Truck-Nutz" by imposing a $60 fine.
It's still legal for Floridians to have sex with animals. It's still illegal for gays to adopt, even if they've been a child's foster parent for years. "Our state is very confused, that's all I have to say," Sen. Nan Rich, a Democrat from Sunrise, said Friday. Rich has sponsored bills that would outlaw bestiality and allow gay adoptions. Both appear dead this session. Very much alive are proposed bills that might allow the mention of intelligent design and creationism in science classrooms and a bill that would compel women to pay for and view an ultrasound before having abortions. "These issues are just a distraction," Rich said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol0420sbapr20,0,7458759.column


=
To All MedicaidAdvocates.Com Members, Friends, Allies, and Supporters:
Below you will find two stories from Today's edition of the Fort Myers
News-Press Newspaper regarding the Budget cuts in Health Care and specifically how these cuts will affect one of MedicaidAdvocates.Com's newest members, Ron Tourony from Fort Myers. We need to make sure that these stories get forwarded to ALL of the State Legislators and Florida's Governor so that they can see the impact, and the ADVERSE effects, that these cuts WILL have on REAL Floridians. HOPEFULLY, before they finalize the budget and impact ALL of these lives, they will realize that it ISN'T just "ink on a page" but LIFE OR DEATH for SO MANY PEOPLE. HOPEFULLY, the Legislators will FINALLY come to realize that SAVING PEOPLE'S LIVES is a more important thing to do rather than continue TAX EXEMPTIONS for LUXURY SKY BOXES and OSTRICH FEED! HOPEFULLY............................
Bill Rettinger and Marianne Stringer - Co-Founders
MedicaidAdvocates.Com
..
State's budget crunch to hit Medicaid benefits
Most vulnerable face unkindest cuts of all
Ron Tourony of Fort Myers wants what most young men want: an education, a good job, a home of his own.
But Tourony, who has muscular dystrophy, needs state medical help to achieve that, and his coming-of-age arrives at a time when lawmakers intend to slash Medicaid, the state health insurance for low-income and disabled residents.
Tourony turns 21 in October, and when he does, he loses the children's Medicaid services that pay for 10 hours a day of nursing care, doctor visits and other medical help.


=
From Equality Florida
Florida House Passes Statewide Safe Schools Bill
Long Overdue Bill Comes Amid Assurances that All Forms of Bullying are Prohibited
(Tallahassee) By a unanimous vote, the Florida House of Representatives today passed a statewide Safe Schools bill that, bill sponsors say, will prohibit all forms of harassment including bullying targeted at students based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical appearance, disability, and religion.
Reps. Dan Gelber, Jack Seiler, and a bi-partisan coalition brought forward an amendment that would have expanded the examples of harassment included in the bill to encompass all of the characteristics listed in Florida's hate crimes statute. The amendment failed only after assurances from sponsors that all of these groups were already protected. Legislators zeroed in on the issue of protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students from harassment with the sponsor and supporters repeatedly insisting that anti-gay bullying would be outlawed by this bill. Rep. Bogdanoff (R-Broward) and Rep. Thompson (R-Lee), prime sponsors of the bill, both stressed that protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity were already covered in the bill. "No member of this legislature believes a child should be bullied because of their sexual orientation," Bogdanoff said.
http://www.eqfl.org


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

-A state of hostility toward new voters
If the point of elections laws is to make voting as convenient as possible, Florida has missed it. The state has just been named by three voting rights advocacy groups as "the most hostile state in the nation to new voters." The umulative effect of some recently passed election laws has made voter registration drives more fraught with pitfalls and registering to vote more difficult. State law requires residents register to vote at least 29 days before an election. Some other states, such as Connecticut, Maine and Minnesota, allow citizens to register and vote on the same day. Florida's long lead time means that a voter has to plan well ahead in order to exercise his or her franchise. On top of that, Florida's "no match-no vote" law was upheld by a federal appellate court earlier this month. The law says that where Social Security or driver's license information does not perfectly match what is on a voter registration application, the registration is to be considered invalid. A citizen registering as "Bill," for example, could be barred from voting if his Social Security number is issued under "William."
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article463654.ece


=

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

GLBT DIGEST April 19, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

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

-Gay Men Breaking Ground at a Jewish Seminary
Aaron Weininger stood in the ballroom of a Florida hotel last April, acollege senior given the compliment of leading the Passover Seder for anaudience of university administrators. He reached the sentence in theHagaddah that implores each generation to feel that it was the one liberatedfrom Egypt. There were few passages in the liturgy he had known better orlonger. In this particular moment, though, the words rippled with newmeaning. One week earlier, the leading seminary of Conservative Judaism haddropped its longstanding ban on admitting, teaching or ordaining openly gaystudents to be rabbis. Ten days later, Mr. Weininger had his interview atJewish Theological Seminary, seeking to be the first person to break thosebarriers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/us/19religion.html?_r=1&sq=gay&st=nyt&oref=slogin&scp=2&pagewanted=print

-Rangers Answer Concerns of Gays
Representatives from Madison Square Garden and the Rangers met Wednesdaywith gay advocacy groups and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn toaddress concerns about anti-gay slurs that are regularly shouted at Rangersgames. "The Rangers and MSG/Cablevision agreed to implement a specificaction plan based on the recommendations we made at the meeting," said KevinJennings, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight EducationNetwork. "We are very excited about their willingness to engage in dialogue,take actions and become an active participant in creating a less hostileatmosphere at Madison Square Garden." The meeting came one month after aNew York Times article detailed gay hockey fans' frustration with what theydescribed as a homophobic atmosphere at Rangers games, as well as anunwillingness of team officials to address the problem. Jennings, who is aregular at Rangers games, said the atmosphere became so uncomfortable thathe stopped attending, and others complained that they were once booed whenthe name of their group, the New York Gay Hockey Association, was shown onthe monitors above the ice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/sports/hockey/18fans.html?scp=5&sq=gay&st=nyt


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

-A Less Cruel Punishment
A Supreme Court ruling shouldn't end the debate on the methods or morals oflethal injection.
THE SUPREME Court has spoken: The current method of injection to executeinmates does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. But thisdeclaration, delivered in a splintered, 97-page opinion Wednesday, shouldnot end the public debate about capital punishment -- nor about whetherstates, as long as executions continue, should consider alternatives thatmay be more humane and reliable and less likely to impose unnecessary pain.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/18/AR2008041802901.html


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

-Lance Bass doesn't want others to stay silent as he did.
So he's made a public service announcement for the Gay, Lesbian & StraightEducation Network (GLSEN). The spot, which is being distributed virallyFriday, debuts in advance of the 11th annual National Day of Silence onApril 25, when students take a vow of silence to protest bullying,harassment and discrimination in schools. "I think it's time for me to standup ... and help educate, because I'm lucky enough to have been given a voiceto be able to talk and grab the attention of people," said the 28-year-oldsinger, who's gay.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flapeople0419sbapr19,0,3334592.story

-Slain West Palm Beach man was leader among gay community
By the time police announced Friday that the slain man found in a West PalmBeach home was, indeed, interior designer Scott Graham, his many friends andfamily already knew. But the gay community is now left to contemplate thedeath of three community leaders and contributors in just over a month. "Alot of people were impacted by the deaths of these three men," said TonyPlakas, former executive director of Compass Inc., the county's gaycommunity center. "We are talking about people who were the basic buildingblocks of establishing a tolerant community that people wanted to live in."
Graham, who ran his successful interior design firm with clients around thecountry, helped launch the Palm Beach Human Rights Council in 1988, bringinghis professional success and business expertise to the table for a communitytrying to gain footing in South Florida, said longtime friend and a founderof the council, Rand Hoch. Graham was a strong supporter of gay causes whomfriends described as warm and engaging and who led more by example thanactivism.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpgraham0419pnapr19,0,5078773.story


=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Newark triple murder involved sexual assault, 'penetration'
One of four college students shot execution style in a Newark, N.J.,schoolyard in August 2007, the day before they planned to attend a Gay Pridefestival in New York, was sexually assaulted during the incident, accordingto new charges filed today against a defendant in the case.
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=17789

-Lawmaker uses short people to question gay-bias bill
The debate on the Senate floor over a bill that would expand the prohibitionof sexual orientation-based discrimination became personal and emotionalthis morning after a senator offered a rhetorical amendment to bandiscrimination against short people. Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, withdrew thestunt amendment after arguing that there is no need for the bill because hehas not seen evidence that gays and lesbians are discriminated against whenseeking a job or a home. "What I'm talking about is economicdiscrimination, political discrimination, employment discrimination," Brophysaid. "I find no pattern of any of those." Brophy's comments outragedDemocrats, who took turns at the lectern denouncing his argument with angryand sometimes shaking voices.
http://www.denverpost.com/rapids/ci_8974184

-UMC must cease 'spiritual violence' against gay people
Many voices from across The United Methodist Church are suggesting there isno way forward in the 36-year-long dialogue about the role and status oflesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the church.
Declaring an impasse, these voices call for an end to this dialogue in thename of peace and unity. Forty-five years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther KingJr. wrote a now-famous letter from a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala., to agroup of white clergy (including two Methodist bishops) who--in the name of"unity" and "peace"--had publicly called on King and his allies to ceasetheir disturbing nonviolent protests against racial segregation.
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/04/umc-must-cease-spiritual-viole.html

-States of Equality scorecard
Equality Giving posted a States of Equality scorecard where a person can seeif they are considered to be a second-class citizen in any of the 50 states.
The organization explains: " The score indicates the number of EqualityGoals that have been reached in that state. Each "YES" gives 1 point. Halfa point is given for partial achievement of an Equality Goal. One of theseven Equality Goals (repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell") can only be achievedat the federal level. Therefore, at the state level, the maximum score is6."
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=4/13/08&end=4/20/08#17781


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

-Mob Ransacks Rome Gay Center
(Rome) Rome police are searching for members of a mob of youths who burstinto the city's LGBT center, ransacking the building.

-Colombia Court Gives More Rights To Gay Couples
(Bogota) Colombia's Colombia's Constitutional Court has ruled that thegovernment must extend pension benefits to same-sex partners.

-Nasty Lesbian Custody Case Rambles On
(Richmond, Virginia) A nasty custody case that has raged on for two yearsand involved courts in two states may be nearing an end.

-Massive LGBT Rights Rally At Minnesota Capitol
(St. Paul, Minnesota) In what is described as the biggest rally so far thisyear at the Minnesota Capitol, thousands of LGBT activists and supporterslobbied for domestic partner rights and protections of gays students.

-Students, Young Workers Have Different Priorities
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) The Democratic presidential hopefuls havebounced from city to city in Pennsylvania hoping to nab some much-neededvotes in Tuesday's primary.


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

-Neo-Nazi who attacked gays loses appeal
The leader of a neo-Nazi group in southern Sweden, jailed for beating fivemen at a gay rights party, lost his appeal yesterday. National SocialistFront (NSF) leader Simon Lindberg, had the three month sentence handed downby a district court confirmed by the Court of Appeal
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7432.html


=
Anything But Straight
by Wayne Besen
California: The Huffington Post reports that the California Supreme Courtmay overturn Proposition 22, a referendum passed in 2000 that prohibits gaypeople from marrying. The article suggests that the court may also come outin favor of same-sex marriage as early as May 23. Anticipating a favorableruling, the right wing is working to place a constitutional amendment on theballot to ban gay marriage. However, these efforts were set back when Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to fight against the potential measure andcalled it "a total waste of time" at the Log Cabin Republicans NationalConvention. The Log Cabin Republicans deserve credit for getting thegovernor's stance on the record. With the latest poll showing only 51% ofCalifornians against gay marriage, Schwarzenegger's support will likelyembolden moderate fence sitters to side with equality.
http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/04/observations.html


=
Forwarded from Euro-Queer
Contact rays.list@comcast.net for the full article:

-Events in recent weeks in relation to the "National Programme to PromoteTolerance, 2009-2013" no longer allow us to keep quiet about thehypocritical nature of Latvia's public integration policies. One specificgroup - homosexual and bisexual people - are consistently excluded from thisprocess. If that was a process which took place in secret until recenttimes, then now Minister Kastens has been expressing his open and scornfulattitude both in words and in deeds. We believe that this is purposefulpolicy on the part of the First Party of Latvia/Latvia's Way (LPP/LC), whichthe minister represents, and that this policy has been pursued ever sincethe 2006 parliamentary election campaign. It is very ironic that thegovernment has entrusted the issue of promoting tolerance in society to aminister who represents Latvia's most intolerant political party. Webelieve that this strategy is dangerous, because it splits society, promotesvarious manifestations of hatred and, at the end of the day, creates evengreater public distrust in the country's political and governing structures.

-The United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-GovernmentalOrganization (DPI/NGO) is organizing its annual conference in Paris,September 3-5, 2008 on the topic of Human Rights to commemorate the 60thanniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. DPI/NGO willconsider the topic of Human Rights for the first time since 1994. The HumanRights Conference is to be sponsored by the United Nations DPI/NGOCommittee, UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Commission and the Government ofFrance. I serve on the Outreach Planning Committee. I have worked hard toget LGBT rights included in the conference. LGBT rights now seem to be onthe agenda, but nearly as a footnote. I would hope that LGBT activistswould use their contacts to insure that this conference adequately coversthe important topic of Human Rights for the LGBT community. If you havecontacts with the DPI/NGO Committee, UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Commissionor the Government of France, I urge you to use those contacts to ensure thatthis conference adequately covers LGBT Human Rights.

-CWA President Wendy Wright just returned from Kosovo. She was there with adelegation of pro-family groups to draw attention to some serious "timebombs" in the proposed constitution of the region which recently declaredindependence. Those little language loopholes place Kosovo at the mercy ofradical feminists and globalists at the United Nations and the EuropeanUnion, as it gives those international entities authority over localdecision-making. While the flawed constitution was adopted, Wright says thepro-family groups from the U.S. and Europe were able to advise Kosovarleaders on how they can protect their nation from attempts to forceabortion-on-demand and homosexual marriage onto their culture.


=
From People for the American Way

-Senate Majority Harry Reid needs to hear from you now.
Republican senators and conservative activists are applying intense pressureon Senator Reid to move the president's appellate-level judicial nomineeswho haven't been confirmed. Senator Reid needs to resist that pressure.
Under the long-standing tradition known as the "Thurmond Rule,"controversial judicial nominees should not be brought up for considerationthis close to a presidential election. Call Senator Reid now (202) 244-3542and tell him to do everything he can to block the most dangerous Bushjudicial nominees.

-Here are some of the nominees of most concern:
..Peter Keisler, a co-founder of the Federalist Society and former clerk torejected Reagan Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, who has been nominated tofill a seat on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals -- arguably the second mostpowerful court in the land behind the Supreme Court. When President Clintontried to fill this very seat, Republicans blocked his nominee saying thecourt's caseload was too small to fill the vacancy. Well its caseload iseven smaller now!
..Robert Conrad (nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the FourthCircuit), who has a disturbing record on reproductive freedom, theenvironment and workers' rights, and has criticized the notion of safe sexas a way to avoid contracting AIDS.
..Steve Matthews (also nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the FourthCircuit), who served for years on the board of the Landmark LegalFoundation, a group which in 2007 nominated Rush Limbaugh for the NobelPeace Prize.
http://www.pfaw.org/go/StopBadJudges


=
Soulforce Email Update

-Gender Identity and Justice in Fort Worth: United Methodist GeneralConference to Make Policy on Ordination and More
In 2007, the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council ruled that anewly-transitioned transgender pastor, Rev. Drew Phoenix of St. John'sUnited Methodist Church in Baltimore, could continue to serve his church, ashis congregation desires. However, because church law makes no reference totransgender people, the Judicial Council referred the broader question ofwhether transgender ministers are eligible for clergy appointments to thechurch's main legislative body, the United Methodist General Conference,which will convene in Fort Worth, Texas, April 23-May 2. ....
Unfortunately, anti-LGBT organizations have proposed legislation that ismisinformed and discriminatory. One such proposal comes from the leader ofan ex-gay ministry: Planning to Come to Fort Worth But Haven't Registered?
Last Chance to Reserve a Seat on the Bus.
http://www.soulforce.org/email_campaign/email_4_18_2008.html


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

-Research Request
We are writing to inform you about a research study being conducted at theUniversity of Maryland on beliefs about sexual orientation held by same-sex attracted people. You areencouraged to participateif you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, bi-curious, queer, questioning,or otherwise same-sex attracted. Even if you prefer not to label yourself,we are interested in your experience!Participation involves the completionof several online questionnaires and will take approximately 20-30 minutes.
If you are interested in participating in this study please follow the linkprovided below
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=F7GP0BfvernmmL22FwZtfw_3d_3d


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

-An Overview of the Same-Sex Marriage Debate
Polls show that frequency of worship service attendance is a factor in theopposition to gay marriage. According to an August 2007 survey by the PewForum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People &the Press, 55% of Americans oppose gay marriage, with 36% favoring it. Butthose with a high frequency of church attendance oppose it by asubstantially wider margin (73% in opposition vs. 21% in favor). Oppositionamong white evangelicals, regardless of frequency of church attendance, iseven higher -- at 81%. A majority of black Protestants (64%) and LatinoCatholics (52%)3 also oppose gay marriage, as do pluralities of white,non-Hispanic Catholics (49%) and white mainline Protestants (47%). Onlyamong Americans without a religious affiliation does a majority (60%)express support. However, a 2006 Pew survey found that sizable majoritiesof white mainline Protestants (66%), Catholics (63%) and those without areligious affiliation (78%) favor allowing homosexual couples to enter intocivil unions that grant most of the legal rights of marriage without thetitle. The general public also supports civil unions (54% in favor vs. 42%in opposition). As with gay marriage, white evangelicals (66%), blackProtestants (62%) and frequent church attenders (60%) stand out for theiropposition to civil unions.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/795/gay-marriage


=
GLAAD's "The Best and Worst of National News"
THE BEST
-Hartford Courant Spotlights the Tax Challenges Faced by Gay Families
In April, millions of Americans share in the stress of preparing taxreturns. However, as the Hartford Courant explained, gay couples can faceadditional challenges when filing their
taxes.http://www.topix.com/content/trb/2008/03/same-sex-couple-blocked-by-h-r

-The Baltimore Sun Shares Stories of Clergy Who Support Marriage for Gay andLesbian People
The media has been paying increasing attention to the many religious leaderswho support equality for LGBT Americans.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.marriage31mar31,0,2635397.story

-The New York Times Shares Inspiring Story of a Homeless Transgender Woman
The lives of homeless transgender and gay people are often renderedinvisible in the national media. However, The New York Times has been doinga great service by introducing readers to the stories of homeless LGBT youngadults during recent years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/nyregion/thecity/30tran.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

THE WORST
-The Oklahoman Publishes Unbalanced Report About Sally Kern Controversy
Since Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern made headlines in March aftertelling a group of supporters "the homosexual agenda is destroying ournation," she has been the subject of continuing local media attention.
http://newsok.com/article/3224704/1207199956


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

-The Trans Fag
On a cold winter night I take my 20-year-old friend Hunter to an EastVillage gay bar -- his first time in a New York City watering hole where hecould wade among other cute gay men like himself. I convince the bartenderto let us in by pretending that Hunter is my little brother who just turned21 and came out but had his wallet and ID stolen on the subway. The barkeepgrudgingly lets us stay, and we take a seat in the rear. It's a pretty emptyweeknight, but a few guys start throwing looks over shoulders and cruisingHunter, and he whispers that he thinks one of them is cute-thestraightest-looking dude in the room.
http://www.out.com/detail.asp?id=23533

-Former Reagan Official Blasts 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'
Ronald Reagan's former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Lawrence J. Korb,urged Congress Apr. 16 to strike down the military ban on openly gaytroops.The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network issued a press release thatsame day to announce that Korb had urged lawmakers to "get rid of outmodedsocial restrictions" like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and provided writtentestimony in which he suggested that the ban was "counterproductive tomilitary readiness."
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=73192

-Where will Atlanta gays grow old?
Developer discusses possibility of local gay retirement home
Joe O'Brien, 63, wants to know where he and his partner can go if theinevitable frailties of old age force them from their Lake Claire home.
http://www.southernvoice.com/2008/4-18/news/localnews/8412.cfm

-Court denies lesbian Alimony
KARLSRUHE, Germany - Germany's highest court has rejected an alimony claimby a mother of five children because she had left "an intact marriage" tolive with another woman.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=751407

-Argentina: May 17th will be "Fight Against Discrimination Based on Sexual
Orientation or Gender Identity Day" in Buenos Aires
Not to be left behind today, the Buenos Aires legislature voted thisafternoon to designate May 17th as the "Fight Against Discrimination Basedon Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Day" (doesn't necessarily roll offthe tongue as easily as other commemorations but I guess they wanted to bespecific about it).
http://blabbeando.blogspot.com/2008/04/argentina-may-17th-will-be-fight.html

-Nigeria: Hotbed of Homophobic Violence
Even in Africa--a continent not known for its gay-friendly cultures orgovernments---Nigeria stands out for the virulence and violence against gaymen in particular as well as lesbians.
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=73209

-Pressure growing for new laws after gay sperm donor loses case
PRESSURE is growing on the Government to bring in laws on "assistedreproduction" after a gay sperm donor was denied access to his biologicalson in the High Court.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pressure-growing-for-new-laws-after-gay-sperm-donor-loses-case-1350782.html

-Consequences of homophobia
The world cannot afford discrimination in the fight against AIDS
THIS WEEK AN Egyptian court sentenced four men each to three years in prisonbecause they are gay and HIV-positive. Taken into custody during a sweep ofrecent arrests of suspected homosexuals, the men were publicly shamed,forced to submit to HIV tests and tortured by Egyptian authorities. Thistype of treatment not only violates international human rights standards, itundermines efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
http://washblade.com/2008/4-18/view/editorial/12413.cfm

-Kristof: Closed-mindedness afflicts both liberals and conservatives
If you're a Democrat, your candidate won in Wednesday night's presidentialdebate - that was obvious, and most neutral observers would recognize that.
But the other candidate issued appalling distortions, and the newscommentary afterward was shamefully biased.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8964560?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

-New Web site launches for GLBT community
Worldwide launch to be held in Nashville and Atlanta
A Nashville couple has launched a new Web site that will serve as an onlinesocial network Web site serving a global GLBT community.
Gregory Fry and Shane Moore with GS Enterprises, Inc., have launchedGayCouples4Fun.com that will allow users to search, connect and chat withother GLBT people in "a simple, easy-to-navigate web environment."
http://outandaboutnewspaper.com/article.php?id=2556

-North Ga. welcomes Camp Lickalotta's 'Bushstock'
Controversial lesbian music fest finally finds a home
After being run out of rural North Carolina by opponents not amused with alesbian campground named "Camp Lickalotta" and its planned "Bushstock '08"music fest, the founders of the controversial event have found a home inDahlonega, Ga.
http://www.southernvoice.com/2008/4-18/news/localnews/8413.cfm

-Charting the distance between church and state in America
Christian evangelicals have become a powerful influence on our nation'spolitical and cultural landscape. Energized by passionate, biblicallyinspired opposition to gay marriage, abortion, and Darwinian evolution,faith-based advocacy groups like Focus on the Family helped deliver the 2004Presidential election to George W. Bush.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/04/19/charting_the_distance_between_church_and_state_in_america/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z

-Roommate story resonates strongly across racial lines
Catherine Donnelly and Alice Brown did something few of us are willing to doin a story in last Sunday's AJC: talk openly about racial attitudes that areshaped in large part by how we are raised.
Staff writer Brian Feagans stumbled on Donnelly's story about rooming withMichelle Obama at Princeton University while making political small talkduring a real estate closing. Donnelly mentioned having Obama as a roommate.
When contacted later, she talked about Alice Brown's horror upon learningher daughter's roommate was black.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tuck/stories/2008/04/18/inside_0419.html

=

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

FLORIDA DIGEST April 19, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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

-Legislature poised to reform dreaded FCAT
In hopes of damping "FCAT frenzy," as well as easing teacher and studentangst, the Legislature is expected this spring to approve a major revamp ofFlorida's public school testing program.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/legislature/sfl-flffcat0419sbapr19,0,772954.story

-Florida'sjobless rate rises to 4.9 percentFlorida's jobless rate hit 4.9 percent inMarch, the highest level in morethan four years, the state Agency forWorkforce Innovation said Friday. Thestate lost 56,600 jobs since lastMarch. In South Florida, the unemploymentranks kept growing compared with a year ago because of job cuts in thebuilding industry and related specialty trades."This is going to last forquite some time," said Bruce Nissen, an economist at Florida InternationalUniversity's Center for Labor Research, of construction and related joblosses. "It could be a year or two before the housing market rights itself."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzjobless0419sbapr19,0,6715967.story


=
Gay Men's Chorus - Ft. Lauderdale
TODAY! Yard Sale, Fine Art and Bake Sale - Saturday 8am-4pm
At Sunshine Cathedral - 1480 SW 9th Ave.


=
From GLCC S. Florida
Join Team GLCC on April 20 and help us raise money for theGLCC!
Logon now to sign up to walk, run or blade for the cure.www.glccsf.org


=
From Equality Florida
It's been an historic day in the Florida Capitol. Just moments ago, the Florida House of Representatives unanimously passed a Safe Schools anti-bully bill (HB 669). Equality Floridaworked with legislative leadership to bring an amendment that would've strengthened the bill by expanding to the list of types of bullying that are prohibited, including harassment based on disability, physical appearance,sexual orientation, gender identity and ethnicity. During the debate on theamendment, our legislative allies stood strong and demanded that allstudents be coveredunder the bill. The bipartisan amendment was eventually rejected,but only after the bill sponsors concretely stated that the bill would protect all students- including LGBT youth. The usually raucous chamber was silent as Rep Gelber gave closing arguments or the amendment.Hearing Democrats and Republicans alike affirm the need to protect GBTstudentsalong with everyone else was something I'll never forget. Now on tothe Senate.
https://secure.ga3.org/01/onlinedonation


=
From Florida Red & Blue
She"didn't know"-- but spoke at the press conferenceanyway
Yesterdaythesponsors of Amendment 2 tried to gather Floridians together to challengeacentral truth about Amendment 2 - that it couldactually take wayexistingrights and benefits from Floridians. Theirefforts were rewarded with resscoverage. But maybe not the coverage theywanted. Some of thepeople they put orward admitted they "weren't familiar"with Amendment 2 or"didn't know" what mendment 2 would do. Please join us and SayNo2 taking away benefits.

=
From Care Resources
AIDS Walk Miami
The big day is arriving fast!! This Sunday, thousands of people willconverge at the Miami Beach Convention Center to Walk, Run or Blade for thecure!! Dont stop collecting donations though! The AIDS Walk Miami websitedoes not go down - keep bringing in those donations and tell everyone to logon to your personal page and donate to you - even while you are walking!! Weare anticipating a huge attendance this year, so we have moved up theregistration time which will now begin at 7:30 in Hall D of the Miami BeachConvention Center. The entrance is located on Convention Center Drive,directly across from the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens.
http://www.careresource.org/


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

-House grinds to halt over Democratic protest
TALLAHASSEE -- A toxic combination of partisan rancor and muscle-flexing by an empowered Democratic caucus erupted into an all-day and all-night feud of parliamentary one-upsmanship in the Florida House of Representatives that kept lawmakers in their seats well into the morning hours Saturday.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/501048.html

-FLORIDA BUDGETUse state reserves, Crist saysGov. Charlie Crist wants state lawmakers to dip into rainy-day funds to plug holes in the budget and reduce the impact on healthcare and other services.
Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday that he is urging state lawmakers to reconsider their opposition to skimming state reserves to supplement the state's tapering revenues.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/501701.html

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

-Key question unanswered in debate on evolution bill
Critics want to know if intelligent design is considered scientific or religious theory
TALLAHASSEE - The sponsor of a bill that would prohibit school officials from punishing teachers for presenting "scientific information" that challenges evolution dodged opponents' questions Thursday in Senate debate over her measure.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080418/NEWS/804180655/

=

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