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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Clintons-Race-to-Lose.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Analysis: It's Clinton's Race to Lose...
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:30 a.m. ET
October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Memo to the Democratic presidential candidates: You canstill beat Hillary Rodham Clinton, but you better act fast.
The former first lady looks more likely to win the nomination every day,showing strength in polling, fundraising and setting the campaign agenda.
She's so strong, in fact, that the race has become about her. And Democraticoperatives from presidential campaigns past and present say the only way forany other candidate to win the nomination is to make an even stronger caseagainst her.
''If this were a wedding, we'd be at the 'speak now or forever hold yourpeace' part,'' said Steve McMahon, who advised Howard Dean in 2004. ''Ifyou're a candidate hoping to get past her, the time for nuance and veiledreferences has passed.''
There is always the chance that Clinton could make an error in the nextcouple of months that would hurt her chances. Some argue that her voteagainst Iran at a time when anti-war Democrats are concerned about war therehas the potential to damage her standing.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/us/politics/26clinton.html?hp
The Long Run: A No-Nonsense Style Honed as Advocate
By MARK LEIBOVICH
October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - Hillary Rodham Clinton needs her rest. She shuns thenocturnal habits of her husband - the 2 a.m. staff calls, the all-hoursgames of hearts. "It doesn't suit my body rhythms," said Mrs. Clinton, whotypically sleeps six or seven hours, sometimes beside the briefing book shehad been reading.
Her meetings have clear agendas and rarely devolve into open-ended"brainstorming" sessions. She might indulge gossip at the outset (Who'spregnant? Who saw "Grey's Anatomy"?) but hates wasting time. "Every meetingshould be transactional," said Tamera Luzzatto, Mrs. Clinton's Senate chiefof staff.
So should each e-mail message. Mrs. Clinton's are spare ("yes, let's do it."), uncluttered with jokes, emoticons or out-of-nowhere "whassups." Shecarries a BlackBerry, on vibrate, in her purse.
When asked about her as a manager, people who have worked for Mrs. Clinton,the Democratic senator from New York, described her as "organized,""methodical" and "disciplined." They also note that those words were neverapplied to her husband, Bill Clinton.
"She is very smart and very organized," said Leon E. Panetta, the formerWhite House chief of staff. "Bill Clinton was very smart and not veryorganized."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/business/worldbusiness/26remit.html?hp
Mexicans Miss Money From Relatives Up North
By ELISABETH MALKIN
October 26, 2007
EL RODEO, Mexico - For years, millions of Mexican migrants working in theUnited States have sent money back home to villages like this one, moneythat allows families to pay medical bills and school fees, build houses andbuy clothes or, if they save enough, maybe start a tiny business.
But after years of strong increases, the amount of migrant money flowing toMexico has stagnated. From 2000 to 2006, remittances grew to nearly $24billion a year from $6.6 billion, rising more than 20 percent some years. In2007, the increase so far has been less than 2 percent.
Migrants and migration experts say a flagging American economy and anenforcement campaign against illegal workers in the United States havepersuaded some migrants not to try to cross the border illegally to look forwork. Others have decided to return to Mexico. And many of those who arestaying in the United States are sending less money home.
In the rest of the world, remittances are rising, up as much as 10 percent ayear, according to Donald F. Terry of the Inter-American Development Bank.Last year, migrant workers worldwide sent more than $300 billion todeveloping countries - almost twice the amount of foreign direct investment.
But in Mexico, families are feeling squeezed.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/washington/26assess.html
U.S. Plays Its 'Unilateral' Card on Iran Sanctions
By HELENE COOPER
News Analysis
October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 - In announcing sweeping new sanctions against an eliteunit of the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, Bush administration officialstook pains to offer assurances on Thursday that at least for now, the UnitedStates is not going to war with Iran.
"We do not believe that conflict is inevitable," said R. Nicholas Burns, theunder secretary of state for political affairs. "This decision todaysupports the diplomacy and in no way, shape or form does it anticipate theuse of force."
The move designated the Quds force of the Revolutionary Guard and fourstate-owned Iranian banks as supporters of terrorism, and the Guard itselfas an illegal exporter of ballistic missiles. The decision thus raised thetemperature in American's ongoing confrontation with Iran over terrorism andnuclear weapons.
But it also reflected some caution by an administration that has alsoaccused the Quds force of aiding Shiite militia attacks on American soldiersin Iraq, and has even detained some Quds force members there, but hasresisted calls for retaliatory strikes inside Iran.
"This is a warning shot across the bow, not that the U.S. is going to invadeIran, but that Iran has pushed the level of escalation, particularly insideIraq, to unacceptable levels," said Anthony H. Cordesman, a senior fellow atthe Center for Strategic and International Studies. "In many ways, this kindof warning is more a demonstration of restraint than a signal that we'regoing to war."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/washington/26health.html
House Defies Bush and Passes Insurance Bill
By ROBERT PEAR
October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 - Once again defying a veto threat from President Bush,the House on Thursday passed a bill to provide health insurance for 10million children. But supporters did not have enough votes to override thepromised veto.
The bill was approved by a vote of 265 to 142, less than the two-thirdsneeded to override a veto.
Last week, when the House considered a similar bill vetoed by Mr. Bush,supporters fell 13 votes short of the number needed to override. The rollcalls are not directly comparable because several lawmakers were absent onThursday, many of them helping constituents cope with the Californiawildfires.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the latest vote was "a step forward" toward thegoal of insuring millions of children from low-income families.
But the gains were not immediately evident in the roll call. Of theRepublicans who voted against the bill last week, none voted for the newversion. And one Republican who supported the old bill, RepresentativeVernon J. Ehlers of Michigan, voted against the new one, citing concernsthat the measure had been brought up on short notice, without enough inputfrom Republicans.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/education/25green.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1193407200-H8gSG7+iwT8QtsamtxQoJg
Schools Embrace Environment and Sow Debate
By WINNIE HU
October 25, 2007
SCARSDALE, N.Y. - Every weekday at 2:30 p.m., a line of luxury sedans andsport utility vehicles idles outside Scarsdale Middle School in WestchesterCounty. Exhaust fumes pollute the atmosphere, even though posted signsdecree this a "No Idling Zone" and students berate their parents forviolating it.
"I normally do abide by it," said Loryn Kass, 41, as she hastily turned offher BMW sedan while waiting for her daughter on a recent afternoon. "Itotally support it to keep the air clean and fresh for our children."
The school pickup line has become the latest front in a growing school-basedenvironmental movement that has moved far beyond recycling programs andEarth Day celebrations to challenge long-accepted school norms.
Since 2004, dozens of public and private schools in Westchester and New YorkCity and on Long Island have adopted no-idling zones, switched toplant-based cleaners in their buildings and, to a lesser extent, bannedpesticides from playgrounds and playing fields, according to GrassrootsEnvironmental Education, a nonprofit group that began a campaign this monthpromoting all three measures.
Similar efforts have spread across the country. The Maryland Association forEnvironmental and Outdoor Education, a nonprofit group, has recognized 163Maryland Green Schools - nearly one-third of them in the last two years -for taking initiatives like preserving wetlands, banning disposable plasticwater bottles or assigning environmentally themed readings.
No effort is deemed too small. In a light-bulb exchange in SouthernCalifornia, students in 26 schools in San Bernardino and Riverside Countiesreplaced 15,734 incandescent bulbs - and counting - in their homes withenergy-efficient compact fluorescent versions. Officials and educators inCalifornia are planning the first Green California Schools Summit inPasadena in December, expected to draw more than 2,000 school board members,administrators and teachers.
Some educators contend that the environmental focus is a waste of taxpayers'money and a distraction for schools at a time when many students areill-prepared for college and struggling to meet minimum standards on mathand reading tests.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502902.html?hpid=topnews
Burmese Refugees Recall How the Protests Evolved
By Jill Drew
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 26, 2007; A01
MAE SOT, Thailand, Oct. 25 -- The young Buddhist monk arrived here by boatlast week from Burma, exhausted and disheveled, with no passport, thestubble of his hair dyed blond for a disguise, and wearing a traditionalBurmese longyi wrap instead of his saffron-colored robe. He had to eludecapture by running barefoot, racing two miles down a highway, and jumpinginto bushes when cars passed.
Burmese troops had been hunting Ashin Kovida for three weeks, since hehelped lead pro-democracy protests in Burma's largest city, Rangoon. AshinKovida, 24, came to the safety of this mountain town on Thailand's westernborder, joining about 20 other refugees, many bringing with them new detailsof the ongoing crackdown in Burma, stories of dramatic escapes and freshinsights into the weeks of peaceful protests that prompted the militaryjunta's violent response.
From the refugees' stories, a fuller picture is emerging of how a peacefuland apolitical movement by Burma's revered Buddhist monks morphed into themost serious challenge to the junta in two decades. After at least tacitlyallowing the demonstrations to take place, the government launched itscrackdown when a banned student group and the country's largest oppositionparty openly joined in and hoisted their banners.
The refugees also offered first-person accounts of seeing unarmed protestersshot and killed. These accounts could not be independently verified, andBurma, which the generals call Myanmar, remains largely closed to foreignjournalists. The government has yet to give a full accounting of recentevents.
The monks had planned for the demonstrations to last nine days, from Sept.18 -- nine being a special number in Buddhist tradition. And they hadplanned for their protests to be peaceful, according to Ashin Kovida andanother new refugee here, U Pan Cha, a businessman who managed security forthe Rangoon demonstrations.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/opinion/26fri1.html?ref=opinion
Denying Children
October 26, 2007
Editorial
The House approved a revised bill to finance the children's health insuranceprogram yesterday by a 265-to-142 margin - a strong mandate, but still notenough to overcome another promised veto by President Bush.
If the president carries out this threat, we hope Congressional tacticianscan find a way to enact this important measure over the adamant,ideologically driven opposition of Mr. Bush and House Republican leaders.The health of millions of children who lack insurance cannot be held hostageto the president's visceral distaste for government and its essential roleto protect the weak, or his desire to protect the tobacco industry.
House Democrats tried hard to address the issues raised and relentlesslyhyped by Republican critics. The bill would speed up the removal ofchildless adults who have been enrolled in the program in a handful ofstates, and would reduce the enrollment of parents, even though includingparents is often the best way to reach their children.
Most important in the battle for public opinion, critics can no longercharge that the bill would cover children in families earning up to $83,000.That was always hype since the only state where that might have happened wasNew York - where health costs are especially high. The new bill wouldprovide federal matching money to cover only children in families withincomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or almost $62,000for a family of four. The only exception is that New Jersey could continueto provide coverage to families who earn up to $72,000 - if the state rankshigh in covering the poorest children.
Our own feeling is that states where the cost of living is high should beable to cover middle-class families. But if limiting the program to 300percent of the poverty level is necessary to get this important legislationenacted, that would be a price worth paying.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502687.html
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM: McCain and Clinton
Friday, October 26, 2007; A08
They are the '60s bookends of the 2008 campaign, one a college protesterduring the Vietnam War, the other a decorated naval officer who flew combatmissions over Hanoi. Today, their biographies intersect in a powerfulevocation of a decade that has long shaped the politics of the country.
It is an accident of history that Hillary Clinton's 60th birthday will fallon the 40th anniversary of the day John McCain was shot down over Vietnam.Today, they campaign for the White House as respectful rivals, but across avast cultural chasm that still divides the country.
It is ironic perhaps that their shared anniversaries come at the end of aweek in which McCain has tweaked Clinton over one of the great symbols ofthat decade, the Woodstock rock festival in Upstate New York, which McCaindescribed in Sunday's debate as a "cultural and pharmaceutical event" thathe missed because he "was tied up." Clinton's support for $1 million intaxpayer dollars to help fund a Woodstock memorial is the subject ofMcCain's new campaign ad.
Baby boomer Clinton marked her big birthday with a big celebration, afundraising bash last night featuring rocker Elvis Costello that includedfriends and political contributors and was hosted by her husband.
McCain, more than a decade older and not sharing the sensibilities of theboomer generation, will not celebrate as much as commemorate the anniversaryof his capture. He plans to campaign today in Iowa with Bud Day, with whomhe shared a prison cell at the "Hanoi Hilton."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502280.html?hpid=sec-nation
Scientist Retires After Race Remark
By Robin Shulman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 26, 2007; A11
NEW YORK, Oct. 25 -- James D. Watson, who shared a 1962 Nobel prize fordiscovering the structure of DNA, announced his retirement Thursday aftercontroversy erupted over comments he made suggesting that black people areless intelligent than whites.
"The passing on of my remaining vestiges of leadership is more thanoverdue," he wrote in a statement about his departure from Cold SpringHarbor Laboratory on Long Island, which he joined as director in 1968 andhelped build into one of the world's leading genetics research institutes."The circumstances in which this transfer is occurring, however, are notthose which I could ever have anticipated or desired," he added.
Watson, 79, was quoted on Oct. 14 in the Sunday Times of London saying thathe is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all oursocial policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same asours -- whereas all the testing says not really."
He subsequently issued a statement saying, "There is no scientific basis forsuch a belief."
Bruce Stillman, the president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, said at thetime that the comments have no connection with research activities at thelab, whose faculty members "vehemently disagree" with Watson's statements.Thelab swiftly suspended Watson's administrative responsibilities aschancellor.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102501660.html?hpid=sec-religion
Romney Embraces Jones Endorsement
By GLEN JOHNSON
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 3:10 PM
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney embraced hisassociation with Christian conservative Bob Jones III Thursday despiteJones' sharp criticism of the Mormon faith central to Romney's life.
"I'm proud to have the respect of people and the support of people who don'tagree with my faith, but agree that I'm the right person to be president,"the former Massachusetts governor said while campaigning here. "And I'm notrunning for preacher; I'm running for president."
In the 2000 election, George W. Bush similarly basked in the reputation ofBob Jones University, a Greenville, S.C., school named for Jones'sgrandfather that is influential with some conservative Christians. Less thana month after a visit to the school, Bush wound up apologizing to RomanCatholic leaders for "causing needless offense."
The university teaches its students that Catholicism, like Mormonism, is acult. At the time, it also had a policy banning interracial dating betweenits students. It rescinded the policy after publicity generated by Bush'svisit.
The university continues a policy of banning alumni it says are "militant" homosexuals from its campus, school spokesman Jonathan Patie said Mondayduring an interview with The Associated Press.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/456/story/285059.html
Dream Act: Hope, not amnesty
Posted on Fri, Oct. 26, 2007
In defeating the Dream Act, our leaders decided that a child should be heldresponsible for the illegal acts of a parent, a concept never beforeembraced by our country. Children of illegal immigrants, like all children,don't have a say in what their parents do, where their parents choose tolive and how their parents enter the United States.
Now, these children are relegated to a life in ''Never-Never Land,'' wherethey can never hold a job or get a driver's license. It's a life withouthope.
As a parent and an immigration lawyer, I have met many of these children.Ironically, they often don't know that they are illegal until it is time toget a driver's license, apply to college or register for military service.
I can't describe the despair on their faces when they learn they areillegal. They are truly the ''lost children.'' They have no home to returnto. They have no country they remember. Their friends, family and lives arehere.
The Dream Act is not an amnesty. Rather, it is a road out of ''Never NeverLand.'' It required these children to have entered this country before age16, live here for five years, demonstrate good moral character, obtain ahigh-school degree, attend several years of college or enlist in the U.S.military.
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5247169.html
Rice, Democrats go toe-to-toe over Iraq policy
Three hours of sparring fails to shed much light
By JOHANNA NEUMAN
Los Angeles Times
Oct. 26, 2007, 12:14AM
WASHINGTON - For months, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fended offdemands from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government ReformCommittee that she testify about State Department problems in Iraq.
Rice made her appearance Thursday and faced aggressive questioning aboutcorruption in the Iraqi government, rogue behavior by security guards forprivate contractor Blackwater USA, and construction defects at the new $600million U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
"We need to know whether the mistakes of the State Department havejeopardized any chance for political success in Iraq," Rep. Henry Waxman,D-Calif., said.
Rice, an academic by training and a diplomat by profession, sparred forthree hours with Waxman and others. Republicans charged that Democrats,without the votes in Congress to end the war outright, were trying to haltit by exposing a series of problems in Iraq.
"The Democratic strategy seems to be to drill enough small holes in thebottom of the boat to sink the entire Iraqi enterprise, while still claimingundying support for the crew about to drown," said ranking member Rep. TomDavis, R-Va.
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The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/26/romneys_faux_pas/
Romney's faux pas
By Scot Lehigh, Globe Columnist
October 26, 2007
MITT ROMNEY owes Barack Obama an apology. It's as simple as that.
And if you don't believe me, why, just ask our last governor.
Let me explain.
Perhaps you've followed the latest campaign kerfuffle, which began Tuesdaywhen Romney was discussing the new call to jihad from terrorist Osama binLaden.
"Just look at what Osam - Barack Obama - said just yesterday. Barack Obama,calling on radicals, jihadists of all the different types, to come togetherin Iraq," Romney said.
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The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/26/the_faith_gap_in_flux/
The faith gap in flux
By Ellen Goodman, Globe Columnist
October 26, 2007
IN RETROSPECT, it was probably not the best way to reassure the faithful.When James Dobson, child psychologist turned political kingmaker, rose tospeak at the Values Voter Summit dinner, he first complained about mediareports that the religious right was dead. Then he cheerily announced,"Welcome to the morgue."
Yes, well, not yet. The much-reported news from last weekend's gathering wasthat the honchos of the religious right are still wanted - dead or alive -by the Republican candidates.
The candidates came, they saw, they pandered, though they didn't exactlyconquer. Mitt Romney flashed his family credentials so brightly you couldhardly see his flip-flop footwear. Fred Thompson promised his first hour inthe Oval Office would be spent praying. Mike Huckabee claimed, "You are myroots." And even Rudy Giuliani offered the lame reassurance that "you haveabsolutely nothing to fear from me."
If the summit-goers did not meet in a morgue, they left in mourning for acandidate to call their own. But you don't have to be a politicalpathologist to see the real message from the meeting. There are signs ofideological rigor mortis among the old guard.
Think back to 2004, the "Year of the Values Voter." The religious rightclaimed credit for President Bush's reelection and grabbed the word "values"the way they had grabbed the word "life."
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-attorney-general,1,3193425.story
Mukasey's Nomination Runs Into Trouble
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
6:10 PM CDT, October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON
Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination for attorney general ran into troubleThursday when two top Senate Democrats said their votes hinge on whether hewill say on the record that an interrogation technique that simulatesdrowning is torture.
"It's fair to say my vote would depend on him answering that question,"Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told reporters lateThursday.
"This to me is the seminal issue," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin ofIllinois, another member of Leahy's panel. Asked if his vote depends onwhether Mukasey equates waterboarding with torture, Durbin answered: "Itdoes."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said his support could be indoubt over the same issue.
"I think if he doesn't change his direction in that regard, he could have atleast one concern and that's me," Reid told reporters.
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gospelvote_web_oct26,1,4455756.story
CAMPAIGN 2008
Obama hopes gospel tour will help chances with black voters
By Mike Dorning
Tribune national correspondent
8:18 AM CDT, October 26, 2007
COLUMBIA, S.C.-Barack Obama's presidential campaign on Friday begins a tourof gospel singers around this Bible Belt state to praise the Lord and offertestimonials on behalf of the candidate, a modern twist on a style ofold-time politicking right out of the film "O Brother Where Art Thou."
The gospel music tour stirred controversy this week because one of thefeatured performers, Grammy Award-winning singer Donnie McClurkin, hasoffended gay activists with his view that homosexuality is a choice and thatgays can "overcome" their orientation by turning to God. The campaign soughtto tamp down criticism from gay rights groups by adding an openly gayminister to deliver an invocation.
But the three-day gospel concert series-at which Obama is not scheduled toappear-is just the most visible element of the Obama campaign's efforts totarget religious voters, especially churchgoing African-Americans.
The Illinois senator's campaign is in the midst of a "Forty Days of Faithand Family" initiative in South Carolina. The program also has includedseveral high-profile appearances by Obama at prominent churches, interviewsby the candidate and campaign officials on gospel and Christian radiostations, and so far at least 17 campaign-sponsored "faith forums" thathighlight connections between Obama's political stands and the values of thefaithful.
The approach in part reflects the practical political implications of ahighly publicized argument that Obama made shortly after his election to theU.S. Senate that faith should play a greater role in politics, particularlyin communicating the moral basis for progressive political goals.
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Friday, October 26, 2007
FLORIDA DIGEST October 26, 2007
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From Chuck Williams
President - ArtsUnited, Inc.
Jim Stork and Peter Dekaj have been very good to ArtsUnited over the pasteight years since we started our organization. They have been with us fromthe very beginning and have always said, "Yes!" when we asked them tosponsor an event. When we were just a start up, unknown group, they havegiven us a venue to showcase our visual art work in a very public place. Thewalls of Stork's bakery have been home for over 70 artists, many for theirfirst solo exhibition.
Please join me this Saturday to say thanks to them and to celebrate their10th Birthday as a vital community partner for Artsunited and many, manyother nonprofit organizations.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpsta1026nboct26,0,3392031.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Everglades gets another 6,000 acres of filter marshes in Palm Beach County
By Andy Reid
October 26, 2007
Leftover sugar cane stalks, floating Thursday in dark water washing throughclumps of swaying cattails, illustrated decades of damage - as well as thepath to recovery - for the pollution-choked Everglades.
Water managers and environmentalists gathered in southwestern Palm BeachCounty to celebrate a key step on that path, the conversion of another 6,000acres of former farmland into man-made wetlands to filter pollutants out ofwater headed for the Everglades.
Phosphorus-infused fertilizers that wash off sugar cane and otheragricultural fields pollute the Everglades by overloading its waters withnutrients that fuel the growth of cattails, squeezing out sawgrass and otherhabitat vital to preserving what remains of the River of Grass.
To decrease that infusion of phosphorus, the newly expanded StormwaterTreatment Areas help capture water flowing off agricultural land and usecattails and submerged plants to create a natural filter - absorbing thenutrients before they wash into the Everglades.
Since 1994, Florida has invested $1.8 billion in buying land and building52,000 acres of Stormwater Treatment Areas intended to benefit theEverglades. Plans call for at least another 8,000 acres of filter marshes.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpliberti1026sboct26,0,1319091.story
Judge denies early release from jail for former West Palm commissioner
By Sally Apgar
October 26, 2007
A federal judge has denied former West Palm Beach Commissioner RayLiberti's request for early release from a Miami detention facility so thathe can attend the interment of his father's ashes Dec. 22.
In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas wrotethat Liberti had not "exhausted his administrative remedies" made to theFederal Bureau of Prisons. As a result Dimitrouleas found he had nojurisdiction to reduce Liberti's sentence.
With about seven months left in his prison sentence, Liberti, 61, has beennegotiating for an early release, according to court records. On June 6, hesent a handwritten letter to the Bureau of Prisons requesting immediaterelease to "home confinement, halfway house or a furlough" so that he couldhelp his mother take care of his father, Rinaldo, 84, of Royal Palm Beach,who was dying of bladder cancer and other complications.
Despite several requests, Liberti has been turned down. His father diedSept. 13 and since then Liberti has made repeated requests for an earlyrelease or a 30-day furlough to inter his father's ashes and take care ofhis 81-year-old mother.
Liberti was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October 2006 for mail fraudand obstruction of justice.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editafwaterwoesnboct26,0,3418765.story
South Florida must do more to cope with the severe drought stretching acrossthe southeastern United States
October 26, 2007
ISSUE: Severe drought hits southeastern United States.
Floridians would do well to pay attention to the impending water shortage inthe southeastern United States and understand its implications for theSunshine State.
South Florida struggled through its own severe drought earlier this year,and although it's been rained plenty lately, Lake Okeechobee levels arestill near record lows. In fact, the lake is so dry, it threatens to chokeoff a key water source for the Seminole Tribe's reservations, and watermanagers are trying to figure out how to replenish nearby canals before thesituation worsens. As we near the end of the rainy season, the region couldbe in for a long, uncomfortably dry winter that would further strain ourfinite water resources.We're not alone when it comes to water problems. Fivesouthern states are under severe drought conditions.
In Georgia, severe drought conditions prompted the governor to imposeemergency water restrictions. Lake Lanier, the reservoir that supplies waterto 3 million people in metropolitan Atlanta, has less than a 90-day supplyof water left.
South Florida, with its 6 million residents, is also a thriving metropolitanarea that needs to make better use of a precious resource. Thanks to agrowing population, there are simply many more of us depleting the area'sfragile sources of drinking water.
Unfortunately, the drought that left our region parched earlier this yearappears to be part of a larger - and definitely troubling - weather patternthat could very well spell trouble for the region again. All this leaveswater managers in South Florida with a herculean task.
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Sarasota Herald Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071026/NEWS/710260690
Florida clashes with Georgia over plans to restrict water flowing south
BY DAVID ROYSE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Article published Oct 26, 2007
TALLAHASSEE -- Allowing Georgia to fight drought by slowing water flow intoFlorida would imperil commercial fishing along the Florida Panhandle, Gov.Charlie Crist argued in a letter to President Bush.
Crist urged Bush not to let Georgia move forward with a water-saving plan toslow the flow from reservoirs into waterways that eventually reach Florida.
Georgia sued the Army Corps of Engineers last week to try to force it tocurb the release of water from North Georgia lakes into rivers that emptyinto the Gulf of Mexico through the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Riverbasin.
Georgia officials want to reduce the depletion of reservoir levels intoearly next year, so that no more water flows out than is coming in. Thestate's governor, Sonny Perdue, has also asked Bush to order that therelease of Georgia water be reduced.
But doing so would adversely affect the Apalachicola River and ApalachicolaBay, "resulting in a profound disruption of the socio-economic foundation inFlorida's Panhandle region," Crist wrote in the letter dated Wednesday.
more . . . . .
=
You are cordially invited to a
Buffet dinner and campaign briefing on
FLORIDA RED AND BLUE
the bi-partisan effort to defeat the so-called "Florida Marriage ProtectionAmendment"
Thursday, November 1
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
at the home of
Sandra and Bob Steen
603 Kensington Place, Wilton Manors
Suggested minimum contribution of $25
Checks payable to: Florida Red and Blue,
12864 Biscayne Boulevard, #314,
North Miami, FL, 33181,
or contribute on the web at www.floridaredandblue.com
For more information or to R.S.V.P. please contact Amy Rose at 954-593-8826or amy@floridaredandblue.com
Florida Red and Blue (www.floridaredandblue.com) is an independent,non-partisan campaign organized solely to defeat the proposed "MarriageProtection" Amendment. The campaign is an unprecedented coalition ofleadership from around the state of Florida - Republicans, Democrats,Independents, business leaders, religious leaders, elected officials, andorganization directors who have the sole objective of winning.
Florida Red and Blue is run by a diverse, non-partisan Executive Board whosemeetings and decisions are transparent to all supporters. Florida Red andBlue is a research-driven campaign which will hire and rely on experiencedprofessionals. Florida Red and Blue is not under the control of anyestablished group and will disband as soon as practical after the election.
Florida Red & Blue raised over $1.3 million for the campaign to defeat thisamendment. Please join us at this wonderful event to learn more about thecampaign and our progress to date. We look forward to seeing you there!
=
From Paul Hyman
Executive Director
Gay and Lesbian Community Center
of South Florida
email: phyman@glccsf.org
phone: 954-463-9005
Dear Community Members:
The Board and staff of the GLCC are very committed to resolving challengesrelated to our building project. We are pleased to inform you that we havemade significant progress in this matter.
The good news is that Tarragon Corporation has released a $750,000 letter ofcredit to the GLCC and the funds have been deposited into the agency'scapital account. With that, we have received almost $2 million as part ofthe original deal. Additionally, we are in final negotiations to guaranteethat the GLCC will either obtain the land site that had been designated forthe new building or secure another $750,000 payment.
With all this almost behind us, we are strategically looking at the bestoptions to ensure the long-term future of the GLCC. As always, we value yourcontinued support and will keep you informed of our efforts.
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/10-25/locallife/pulse/4147.cfm
Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus to hold auditions
Group preparing for holiday concert at Broward Center
By JW ARNOLD
Thursday, October 25, 2007
South Florida boasts a wide range of performing groups for local gay andlesbian musicians. From bands and choruses to dance and theaterorganizations, there are many diverse outlets to express creativity throughthe arts. One of the most successful organizations is the Ft. Lauderdale GayMen's Chorus and if you've ever considered singing with the chorus, here'syour chance.
The chorus will hold open auditions beginning at 1 p.m. this Saturday, Oct.27, in the Music Suite on the second floor of the education annex of theSunshine Cathedral, 1480 S.W. 9th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
Prospective members must arrive no later than 1 p.m. and should bring onepiece of music with which to audition. Recorded music may be used or thechorus will provide an accompanist. Learn more about the audition andpre-register at www.fortlauderdalegaymens chorus.org/auditions.htm, orcontact Bradley Bush at 954-832-0060 or auditions@ftlgmc.org.
Now in its 22nd season, the chorus is recognized as one of the premierperforming arts organizations in South Florida, and the longest-running gayperforming arts group in the state. Fresh off a 2006-07 season featuringsold-out performances at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, thechorus launched its latest season last Monday at the Au-Rene Theater withBroadway legend Barbara Cook. The next performance is "Holiday Treasures" at8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, in the Amaturo Theatre at the Broward Center forthe Performing Arts.
For more information, visit www.ftlgmc.com.
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/10-25/news/localnews/4144.cfm
City and county officials attend Stonewall ground breaking
Gay library prepares to move into new home
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Oct. 25, 2007
Fort Lauderdale City Commissioners Cindi Hutchinson and Charlotte Rodstromand Broward County Commissioner John Rodstrom cut the honorary ribbon at aground-breaking ceremony Oct. 17 for the new home of Stonewall Library &Archives.
The gay library is making a controversial move to a building on SunriseBoulevard that houses a satellite branch of the Broward County Library.Having the elected officials at the ground-breaking was a major boost to thelibrary's public relations efforts, said Nate Klarfeld, Stonewall Library'spresident.
"They went to bat for us," Klarfeld said. "They voted to keep the buildingopen."
This year, the county commission was considering closing the building due tobudget cuts. Earlier this summer, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle opposedmoving the Stonewall collection to the city-owned facility because, he said,the library's collection included pornography. The library's officialsresponded that the circulating collection contains no pornographic material,and there are just a few adult magazines in the archives. Moreover,Stonewall's collection is only accessible to adults.
Nate Klarfield, president of Stonewall Library, said that Stonewall haseditions of magazines such as Blueboy and other adult materials becausethose publications hold important artifacts of gay history not found inother places.
more . . . . .
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/10-25/arts/cover/4143.cfm
Spooktacular Events
Old haunts host Halloween parties in Wilton Manors, Miami
By SHERI ELFMAN
Oct. 25, 2007
An exciting new Halloween tradition has crept out of its crypt in WiltonManors. In July 2007, four local organizations decided to join forces tocreate the biggest, best Halloween extravaganza that Island City has everseen. On Wednesday, Oct. 31, the new event, the Wicked Manors Block Party,will take place on Wilton Drive.
The event, whose theme this year is "Hell on Heels," is a collaborativeeffort of the Wilton Manors Business Association, the Gay & LesbianCommunity Center of South Florida, Wilton Manors Main Street and the cityofficials.
The groups all agreed that the best way to do this party is to create asmaller version of the Stonewall Street Festival. They decided to make it ablock party between 7th and 11th Avenue on Wilton Drive. There are plans toexpand the festival to cover all of Wilton Drive in the future.
Each year, a different theme would be used. The first annual theme is "HellOn Heels" and will take place on Halloween night ¬- Wednesday, October 31.
Shops along the drive will distribute candy for young and oldtrick-or-treaters between 5 and 7 p.m. GayInternetRadioLive will provide themusic, and Mistress of the Dark Misty Eyez will serve as hostess and emcee.Street food, vendors, bars and Halloween-themed booths and souvenir itemsfor sale, including an official event T-shirt.
The evening will also feature the winners of the "Lord and Lady of WickedManors" contest, which has been going on online all week. Other conteststhat evening will include a Pet Costume Contest and a Pet/Owner Look-a-likeContest, a Tattoo and Body Art Contest, a Celebrity Look-a-like Contest andcontests for "Scariest" and "Overall Best" costumes.
Wicked Manors is not the only Halloween game in town. Here's a rundown ofsome of the larger Halloween events:
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
From Chuck Williams
President - ArtsUnited, Inc.
Jim Stork and Peter Dekaj have been very good to ArtsUnited over the pasteight years since we started our organization. They have been with us fromthe very beginning and have always said, "Yes!" when we asked them tosponsor an event. When we were just a start up, unknown group, they havegiven us a venue to showcase our visual art work in a very public place. Thewalls of Stork's bakery have been home for over 70 artists, many for theirfirst solo exhibition.
Please join me this Saturday to say thanks to them and to celebrate their10th Birthday as a vital community partner for Artsunited and many, manyother nonprofit organizations.
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpsta1026nboct26,0,3392031.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Everglades gets another 6,000 acres of filter marshes in Palm Beach County
By Andy Reid
October 26, 2007
Leftover sugar cane stalks, floating Thursday in dark water washing throughclumps of swaying cattails, illustrated decades of damage - as well as thepath to recovery - for the pollution-choked Everglades.
Water managers and environmentalists gathered in southwestern Palm BeachCounty to celebrate a key step on that path, the conversion of another 6,000acres of former farmland into man-made wetlands to filter pollutants out ofwater headed for the Everglades.
Phosphorus-infused fertilizers that wash off sugar cane and otheragricultural fields pollute the Everglades by overloading its waters withnutrients that fuel the growth of cattails, squeezing out sawgrass and otherhabitat vital to preserving what remains of the River of Grass.
To decrease that infusion of phosphorus, the newly expanded StormwaterTreatment Areas help capture water flowing off agricultural land and usecattails and submerged plants to create a natural filter - absorbing thenutrients before they wash into the Everglades.
Since 1994, Florida has invested $1.8 billion in buying land and building52,000 acres of Stormwater Treatment Areas intended to benefit theEverglades. Plans call for at least another 8,000 acres of filter marshes.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpliberti1026sboct26,0,1319091.story
Judge denies early release from jail for former West Palm commissioner
By Sally Apgar
October 26, 2007
A federal judge has denied former West Palm Beach Commissioner RayLiberti's request for early release from a Miami detention facility so thathe can attend the interment of his father's ashes Dec. 22.
In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas wrotethat Liberti had not "exhausted his administrative remedies" made to theFederal Bureau of Prisons. As a result Dimitrouleas found he had nojurisdiction to reduce Liberti's sentence.
With about seven months left in his prison sentence, Liberti, 61, has beennegotiating for an early release, according to court records. On June 6, hesent a handwritten letter to the Bureau of Prisons requesting immediaterelease to "home confinement, halfway house or a furlough" so that he couldhelp his mother take care of his father, Rinaldo, 84, of Royal Palm Beach,who was dying of bladder cancer and other complications.
Despite several requests, Liberti has been turned down. His father diedSept. 13 and since then Liberti has made repeated requests for an earlyrelease or a 30-day furlough to inter his father's ashes and take care ofhis 81-year-old mother.
Liberti was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October 2006 for mail fraudand obstruction of justice.
more . . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editafwaterwoesnboct26,0,3418765.story
South Florida must do more to cope with the severe drought stretching acrossthe southeastern United States
October 26, 2007
ISSUE: Severe drought hits southeastern United States.
Floridians would do well to pay attention to the impending water shortage inthe southeastern United States and understand its implications for theSunshine State.
South Florida struggled through its own severe drought earlier this year,and although it's been rained plenty lately, Lake Okeechobee levels arestill near record lows. In fact, the lake is so dry, it threatens to chokeoff a key water source for the Seminole Tribe's reservations, and watermanagers are trying to figure out how to replenish nearby canals before thesituation worsens. As we near the end of the rainy season, the region couldbe in for a long, uncomfortably dry winter that would further strain ourfinite water resources.We're not alone when it comes to water problems. Fivesouthern states are under severe drought conditions.
In Georgia, severe drought conditions prompted the governor to imposeemergency water restrictions. Lake Lanier, the reservoir that supplies waterto 3 million people in metropolitan Atlanta, has less than a 90-day supplyof water left.
South Florida, with its 6 million residents, is also a thriving metropolitanarea that needs to make better use of a precious resource. Thanks to agrowing population, there are simply many more of us depleting the area'sfragile sources of drinking water.
Unfortunately, the drought that left our region parched earlier this yearappears to be part of a larger - and definitely troubling - weather patternthat could very well spell trouble for the region again. All this leaveswater managers in South Florida with a herculean task.
more . . . . .
=
Sarasota Herald Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071026/NEWS/710260690
Florida clashes with Georgia over plans to restrict water flowing south
BY DAVID ROYSE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Article published Oct 26, 2007
TALLAHASSEE -- Allowing Georgia to fight drought by slowing water flow intoFlorida would imperil commercial fishing along the Florida Panhandle, Gov.Charlie Crist argued in a letter to President Bush.
Crist urged Bush not to let Georgia move forward with a water-saving plan toslow the flow from reservoirs into waterways that eventually reach Florida.
Georgia sued the Army Corps of Engineers last week to try to force it tocurb the release of water from North Georgia lakes into rivers that emptyinto the Gulf of Mexico through the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Riverbasin.
Georgia officials want to reduce the depletion of reservoir levels intoearly next year, so that no more water flows out than is coming in. Thestate's governor, Sonny Perdue, has also asked Bush to order that therelease of Georgia water be reduced.
But doing so would adversely affect the Apalachicola River and ApalachicolaBay, "resulting in a profound disruption of the socio-economic foundation inFlorida's Panhandle region," Crist wrote in the letter dated Wednesday.
more . . . . .
=
You are cordially invited to a
Buffet dinner and campaign briefing on
FLORIDA RED AND BLUE
the bi-partisan effort to defeat the so-called "Florida Marriage ProtectionAmendment"
Thursday, November 1
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
at the home of
Sandra and Bob Steen
603 Kensington Place, Wilton Manors
Suggested minimum contribution of $25
Checks payable to: Florida Red and Blue,
12864 Biscayne Boulevard, #314,
North Miami, FL, 33181,
or contribute on the web at www.floridaredandblue.com
For more information or to R.S.V.P. please contact Amy Rose at 954-593-8826or amy@floridaredandblue.com
Florida Red and Blue (www.floridaredandblue.com) is an independent,non-partisan campaign organized solely to defeat the proposed "MarriageProtection" Amendment. The campaign is an unprecedented coalition ofleadership from around the state of Florida - Republicans, Democrats,Independents, business leaders, religious leaders, elected officials, andorganization directors who have the sole objective of winning.
Florida Red and Blue is run by a diverse, non-partisan Executive Board whosemeetings and decisions are transparent to all supporters. Florida Red andBlue is a research-driven campaign which will hire and rely on experiencedprofessionals. Florida Red and Blue is not under the control of anyestablished group and will disband as soon as practical after the election.
Florida Red & Blue raised over $1.3 million for the campaign to defeat thisamendment. Please join us at this wonderful event to learn more about thecampaign and our progress to date. We look forward to seeing you there!
=
From Paul Hyman
Executive Director
Gay and Lesbian Community Center
of South Florida
email: phyman@glccsf.org
phone: 954-463-9005
Dear Community Members:
The Board and staff of the GLCC are very committed to resolving challengesrelated to our building project. We are pleased to inform you that we havemade significant progress in this matter.
The good news is that Tarragon Corporation has released a $750,000 letter ofcredit to the GLCC and the funds have been deposited into the agency'scapital account. With that, we have received almost $2 million as part ofthe original deal. Additionally, we are in final negotiations to guaranteethat the GLCC will either obtain the land site that had been designated forthe new building or secure another $750,000 payment.
With all this almost behind us, we are strategically looking at the bestoptions to ensure the long-term future of the GLCC. As always, we value yourcontinued support and will keep you informed of our efforts.
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/10-25/locallife/pulse/4147.cfm
Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus to hold auditions
Group preparing for holiday concert at Broward Center
By JW ARNOLD
Thursday, October 25, 2007
South Florida boasts a wide range of performing groups for local gay andlesbian musicians. From bands and choruses to dance and theaterorganizations, there are many diverse outlets to express creativity throughthe arts. One of the most successful organizations is the Ft. Lauderdale GayMen's Chorus and if you've ever considered singing with the chorus, here'syour chance.
The chorus will hold open auditions beginning at 1 p.m. this Saturday, Oct.27, in the Music Suite on the second floor of the education annex of theSunshine Cathedral, 1480 S.W. 9th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
Prospective members must arrive no later than 1 p.m. and should bring onepiece of music with which to audition. Recorded music may be used or thechorus will provide an accompanist. Learn more about the audition andpre-register at www.fortlauderdalegaymens chorus.org/auditions.htm, orcontact Bradley Bush at 954-832-0060 or auditions@ftlgmc.org.
Now in its 22nd season, the chorus is recognized as one of the premierperforming arts organizations in South Florida, and the longest-running gayperforming arts group in the state. Fresh off a 2006-07 season featuringsold-out performances at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, thechorus launched its latest season last Monday at the Au-Rene Theater withBroadway legend Barbara Cook. The next performance is "Holiday Treasures" at8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, in the Amaturo Theatre at the Broward Center forthe Performing Arts.
For more information, visit www.ftlgmc.com.
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/10-25/news/localnews/4144.cfm
City and county officials attend Stonewall ground breaking
Gay library prepares to move into new home
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Oct. 25, 2007
Fort Lauderdale City Commissioners Cindi Hutchinson and Charlotte Rodstromand Broward County Commissioner John Rodstrom cut the honorary ribbon at aground-breaking ceremony Oct. 17 for the new home of Stonewall Library &Archives.
The gay library is making a controversial move to a building on SunriseBoulevard that houses a satellite branch of the Broward County Library.Having the elected officials at the ground-breaking was a major boost to thelibrary's public relations efforts, said Nate Klarfeld, Stonewall Library'spresident.
"They went to bat for us," Klarfeld said. "They voted to keep the buildingopen."
This year, the county commission was considering closing the building due tobudget cuts. Earlier this summer, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle opposedmoving the Stonewall collection to the city-owned facility because, he said,the library's collection included pornography. The library's officialsresponded that the circulating collection contains no pornographic material,and there are just a few adult magazines in the archives. Moreover,Stonewall's collection is only accessible to adults.
Nate Klarfield, president of Stonewall Library, said that Stonewall haseditions of magazines such as Blueboy and other adult materials becausethose publications hold important artifacts of gay history not found inother places.
more . . . . .
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/10-25/arts/cover/4143.cfm
Spooktacular Events
Old haunts host Halloween parties in Wilton Manors, Miami
By SHERI ELFMAN
Oct. 25, 2007
An exciting new Halloween tradition has crept out of its crypt in WiltonManors. In July 2007, four local organizations decided to join forces tocreate the biggest, best Halloween extravaganza that Island City has everseen. On Wednesday, Oct. 31, the new event, the Wicked Manors Block Party,will take place on Wilton Drive.
The event, whose theme this year is "Hell on Heels," is a collaborativeeffort of the Wilton Manors Business Association, the Gay & LesbianCommunity Center of South Florida, Wilton Manors Main Street and the cityofficials.
The groups all agreed that the best way to do this party is to create asmaller version of the Stonewall Street Festival. They decided to make it ablock party between 7th and 11th Avenue on Wilton Drive. There are plans toexpand the festival to cover all of Wilton Drive in the future.
Each year, a different theme would be used. The first annual theme is "HellOn Heels" and will take place on Halloween night ¬- Wednesday, October 31.
Shops along the drive will distribute candy for young and oldtrick-or-treaters between 5 and 7 p.m. GayInternetRadioLive will provide themusic, and Mistress of the Dark Misty Eyez will serve as hostess and emcee.Street food, vendors, bars and Halloween-themed booths and souvenir itemsfor sale, including an official event T-shirt.
The evening will also feature the winners of the "Lord and Lady of WickedManors" contest, which has been going on online all week. Other conteststhat evening will include a Pet Costume Contest and a Pet/Owner Look-a-likeContest, a Tattoo and Body Art Contest, a Celebrity Look-a-like Contest andcontests for "Scariest" and "Overall Best" costumes.
Wicked Manors is not the only Halloween game in town. Here's a rundown ofsome of the larger Halloween events:
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Thursday, October 25, 2007
GLBT DIGEST October 25, 2007
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Arab Paper: Harry potter's gay personality is a vicious conspiracy !
October 23, 2007: The Syrian Newspaper Alwatan (The Homeland), reactedangrily to the new revelation by author J.K. Rowling that Harry Potter'sMaster Wizard Albus Dumbledore is gay, calling it a conspiracy by the gaylobby in the West.
In a piece under the title, "The Biggest Secret" by Hosam Qudis, thenewspaper says, ' The gay lobby in the West is indeed thrilled that anauthor of this caliber, who has captivated hundreds of millions of kidsaround the globe has introduced a gay personality in a story that has becomepart of popular folklore among many nations.
This lobby systematically promotes the dangerous idea that in order to teachchildren to be tolerant and accepting, it is important for the kids to growup used to the concept of homosexuality. Although it is true that the Westis tolerant towards homosexuals and accepts them, an author as smart andsophisticated as Rowling fully understands that her stories are read bymillions upon millions of kids in societies where homosexuality is not asacceptable as in the West. Therefore, her intention [to declare Dumbledoregay] is both irresponsible and even vicious. One can only imagine what thisauthor was premeditating by hiding this fact from billions of kids worldwide(as well as how this will affect future generations)."
[Arabic] http://alwatan.sy/newsd.php?idn=20216
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/us/politics/25obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Gay Rights Group Criticizes Obama
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
October 25, 2007
The nation's largest gay rights organization criticized Senator Barack Obamaof Illinois yesterday for scheduling a gospel concert on Sunday with asinger who has made controversial statements about homosexuality.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the gay rightsorganization, urged Mr. Obama in a phone call yesterday to cancel theappearance of the singer, Donnie McClurkin, who is to sing Sunday night in agospel concert in Columbia, S.C.
Critics say that Mr. McClurkin counsels that homosexuality is a curse thatcan be cured through prayer, although in an interview with The ChicagoTribune, Mr. McClurkin said that his words had been misconstrued and that hehad not crusaded against gay men and lesbians.
Mr. Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate, has not canceled Mr.McClurkin's appearance but has scheduled an openly gay minister, the Rev.Andy Sidden, to speak on the concert program. But that did not appear totamp down criticism from some gay activists or increasingly hostilebloggers.
The controversy reflects the competing interests of two importantconstituencies of the Democratic Party, with gay activists complaining thatMr. Obama is seeking the support of black evangelicals at their expense. Thegospel tour, which begins Friday with other singers, is part of a broadereffort by the Obama campaign to win over black evangelicals.
more . . . . .
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/fashion/25gear.html
Their Looks for Fall 2008
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
October 25, 2007
BARACK OBAMA is the only presidential candidate selling ribbed baby-dollT-shirts. John Edwards and Mitt Romney are the sole contenders offering"support the troops" stickers. Mr. Edwards is the one candidate hawking abutton with a photograph of his spouse. Only Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd andMr. Edwards have gay-friendly rainbow gear.
Tradition dictates that while selling themselves as potential presidents,candidates must also sell T-shirts, pins and gimme hats. The road to theWhite House is whipstitched with patriotic hues and "Made in the U.S.A."
labels.
But a closer inspection of the candidates' wares, as sold at their officialonline stores, offers the prospect of a peek into their characters andhoped-for constituencies. To varying degrees, most of the 16 would-becommanders in chief are hucksters, selling souvenirs to finance and promotetheir campaigns. The race to offer the most extensive, fashion-conscious andyouthful gear is being won by Mr. Obama and Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Does it say something about Mr. Obama's perceived hunkiness and desire toexcite the youth vote that he offers an extensive line of sexy women's T's?
Justin Hemminger, the political program coordinator for Tigereye Design,which supplies the promotional gear for the Obama campaign, said that muchof what is for sale points to the groups a candidate hopes to win over.
more . . . . .
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402514.html
Warning Is Sent to AIDS Vaccine Volunteers
S. Africans Among Recipients Who May Be at Higher Risk of Contracting Virus
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A20
JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 24 -- South African AIDS researchers have begun warninghundreds of volunteers that a highly touted experimental vaccine theyreceived in recent months might make them more, not less, likely to contractHIV in the midst of one of the world's most rampant epidemics.
The move stems from the discovery last month that an AIDS vaccine developedby Merck & Co. might have led to more infections than it averted among studysubjects in the United States and other countries. Among those who receivedat least two doses of the vaccine, 19 contracted HIV compared with 11 ofthose given placebos.
Researchers shut down the trial on the grounds that the vaccine was provingineffective, but the surge in infection among vaccinated volunteers promptedintense scientific debate and anxiety among researchers. The failure of theMerck vaccine is the latest in a series of disappointing results forresearch projects aimed at curbing AIDS.
"This is my worst nightmare," said Glenda Gray, the lead South Africainvestigator for the vaccine study. "I haven't slept for days. I have aheadache. I'm ready to resign from trials for the rest of my life."
Researchers in Soweto, Cape Town, Durban and two other sites begancontacting South Africa's 801 trial participants on Tuesday, mainly bycellphone text message. The goal is to tell each one individually whetherthey had received a placebo or the vaccine, a process called "unblinding"the trial. Researchers are telling the roughly half who received the vaccinethat it might have increased their risk of contracting HIV.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-mulancebasspnoct25,0,1561852.story
Lance Bass' new memoir dishes on 'N Sync
By JIM ABBOTT
Orlando Sentinel
October 25, 2007
There are more than a few exclamation points in Out of Sync, the new memoirfrom boy-band star Lance Bass, and it's a punctuation that fits the singer'spersonality.
Whatever the episode - 'N Sync's legal battles with Lou Pearlman, astronauttraining, coming out as a gay man in 2006 after hiding his sexuality for thesake of his career - Bass is unfailingly upbeat. He talks about learningsomething from almost every experience.
So what did the singer learn from recounting his life in Out of Sync($23.95, Simon Spotlight), which hit stores this week?
"It was nice going back," he says. "It felt like therapy, really, bringingback all these stories I haven't revisited in years.
"The biggest thing that I learned about the last 10 years was that the thingthat really failed was the communication. We were so busy and caught up inworking every day to continue this crazy whirlwind that we didn't reallystop and relax, look at how everyone was doing, look at each other to see ifeveryone was happy."
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-romney-evangelicals,0,2201113.story
Christian College Embraces Romney Bid
By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
12:18 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
GREENVILLE, S.C.
Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been embraced in a most unlikelyplace: at Bob Jones University, the influential Christian college thatteaches that his Mormon church is a cult.
In early voting South Carolina, Romney has picked up support among theevangelicals and social conservatives who are a political force.
Last week, Romney won the endorsements of Bob Jones III and Robert Taylor,the founder's grandson and a top dean respectively here at Bob JonesUniversity.
He also gained the backing of Don Wilton, the immediate past president ofthe South Carolina Baptist Convention and pastor of a nearby megachurch, aswell as Dr. John Willke, a founder and past president of the National Rightto Life Committee.
During the same one-week period, the former Massachusetts governor eked outa win in a straw poll at the socially conservative Values Voter Summit inWashington.
more . . . . .
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/283491.html
Broward judge, public defender regret sexual jokes
BY AMY SHERMAN AND HANNAH SAMPSON
Posted on Thu, Oct. 25, 2007
A Broward judge and a veteran assistant public defender have apologized forsexual jokes they made in the courtroom last week during a trial involvingsexual encounters between a teenage boy and a man.
While courthouse regulars gave credit to Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson andAssistant Public Defender Brian Reidy for apologizing, some said the Oct. 18incident was an indicator that more sensitivity training is needed in thecourthouse.
And the courtroom banter raised concerns among victims' advocates that itcould have a chilling effect on victims' willingness to step forward.
Public Defender Howard Finkelstein docked Reidy one of his six weeks ofvacation time. Levenson has not faced any discipline.
Here is what happened, according to the transcript:
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Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304805,00.html
Black Versus Gay Politics Has Barack Obama Tied in Knots
By Carl Cameron
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Barack Obama trails Hillary Clinton among black voters but the entertainmentplanned for his upcoming African American gospel outreach project hasanother key liberal constituency - gays, lesbians and transgenders -outraged.
Obama has announced that he will include an openly gay minister in thisweekend's event, but gay rights groups are still steaming about theinclusion of Donnie McClurkin in the "Embrace the Change" concert tour.
In a letter to Obama obtained by FOX News, the National Black JusticeCoalition complains that Obama's concert is being headlined by "gospelmusic's most openly homophobic artists; the most volatile of which is theRev. Donnie McClurkin."
"Your willingness to share a stage with Rev. Donnie McClurkin is alarmingand, frankly, deeply disappointing. Rev. McClurkin has consistentlydisparaged gay men and lesbians, spread half-truths and unproven theoriesabout our lives and has shown a willingness to work with those who would usethe rights of gay Americans as a wedge issue to divide black families fortheir own cynical political objectives," wrote NBJC Chief Executive OfficerH. Alexander Robinson.
"The fact that Rev. McClurkin uses his religious beliefs to justify bigotryand discrimination is so damaging that it cannot be addressed with a simplemedia statement no matter how heartfelt or sincere," Robinson continued.
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Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/24/watch-obamalinked-gospe_n_69687.html
Watch: Obama-Linked Gospel Singer Performs At '04 GOP Convention, SingsAbout Bush
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14920
UNH: Gay men discriminated against more at work than gay women
Gay men earn 23 percent less than married men
DURHAM, N.H. (AP)
Oct 24, 2:46 PM
University of New Hampshire research shows that employers discriminate moreagainst gay men than against gay women in the workplace.
The researchers found that gay men who live together earn 23 percent lessthan married men, and 9 percent less than unmarried heterosexual men wholive with a woman.
According to the study by UNH's Whittemore School of Business and Economics,discrimination is most pronounced in management and male-dominatedoccupations such as construction and production.
The study found that lesbians do not experience similar discrimination inthe labor market.
The authors analyzed U.S. Census labor and wage information from 2004 formore than 91,000 heterosexual and homosexual couples.
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14923
Holsinger not to participate in top court's meeting
Issue of transgender pastor to be discussed
SAN FRANCISCO | Oct 24, 4:18 PM
James W. Holsinger, Jr., president of the United Methodist Judicial Counciland President Bush's nominee for U.S. Surgeon General, has decided to notparticipate in the council's Oct. 24-27 meeting, according to the UnitedMethodist Church.
Throughout the meeting the council will discuss the issue of an FTMtransgender pastor from Maryland.
"As is always the case, members of the Council will travel thousands ofmiles to attend this meeting and have spent untold hours studying andpraying in preparation," the statement said. "In order to maintain theintegrity of the proceedings of the Judicial Council and in order forCouncil members to focus solely on the cases in front of them, I have chosennot to participate in the meeting," Holsinger said.
Bush nominated Holsinger to serve as the 18th surgeon general on May 24,2007. He testified before a Senate committee in July and came under fire fora 1991 paper he wrote on homosexuality. Gay and lesbian groups and othershave criticized the council's homosexuality-related decisions as well as his1991 paper.
Rev. Drew Phoenix, pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church inBaltimore, had been minister at the church for five years as Rev. Ann Gordonand recently completed surgery and hormone therapy.
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BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7059300.stm
Singapore retains its gay sex ban
Singapore's parliament has voted against a proposal to decriminalise sexbetween men, despite receiving a petition signed by thousands of people.
The plan was part of a wider reform of sex laws, many dating from theBritish colonial era half a century ago.
The chamber passed a bill legalising oral and anal sex for the first time,but only between heterosexuals.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government did not consider gays tobe a minority with minority rights.
In a rare speech to parliament, he said Singapore was a conservativesociety, and he wanted to keep it so.
Tuesday's vote means Singapore's anti-gay law 377A remains, althoughprosecutions are rare.
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=10/23/07&end=10/26/07#14891
Rev. McClurkin roundup
Sen. Barack Obama's touring buddy, gospel singer and minister Rev. DonnieMcClurkin, has garnered a lot of angry responses from gay rights groups.
Obama has tried to assure gays of his positions on the issues. He launchedObama Pride, a section of his web site dedicated to gay rights. So whyhasn't he dumped McClurkin?
McClurkin views homosexuality as a spiritual issue that one can choose to bedelivered from by the power and grace of God. He even wrote a book titled'Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor,' in which he said "The abormal use of mysexuality continued until I came to realize that I was broken and thathomosexuality was not God's intention ... for my masculinity."
"We strongly urge Obama to part ways with this divisive preacher who isclearly singing a different tune than the stated message of the campaign,"Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said in a statementyesterday.
Obama released a statement about his choice to team up with Rev. McClurkinon the campaign web site late yesterday.
"I have clearly stated my belief that gays and lesbians are our brothers andsisters and should be provided the respect, dignity, and rights of all othercitizens. I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religiousleaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in someparts of our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS andbroaden the reach of equal rights in this country.
more....
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/102407law.htm
Gay Lawyer In Cop Shooting Case Accuses Judge Of Homophobia
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 24, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(New York City) A New York City lawyer who was told to stop "dancing" andacting "flamboyant" during a cross examination has accused the judge ofbeing homophobic.
The admonishment came as attorney Robert Feldman was peppering a policeofficer involved in the shooting of Feldman's client.
Nicholas Martin, 20, is charged with attempted aggravated assault on apolice officer and faces 15-years in prison if convicted.
Martin, who is schizophrenic, became involved in the confrontation in 2005with police when officers were called to his home over a dispute. When hetook a knife from his pants and tried to hide it behind a piece of furniturehe was shot.
The officers who arrested Martin said they had no choice to shoot becauseMartin was armed and they feared for their lives.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/102407hosp.htm
Few Hospitals Test For Infection More Deadly Than AIDS
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 24, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(Chicago, Illinois) Testing all new hospital patients for a dangerous staph"superbug" could help wipe out a germ that likely kills more Americans thanAIDS, consumer advocates say and early evidence suggests.
Yet few U.S. hospitals do it, and many fight efforts to require it. Why?
Jeanine Thomas, who nearly died from the drug-resistant staph bug, says thereason is simple: "Doctors don't want to be told what to do."
The Chicago suburbanite's personal crusade led Illinois this year to becomethe first state to order testing of all high-risk hospital patients andisolation of those who carry the staph germ called MRSA.
Powerful doctor groups fought against it. The testing and isolation ofpatients would be too costly, they said. Many other germs plague hospitalsthat also require attention. Experts said a more proven approach would focuson better hand washing by hospital staff - a simple measure tough toenforce.
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To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment that would excludeunmarried couples from adoptions or foster care submitted a revised versionWednesday that would declare married couples the best guardians for Arkansaschildren. Arkansas Family Council submitted the revised ballot proposal,along with a new popular name, although Attorney General Dustin McDaniel hadcertified the group's original proposal last week, clearing the way forsupporters to collect voter signatures. "We believe that the proposal wesent over today is a much better proposal than the one the attorney generalapproved initially," Arkansas Family Council director Jerry Cox said. "Idon't think there is going to be a problem."
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There was no agreement Monday in settlement talks over a federal lawsuitbrought by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association against the stateDivision on Civil Rights. The two sides, joined by an attorney for twolesbian couples who have charged the association with violating the state'sLaw Against Discrimination, met for about 35 minutes in the chambers of U.S.District Court Judge Joel Pisano. Lee Moore, a DCR spokesman, said Pisanotold the attorneys that he would rule on the state's motion to dismiss theassociation's lawsuit but did not say when. The couples wanted to use theboardwalk pavilion for their civil union ceremonies, but were deniedpermission. The association contends that it follows the guidelines laid bythe Methodist Book of Discipline, which forbids the use of religiousstructures for such ceremonies.
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Delegates representing Episcopal churches in the San Francisco Bay areaapproved three sets of prayers that clergy can use to bless same-sexcouples, in opposition to their faith's leaders pledging not to authorizespecial rites for gay unions. The diocese is believed to be the first in theU.S. to make the such rites available to its members, said Sean McConnell, aspokesman.
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In an attempt to end years of political dispute Austria's Social DemocratJustice Minister Maria Berger Wednesday introduced a first draft for a lawgranting gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals. The so-calledregistered partnership shows a number of parallels with traditional marriagelaw, complete with similar rights and duties, but was no 'marriage light'Berger stressed and was independent of current marriage legislation.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Singapore today legalised oral and anal sex between heterosexual couples butretained a law which criminalises intercourse between gay men. In thecity-state's first major penal code amendments in 22 years, Parliamentrepealed a section criminalising "carnal intercourse against the order of
nature".
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"Make a Difference Day" is the fourth Saturday in October. One may not havethe time to build a house for someone or shovel manure out of an elderlyfarmer's barn, but one does have time to help the LGBT community by applyingfor and using the Rainbow Card. This unique charge card is available onlythrough Bank of America, also known as LaSalle Bank, which has hundreds oflocal branches.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid48352.asp
Ancient Enemies
A decade after the release of a documentary that profiled Jesse Helms, oneof the fiercest enemies of gay rights, Dear Jesse comes to DVD -- includinga never-before-seen interview with Matthew Shepard -- and reminds us how farwe have come.
By Steven Gaughan
October 24, 2007
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 24, 2007
Almost a decade has passed since Tim Kirkman filmed his Emmy-nominateddocumentary Dear Jesse, yet the piece retains its significance as one of thefirst accounts of the divisive rhetoric that has come to characterizeAmerican politics. This short film is a first-person compare-and-contrastbetween the gay filmmaker and the notoriously conservative Jesse Helms, whoserved five terms as a Republican senator from North Carolina. Kirkman, whogrew up in a similar environment, seeks to understand what motivates decent,"God-fearing" people to practice the politics of hate.
In 1972, Helms became the first Republican to represent North Carolina inthe U.S. Senate since the 19th century. His conservative politics quicklyearned him the moniker "Senator No" -- that is, no affirmative action, noabortion, no gay rights. Despite his tendency toward intolerance, Helmswould become the longest-serving popularly elected U.S. senator in hisstate's history.
Yet it would be a mistake to characterize North Carolina as a state otherthan one built on "churches and banks," says local theater director SteveUmberger. His production of Angels in America, a play sympathetic to gaysand people with AIDS, met with firm disapproval from conservativeCarolinians. And the state was and still is very much composed ofmiddle-class Americans who respect Helms for his consistent -- albeitbigoted -- rhetoric.
Although times have changed -- the 1998 film was produced before same-sexmarriage was legalized in Massachusetts -- Kirkman shows us that we arestill a nation deeply divided over issues of moral "right" and "wrong." Andhe points to the toll that this division can take on the American public.
The movie concludes with a short clip of Matthew Shepard, interviewed withhis boyfriend at Catawba College in North Carolina two years before histragic death. Not included in the original documentary, the 1998 tapeincluded the footage as a reminder that a lack of tolerance can breedviolence. "This is the only footage I have of Matthew," Kirkman comments onthe film. "It's not fair. It isn't enough." And it isn't enough to encompassthe vitality of the young man. But it does serve to emphasize the necessityfor understanding -- on both sides of the divide.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49991.asp
Condom Ban Feeds HIV Infections in Latin America
October 25, 2007
The rate of HIV infections in Latin America is skyrocketing, fueled in partby the Roman Catholic Church's ban on condom use, a United Nations officialsaid Monday.
Reuters reports that 1.7 million people in South America have HIV or AIDS.The epidemic is quickly spreading, with 410,000 new cases reported in 2006,an increase from the 320,000 new cases in 2004.
"The fact [that] young people start to be sexually active between 15 and 19without sex education contributes to the spreading of the virus, as well asthe fact that the evidence shows abstinence is not working," Alberto Stella,a UNAIDS coordinator, told Reuters.
Half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics reside in South America. Thechurch opposes all forms of contraception and advocates abstinence to avoidall sexually transmitted diseases. (The Advocate)
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid49930.asp
A Snug Fit
An Emmy-nominated soap star turned her harrowing experience with her hairinto a business to help transgender women.
By Louis Virtel
October 24, 2007
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 24, 2007
Wig industry maven Amy Gibson relates to her transgender clientele -- andnot just because they provide incredible income. Skeptics can rest assuredher sympathy is rooted in commiseration, not marketing.
"I really feel what they go through, being stuck in the wrong body," saysthe Emmy-nominated Gibson, who played runaway alcoholic Lynn Henderson onthe long-running soap Love of Life. "I really get it."
As a teenager, she was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune diseasethat eventually fried her hair follicles, leaving her bald. Years later sheparlayed her own journey of hair loss into a growing business. In March 2006she launched Crown and Glory Enterprises, a Los Angeles boutique thatproduces high-end, customized wigs as well as international luxury linecalled Amy's Presence.
For her new venture, Gibson is extending a hand, or rather a few cap sizes,to trans women.
"It's important for them to understand that getting the right wig could bethe answer to a lot of discomfort," Gibson says. "It truly is the finishingtouch."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5841.html
Gay conference faces ban on public event
24th October 2007 10:23
Tony Grew
A leading LGBT rights organisation has launched a legal challenge after oneof the events at its annual conference was banned by the authorities inLithuania.
ILGA Europe members are gathering for their conference in Vilnius whichbegins tomorrow, but their public Rainbow Flag event has been blocked by thecity's mayor.
Around 200 delegates from all over Europe are attending the three daymeeting, the 11th annual conference.
ILGA Europe chose to meet in Lithuania to highlight the prejudice gay peopleface in the country, formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Lithuania joined the EU in 2005.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5847.html
"Homosexual" baby advertising campaign divides Italians
24th October 2007 14:35
PinkNews.co.uk writer
An advertising campaign featuring a new born baby with a band on its wristwith the word 'homosexual' written on it has caused a row in Tuscany.
The government of the Italian region is poised to display thousands ofcopies of the poster in public places and municipal offices as part of acampaign against discrimination.
The tagline on the posters - Sexual Orientation Is Not A Choice - hasdivided gay people, while conservative politicians are outraged that publicmoney has been spent on it at all.
A leading Christian Democrat said the ad campaign is expoitative andmisleading.
"Homosexuality is not a vice and hence should not be condemned normarginalised, or worse still persecuted," an official from Tuscany regiontold newspaper Corriere della Sera.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5849.html
Austrian government plans registered gay partnerships
24th October 2007 16:17
PinkNews.co.uk writer
Austria's Justice minister today released draft legislation that will grantlesbian and gay couples the right to register their relationships.
The proposed "registered partnerships" will be put before the country'sParliament by the end of this year.
The Social Democrats (SPÖ) won the most seats in the January 2007 electionbut not enough to rule outright.
They entered into a "grand coalition" with the conservative ÖVP, or People'sParty.
SPÖ Justice minister Maria Berger's proposed new partnerships law will beconsidered by a bipartisan working group.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5850.html
Philippines rejects trans records case
24th October 2007 17:23
PinkNews.co.uk writer
The Supreme Court of the Philippines has ruled that woman may not change hercivil registry records.
Born Rommel Jacinto Dantes Silverio, the woman underwent gender reassignmentsurgery in 2001 and wanted her records to reflect her transition.
While recognising that trans people do not "fit neatly into the commonlyrecognised parameters of social convention," the court said there is no lawregarding people who have undergone gender reassignment.
"While the petitioner may have succeeded in altering his body and appearancethrough the intervention of modern surgery, no law authorises the change ofentry as to sex in the civil registry for that reason," the judgement read,according to AFP.
She had hoped to change her name and records in order to marry her partner.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5848.html
Home Office loses gay Algerian deportation case
24th October 2007 15:20
PinkNews.co.uk writer
The High Court in London has overturned an order that a gay man from Algeriaseeking asylum in the UK should be repatriated.
The Home Office had argued the 27-year-old man, referred to as B, would besafe from persecution as long as he was "discreet" about his homosexuality.
However Mr Justice Collins disagreed, saying that B, who has been fightingto remain in the UK since 1996, was at risk of persecution.
The ruling has infuriated the tabloid press, with The Sun reporting that:
"A FAILED (sic) asylum seeker had his deportation halted yesterday - becausehe is too CAMP to go home."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/would-obama-put-klansman-on-stage-so.html
Would Obama put a klansman on stage so long as a black minister got tointroduce him?
by John Aravosis (DC) · 10/24/2007 04:12:00 PM ET
Obama's latest sleight of hand in "cure the gays"-gate is he's now offeringto have a gay preacher open his homophobic gospel tour where he's going tobe showcasing an outspoken homophobic bigot who thinks gays are trying tokill your children, who thinks being gay is a "curse," and who thinks thatgays need to be cured (the anti-gay activist is now denying that he everused the word "cured" - whatever, the guy thinks we need to be fixed, can befixed, it's all the same thing).
Which brings up the question: Would Obama put a Klansman on stage so long ashe brought a black minister or a rabbi up there too?
I'm just not getting the equivalence here: One bigot = one gay guy, and theneverything is okay. How many gays balances one bigot, Senator? One, two,three, three-fifths? That's just not the way it works in civil rights,Senator. You don't get to be a bigot so long as you suck up to the gays too.You NEVER get to be a bigot, period. You never get to embrace bigotry, ever.It doesn't matter many how many of your best friends are gay. It doesn'tmatter how many gays you put on stage. You don't ever get to showcase arenowned bigot to line your pockets and get you votes, ever.
Would you do this to any other minority, Senator? Would you let a klansmanor a white supremacist, or a Holocaust denier, on stage so long as youinvited a rabbi and a black minister too? I somehow doubt it. You'd do theright thing and kick the bigot out of your little show. But we're quicklylearning that doing the right thing isn't part of the Obama vocabulary.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/10/bush-semi-threa.html
Bush semi-threatens ENDA veto
October 23, 2007
UPDATE: At the end of the post.
This week's ENDA news began with a warning from fringe anti-gay leader PeterLaBarbera of Americans For Truth that White House staffers not only wereadvising President Bush to sign the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, theywere actually bragging about their involvement in crafting the bill'sreligious exemption.
The idea that White House staffers worked surreptitiously with openly gayMassachusetts Democrat Barney Frank to improve the language of historic gay(and possibly transgender) rights legislation was, well, about as credibleas everything else that comes out of Peter LaBarbera's mouth. But thatdidn't stop gay Democrat blogger John Aravosis from falling for it, in apost that begins "Time for some crow," and brags that he predicted Bushwould not veto ENDA.
The method to LaBarbera's madness, rather than speaking the "Truth" aboutanything, was to rally the conservative chorus to call on the White House totake a position on ENDA, since it was expected to come up for a House voteon Wednesday. The White House responded today with a watered-down vetothreat (of the same type it issued over the hate crime bill), that says,"The bill raises concerns on constitutional and policy grounds, and if H.R.3685 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommendthat he veto the bill."
First and foremost, it is politically very telling that the White Housenever mentions any opposition to the bill's primary purpose, protectingworkers from discrimination based on sexual orientation. The president'sadvisers read the polls and know that the core justification for ENDA isembraced by wide majorities, including among Republicans.
(The veto threat also makes no mention of the transgender issue, which I'vealready heard some claim as proof it's not such political deadweight, butH.R. 3685 (Barney's compromise ENDA bill) doesn't include any mention of"gender identity," so there was no basis to raise the issue in the vetothreat.)
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKN2450662120071024
Gay men can earn 23 pct less than married men: study
Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:02pm BST
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Gay men, but not lesbians, face discrimination atwork, earning up to 23 percent less than married men in some jobs, accordingto a new study.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Whittemore School ofBusiness and Economics spent two years analyzing labor and wage data from91,000 heterosexual and homosexual couples collected by a 2004 U.S. census.
They found that gay men working in management and blue-collar jobs make lessmoney than straight men due to discrimination by their employers
"It was surprising to see how consistent it was that gay men tended to bemore discriminated against in traditionally heterosexual male dominatedprofessions -- blue collar, labor, and management too," researcher BruceElmslie, professor of economics at UNH, told Reuters.
The study found that gay men who live together earn 23 percent less thanmarried men, and 9 percent less than unmarried heterosexual men who livewith a woman.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/sns-ap-people-garry-trudeau,0,3803896.story
Trudeau: `Doonesbury' Doesn't Get Easier
By LISA RATHKE | Associated Press Writer
12:52 PM EDT, October 23, 2007
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt.
Garry Trudeau says topics in his "Doonesbury" comic strip that were atfirst shocking to some readers aren't so anymore, such as one character'srevelation 30 years ago that he was gay.
"Now I can pretty much write about gay issues and not hear from anyone,"Trudeau told students at the Center for Cartoon Studies on Monday."Certainly popular culture has a role to play in destigmatizing."
The 59-year-old cartoonist talked about his work process and the challengeshe's faced over his nearly 40-year career.
"I find it really hard," he said of his work. "It's no less hard than when Istarted."
Trudeau said his syndicated political satire, which has 30 ongoingcharacters, has been pulled from newspapers over the years because of itscontent and political themes.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-1024mcclurkinoct24,1,4690186.story
Gospel singer says he is not anti-gay
By Kelley L. Carter
Tribune staff reporter
6:09 AM CDT, October 24, 2007
Gospel music superstar Donnie McClurkin says he was surprised to wake upTuesday morning to a media firestorm.
The 47-year-old Grammy Award-winning musician is scheduled to perform thisweekend at Sen. Barack Obama's three-day concert series in South Carolina.But in the wake of accusations by a gay-rights group that McClurkin falselyasserts that homosexuality is a choice, bloggers are calling for theDemocratic presidential candidate to cancel the singer's Sunday nightappearance, saying McClurkin's views are anti-gay and incite hate.
McClurkin told The Associated Press on Monday that "sexuality, everything isa matter of choice." But on Tuesday he told the Tribune that his ideals, andmost importantly his ministry, were severely misconstrued.
"I don't believe that even from a religious point of view that Jesus ever discriminated toward anyone, nor do I," McClurkin said in an exclusiveinterview with the Tribune. "Most of the things that were said were totallyout of context and then other things weren't true."
"My only concern is to be in place with Sen. Obama in unity and bring allthe factors together for the sake of change," he said. "That's my onlything. Of course some agents have twisted it as though he [Obama] wereembracing a racist or a Nazi, and that is anything but true."
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[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
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Arab Paper: Harry potter's gay personality is a vicious conspiracy !
October 23, 2007: The Syrian Newspaper Alwatan (The Homeland), reactedangrily to the new revelation by author J.K. Rowling that Harry Potter'sMaster Wizard Albus Dumbledore is gay, calling it a conspiracy by the gaylobby in the West.
In a piece under the title, "The Biggest Secret" by Hosam Qudis, thenewspaper says, ' The gay lobby in the West is indeed thrilled that anauthor of this caliber, who has captivated hundreds of millions of kidsaround the globe has introduced a gay personality in a story that has becomepart of popular folklore among many nations.
This lobby systematically promotes the dangerous idea that in order to teachchildren to be tolerant and accepting, it is important for the kids to growup used to the concept of homosexuality. Although it is true that the Westis tolerant towards homosexuals and accepts them, an author as smart andsophisticated as Rowling fully understands that her stories are read bymillions upon millions of kids in societies where homosexuality is not asacceptable as in the West. Therefore, her intention [to declare Dumbledoregay] is both irresponsible and even vicious. One can only imagine what thisauthor was premeditating by hiding this fact from billions of kids worldwide(as well as how this will affect future generations)."
[Arabic] http://alwatan.sy/newsd.php?idn=20216
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/us/politics/25obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Gay Rights Group Criticizes Obama
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
October 25, 2007
The nation's largest gay rights organization criticized Senator Barack Obamaof Illinois yesterday for scheduling a gospel concert on Sunday with asinger who has made controversial statements about homosexuality.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the gay rightsorganization, urged Mr. Obama in a phone call yesterday to cancel theappearance of the singer, Donnie McClurkin, who is to sing Sunday night in agospel concert in Columbia, S.C.
Critics say that Mr. McClurkin counsels that homosexuality is a curse thatcan be cured through prayer, although in an interview with The ChicagoTribune, Mr. McClurkin said that his words had been misconstrued and that hehad not crusaded against gay men and lesbians.
Mr. Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate, has not canceled Mr.McClurkin's appearance but has scheduled an openly gay minister, the Rev.Andy Sidden, to speak on the concert program. But that did not appear totamp down criticism from some gay activists or increasingly hostilebloggers.
The controversy reflects the competing interests of two importantconstituencies of the Democratic Party, with gay activists complaining thatMr. Obama is seeking the support of black evangelicals at their expense. Thegospel tour, which begins Friday with other singers, is part of a broadereffort by the Obama campaign to win over black evangelicals.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/fashion/25gear.html
Their Looks for Fall 2008
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
October 25, 2007
BARACK OBAMA is the only presidential candidate selling ribbed baby-dollT-shirts. John Edwards and Mitt Romney are the sole contenders offering"support the troops" stickers. Mr. Edwards is the one candidate hawking abutton with a photograph of his spouse. Only Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd andMr. Edwards have gay-friendly rainbow gear.
Tradition dictates that while selling themselves as potential presidents,candidates must also sell T-shirts, pins and gimme hats. The road to theWhite House is whipstitched with patriotic hues and "Made in the U.S.A."
labels.
But a closer inspection of the candidates' wares, as sold at their officialonline stores, offers the prospect of a peek into their characters andhoped-for constituencies. To varying degrees, most of the 16 would-becommanders in chief are hucksters, selling souvenirs to finance and promotetheir campaigns. The race to offer the most extensive, fashion-conscious andyouthful gear is being won by Mr. Obama and Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Does it say something about Mr. Obama's perceived hunkiness and desire toexcite the youth vote that he offers an extensive line of sexy women's T's?
Justin Hemminger, the political program coordinator for Tigereye Design,which supplies the promotional gear for the Obama campaign, said that muchof what is for sale points to the groups a candidate hopes to win over.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402514.html
Warning Is Sent to AIDS Vaccine Volunteers
S. Africans Among Recipients Who May Be at Higher Risk of Contracting Virus
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A20
JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 24 -- South African AIDS researchers have begun warninghundreds of volunteers that a highly touted experimental vaccine theyreceived in recent months might make them more, not less, likely to contractHIV in the midst of one of the world's most rampant epidemics.
The move stems from the discovery last month that an AIDS vaccine developedby Merck & Co. might have led to more infections than it averted among studysubjects in the United States and other countries. Among those who receivedat least two doses of the vaccine, 19 contracted HIV compared with 11 ofthose given placebos.
Researchers shut down the trial on the grounds that the vaccine was provingineffective, but the surge in infection among vaccinated volunteers promptedintense scientific debate and anxiety among researchers. The failure of theMerck vaccine is the latest in a series of disappointing results forresearch projects aimed at curbing AIDS.
"This is my worst nightmare," said Glenda Gray, the lead South Africainvestigator for the vaccine study. "I haven't slept for days. I have aheadache. I'm ready to resign from trials for the rest of my life."
Researchers in Soweto, Cape Town, Durban and two other sites begancontacting South Africa's 801 trial participants on Tuesday, mainly bycellphone text message. The goal is to tell each one individually whetherthey had received a placebo or the vaccine, a process called "unblinding"the trial. Researchers are telling the roughly half who received the vaccinethat it might have increased their risk of contracting HIV.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-mulancebasspnoct25,0,1561852.story
Lance Bass' new memoir dishes on 'N Sync
By JIM ABBOTT
Orlando Sentinel
October 25, 2007
There are more than a few exclamation points in Out of Sync, the new memoirfrom boy-band star Lance Bass, and it's a punctuation that fits the singer'spersonality.
Whatever the episode - 'N Sync's legal battles with Lou Pearlman, astronauttraining, coming out as a gay man in 2006 after hiding his sexuality for thesake of his career - Bass is unfailingly upbeat. He talks about learningsomething from almost every experience.
So what did the singer learn from recounting his life in Out of Sync($23.95, Simon Spotlight), which hit stores this week?
"It was nice going back," he says. "It felt like therapy, really, bringingback all these stories I haven't revisited in years.
"The biggest thing that I learned about the last 10 years was that the thingthat really failed was the communication. We were so busy and caught up inworking every day to continue this crazy whirlwind that we didn't reallystop and relax, look at how everyone was doing, look at each other to see ifeveryone was happy."
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-romney-evangelicals,0,2201113.story
Christian College Embraces Romney Bid
By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
12:18 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
GREENVILLE, S.C.
Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been embraced in a most unlikelyplace: at Bob Jones University, the influential Christian college thatteaches that his Mormon church is a cult.
In early voting South Carolina, Romney has picked up support among theevangelicals and social conservatives who are a political force.
Last week, Romney won the endorsements of Bob Jones III and Robert Taylor,the founder's grandson and a top dean respectively here at Bob JonesUniversity.
He also gained the backing of Don Wilton, the immediate past president ofthe South Carolina Baptist Convention and pastor of a nearby megachurch, aswell as Dr. John Willke, a founder and past president of the National Rightto Life Committee.
During the same one-week period, the former Massachusetts governor eked outa win in a straw poll at the socially conservative Values Voter Summit inWashington.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/283491.html
Broward judge, public defender regret sexual jokes
BY AMY SHERMAN AND HANNAH SAMPSON
Posted on Thu, Oct. 25, 2007
A Broward judge and a veteran assistant public defender have apologized forsexual jokes they made in the courtroom last week during a trial involvingsexual encounters between a teenage boy and a man.
While courthouse regulars gave credit to Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson andAssistant Public Defender Brian Reidy for apologizing, some said the Oct. 18incident was an indicator that more sensitivity training is needed in thecourthouse.
And the courtroom banter raised concerns among victims' advocates that itcould have a chilling effect on victims' willingness to step forward.
Public Defender Howard Finkelstein docked Reidy one of his six weeks ofvacation time. Levenson has not faced any discipline.
Here is what happened, according to the transcript:
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Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304805,00.html
Black Versus Gay Politics Has Barack Obama Tied in Knots
By Carl Cameron
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Barack Obama trails Hillary Clinton among black voters but the entertainmentplanned for his upcoming African American gospel outreach project hasanother key liberal constituency - gays, lesbians and transgenders -outraged.
Obama has announced that he will include an openly gay minister in thisweekend's event, but gay rights groups are still steaming about theinclusion of Donnie McClurkin in the "Embrace the Change" concert tour.
In a letter to Obama obtained by FOX News, the National Black JusticeCoalition complains that Obama's concert is being headlined by "gospelmusic's most openly homophobic artists; the most volatile of which is theRev. Donnie McClurkin."
"Your willingness to share a stage with Rev. Donnie McClurkin is alarmingand, frankly, deeply disappointing. Rev. McClurkin has consistentlydisparaged gay men and lesbians, spread half-truths and unproven theoriesabout our lives and has shown a willingness to work with those who would usethe rights of gay Americans as a wedge issue to divide black families fortheir own cynical political objectives," wrote NBJC Chief Executive OfficerH. Alexander Robinson.
"The fact that Rev. McClurkin uses his religious beliefs to justify bigotryand discrimination is so damaging that it cannot be addressed with a simplemedia statement no matter how heartfelt or sincere," Robinson continued.
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Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/24/watch-obamalinked-gospe_n_69687.html
Watch: Obama-Linked Gospel Singer Performs At '04 GOP Convention, SingsAbout Bush
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14920
UNH: Gay men discriminated against more at work than gay women
Gay men earn 23 percent less than married men
DURHAM, N.H. (AP)
Oct 24, 2:46 PM
University of New Hampshire research shows that employers discriminate moreagainst gay men than against gay women in the workplace.
The researchers found that gay men who live together earn 23 percent lessthan married men, and 9 percent less than unmarried heterosexual men wholive with a woman.
According to the study by UNH's Whittemore School of Business and Economics,discrimination is most pronounced in management and male-dominatedoccupations such as construction and production.
The study found that lesbians do not experience similar discrimination inthe labor market.
The authors analyzed U.S. Census labor and wage information from 2004 formore than 91,000 heterosexual and homosexual couples.
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14923
Holsinger not to participate in top court's meeting
Issue of transgender pastor to be discussed
SAN FRANCISCO | Oct 24, 4:18 PM
James W. Holsinger, Jr., president of the United Methodist Judicial Counciland President Bush's nominee for U.S. Surgeon General, has decided to notparticipate in the council's Oct. 24-27 meeting, according to the UnitedMethodist Church.
Throughout the meeting the council will discuss the issue of an FTMtransgender pastor from Maryland.
"As is always the case, members of the Council will travel thousands ofmiles to attend this meeting and have spent untold hours studying andpraying in preparation," the statement said. "In order to maintain theintegrity of the proceedings of the Judicial Council and in order forCouncil members to focus solely on the cases in front of them, I have chosennot to participate in the meeting," Holsinger said.
Bush nominated Holsinger to serve as the 18th surgeon general on May 24,2007. He testified before a Senate committee in July and came under fire fora 1991 paper he wrote on homosexuality. Gay and lesbian groups and othershave criticized the council's homosexuality-related decisions as well as his1991 paper.
Rev. Drew Phoenix, pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church inBaltimore, had been minister at the church for five years as Rev. Ann Gordonand recently completed surgery and hormone therapy.
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BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7059300.stm
Singapore retains its gay sex ban
Singapore's parliament has voted against a proposal to decriminalise sexbetween men, despite receiving a petition signed by thousands of people.
The plan was part of a wider reform of sex laws, many dating from theBritish colonial era half a century ago.
The chamber passed a bill legalising oral and anal sex for the first time,but only between heterosexuals.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government did not consider gays tobe a minority with minority rights.
In a rare speech to parliament, he said Singapore was a conservativesociety, and he wanted to keep it so.
Tuesday's vote means Singapore's anti-gay law 377A remains, althoughprosecutions are rare.
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=10/23/07&end=10/26/07#14891
Rev. McClurkin roundup
Sen. Barack Obama's touring buddy, gospel singer and minister Rev. DonnieMcClurkin, has garnered a lot of angry responses from gay rights groups.
Obama has tried to assure gays of his positions on the issues. He launchedObama Pride, a section of his web site dedicated to gay rights. So whyhasn't he dumped McClurkin?
McClurkin views homosexuality as a spiritual issue that one can choose to bedelivered from by the power and grace of God. He even wrote a book titled'Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor,' in which he said "The abormal use of mysexuality continued until I came to realize that I was broken and thathomosexuality was not God's intention ... for my masculinity."
"We strongly urge Obama to part ways with this divisive preacher who isclearly singing a different tune than the stated message of the campaign,"Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said in a statementyesterday.
Obama released a statement about his choice to team up with Rev. McClurkinon the campaign web site late yesterday.
"I have clearly stated my belief that gays and lesbians are our brothers andsisters and should be provided the respect, dignity, and rights of all othercitizens. I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religiousleaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in someparts of our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS andbroaden the reach of equal rights in this country.
more....
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/102407law.htm
Gay Lawyer In Cop Shooting Case Accuses Judge Of Homophobia
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 24, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(New York City) A New York City lawyer who was told to stop "dancing" andacting "flamboyant" during a cross examination has accused the judge ofbeing homophobic.
The admonishment came as attorney Robert Feldman was peppering a policeofficer involved in the shooting of Feldman's client.
Nicholas Martin, 20, is charged with attempted aggravated assault on apolice officer and faces 15-years in prison if convicted.
Martin, who is schizophrenic, became involved in the confrontation in 2005with police when officers were called to his home over a dispute. When hetook a knife from his pants and tried to hide it behind a piece of furniturehe was shot.
The officers who arrested Martin said they had no choice to shoot becauseMartin was armed and they feared for their lives.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/102407hosp.htm
Few Hospitals Test For Infection More Deadly Than AIDS
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 24, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(Chicago, Illinois) Testing all new hospital patients for a dangerous staph"superbug" could help wipe out a germ that likely kills more Americans thanAIDS, consumer advocates say and early evidence suggests.
Yet few U.S. hospitals do it, and many fight efforts to require it. Why?
Jeanine Thomas, who nearly died from the drug-resistant staph bug, says thereason is simple: "Doctors don't want to be told what to do."
The Chicago suburbanite's personal crusade led Illinois this year to becomethe first state to order testing of all high-risk hospital patients andisolation of those who carry the staph germ called MRSA.
Powerful doctor groups fought against it. The testing and isolation ofpatients would be too costly, they said. Many other germs plague hospitalsthat also require attention. Experts said a more proven approach would focuson better hand washing by hospital staff - a simple measure tough toenforce.
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To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News
http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment that would excludeunmarried couples from adoptions or foster care submitted a revised versionWednesday that would declare married couples the best guardians for Arkansaschildren. Arkansas Family Council submitted the revised ballot proposal,along with a new popular name, although Attorney General Dustin McDaniel hadcertified the group's original proposal last week, clearing the way forsupporters to collect voter signatures. "We believe that the proposal wesent over today is a much better proposal than the one the attorney generalapproved initially," Arkansas Family Council director Jerry Cox said. "Idon't think there is going to be a problem."
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There was no agreement Monday in settlement talks over a federal lawsuitbrought by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association against the stateDivision on Civil Rights. The two sides, joined by an attorney for twolesbian couples who have charged the association with violating the state'sLaw Against Discrimination, met for about 35 minutes in the chambers of U.S.District Court Judge Joel Pisano. Lee Moore, a DCR spokesman, said Pisanotold the attorneys that he would rule on the state's motion to dismiss theassociation's lawsuit but did not say when. The couples wanted to use theboardwalk pavilion for their civil union ceremonies, but were deniedpermission. The association contends that it follows the guidelines laid bythe Methodist Book of Discipline, which forbids the use of religiousstructures for such ceremonies.
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Delegates representing Episcopal churches in the San Francisco Bay areaapproved three sets of prayers that clergy can use to bless same-sexcouples, in opposition to their faith's leaders pledging not to authorizespecial rites for gay unions. The diocese is believed to be the first in theU.S. to make the such rites available to its members, said Sean McConnell, aspokesman.
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In an attempt to end years of political dispute Austria's Social DemocratJustice Minister Maria Berger Wednesday introduced a first draft for a lawgranting gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals. The so-calledregistered partnership shows a number of parallels with traditional marriagelaw, complete with similar rights and duties, but was no 'marriage light'Berger stressed and was independent of current marriage legislation.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Singapore today legalised oral and anal sex between heterosexual couples butretained a law which criminalises intercourse between gay men. In thecity-state's first major penal code amendments in 22 years, Parliamentrepealed a section criminalising "carnal intercourse against the order of
nature".
--
"Make a Difference Day" is the fourth Saturday in October. One may not havethe time to build a house for someone or shovel manure out of an elderlyfarmer's barn, but one does have time to help the LGBT community by applyingfor and using the Rainbow Card. This unique charge card is available onlythrough Bank of America, also known as LaSalle Bank, which has hundreds oflocal branches.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid48352.asp
Ancient Enemies
A decade after the release of a documentary that profiled Jesse Helms, oneof the fiercest enemies of gay rights, Dear Jesse comes to DVD -- includinga never-before-seen interview with Matthew Shepard -- and reminds us how farwe have come.
By Steven Gaughan
October 24, 2007
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 24, 2007
Almost a decade has passed since Tim Kirkman filmed his Emmy-nominateddocumentary Dear Jesse, yet the piece retains its significance as one of thefirst accounts of the divisive rhetoric that has come to characterizeAmerican politics. This short film is a first-person compare-and-contrastbetween the gay filmmaker and the notoriously conservative Jesse Helms, whoserved five terms as a Republican senator from North Carolina. Kirkman, whogrew up in a similar environment, seeks to understand what motivates decent,"God-fearing" people to practice the politics of hate.
In 1972, Helms became the first Republican to represent North Carolina inthe U.S. Senate since the 19th century. His conservative politics quicklyearned him the moniker "Senator No" -- that is, no affirmative action, noabortion, no gay rights. Despite his tendency toward intolerance, Helmswould become the longest-serving popularly elected U.S. senator in hisstate's history.
Yet it would be a mistake to characterize North Carolina as a state otherthan one built on "churches and banks," says local theater director SteveUmberger. His production of Angels in America, a play sympathetic to gaysand people with AIDS, met with firm disapproval from conservativeCarolinians. And the state was and still is very much composed ofmiddle-class Americans who respect Helms for his consistent -- albeitbigoted -- rhetoric.
Although times have changed -- the 1998 film was produced before same-sexmarriage was legalized in Massachusetts -- Kirkman shows us that we arestill a nation deeply divided over issues of moral "right" and "wrong." Andhe points to the toll that this division can take on the American public.
The movie concludes with a short clip of Matthew Shepard, interviewed withhis boyfriend at Catawba College in North Carolina two years before histragic death. Not included in the original documentary, the 1998 tapeincluded the footage as a reminder that a lack of tolerance can breedviolence. "This is the only footage I have of Matthew," Kirkman comments onthe film. "It's not fair. It isn't enough." And it isn't enough to encompassthe vitality of the young man. But it does serve to emphasize the necessityfor understanding -- on both sides of the divide.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49991.asp
Condom Ban Feeds HIV Infections in Latin America
October 25, 2007
The rate of HIV infections in Latin America is skyrocketing, fueled in partby the Roman Catholic Church's ban on condom use, a United Nations officialsaid Monday.
Reuters reports that 1.7 million people in South America have HIV or AIDS.The epidemic is quickly spreading, with 410,000 new cases reported in 2006,an increase from the 320,000 new cases in 2004.
"The fact [that] young people start to be sexually active between 15 and 19without sex education contributes to the spreading of the virus, as well asthe fact that the evidence shows abstinence is not working," Alberto Stella,a UNAIDS coordinator, told Reuters.
Half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics reside in South America. Thechurch opposes all forms of contraception and advocates abstinence to avoidall sexually transmitted diseases. (The Advocate)
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid49930.asp
A Snug Fit
An Emmy-nominated soap star turned her harrowing experience with her hairinto a business to help transgender women.
By Louis Virtel
October 24, 2007
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 24, 2007
Wig industry maven Amy Gibson relates to her transgender clientele -- andnot just because they provide incredible income. Skeptics can rest assuredher sympathy is rooted in commiseration, not marketing.
"I really feel what they go through, being stuck in the wrong body," saysthe Emmy-nominated Gibson, who played runaway alcoholic Lynn Henderson onthe long-running soap Love of Life. "I really get it."
As a teenager, she was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune diseasethat eventually fried her hair follicles, leaving her bald. Years later sheparlayed her own journey of hair loss into a growing business. In March 2006she launched Crown and Glory Enterprises, a Los Angeles boutique thatproduces high-end, customized wigs as well as international luxury linecalled Amy's Presence.
For her new venture, Gibson is extending a hand, or rather a few cap sizes,to trans women.
"It's important for them to understand that getting the right wig could bethe answer to a lot of discomfort," Gibson says. "It truly is the finishingtouch."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5841.html
Gay conference faces ban on public event
24th October 2007 10:23
Tony Grew
A leading LGBT rights organisation has launched a legal challenge after oneof the events at its annual conference was banned by the authorities inLithuania.
ILGA Europe members are gathering for their conference in Vilnius whichbegins tomorrow, but their public Rainbow Flag event has been blocked by thecity's mayor.
Around 200 delegates from all over Europe are attending the three daymeeting, the 11th annual conference.
ILGA Europe chose to meet in Lithuania to highlight the prejudice gay peopleface in the country, formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Lithuania joined the EU in 2005.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5847.html
"Homosexual" baby advertising campaign divides Italians
24th October 2007 14:35
PinkNews.co.uk writer
An advertising campaign featuring a new born baby with a band on its wristwith the word 'homosexual' written on it has caused a row in Tuscany.
The government of the Italian region is poised to display thousands ofcopies of the poster in public places and municipal offices as part of acampaign against discrimination.
The tagline on the posters - Sexual Orientation Is Not A Choice - hasdivided gay people, while conservative politicians are outraged that publicmoney has been spent on it at all.
A leading Christian Democrat said the ad campaign is expoitative andmisleading.
"Homosexuality is not a vice and hence should not be condemned normarginalised, or worse still persecuted," an official from Tuscany regiontold newspaper Corriere della Sera.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5849.html
Austrian government plans registered gay partnerships
24th October 2007 16:17
PinkNews.co.uk writer
Austria's Justice minister today released draft legislation that will grantlesbian and gay couples the right to register their relationships.
The proposed "registered partnerships" will be put before the country'sParliament by the end of this year.
The Social Democrats (SPÖ) won the most seats in the January 2007 electionbut not enough to rule outright.
They entered into a "grand coalition" with the conservative ÖVP, or People'sParty.
SPÖ Justice minister Maria Berger's proposed new partnerships law will beconsidered by a bipartisan working group.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5850.html
Philippines rejects trans records case
24th October 2007 17:23
PinkNews.co.uk writer
The Supreme Court of the Philippines has ruled that woman may not change hercivil registry records.
Born Rommel Jacinto Dantes Silverio, the woman underwent gender reassignmentsurgery in 2001 and wanted her records to reflect her transition.
While recognising that trans people do not "fit neatly into the commonlyrecognised parameters of social convention," the court said there is no lawregarding people who have undergone gender reassignment.
"While the petitioner may have succeeded in altering his body and appearancethrough the intervention of modern surgery, no law authorises the change ofentry as to sex in the civil registry for that reason," the judgement read,according to AFP.
She had hoped to change her name and records in order to marry her partner.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5848.html
Home Office loses gay Algerian deportation case
24th October 2007 15:20
PinkNews.co.uk writer
The High Court in London has overturned an order that a gay man from Algeriaseeking asylum in the UK should be repatriated.
The Home Office had argued the 27-year-old man, referred to as B, would besafe from persecution as long as he was "discreet" about his homosexuality.
However Mr Justice Collins disagreed, saying that B, who has been fightingto remain in the UK since 1996, was at risk of persecution.
The ruling has infuriated the tabloid press, with The Sun reporting that:
"A FAILED (sic) asylum seeker had his deportation halted yesterday - becausehe is too CAMP to go home."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/would-obama-put-klansman-on-stage-so.html
Would Obama put a klansman on stage so long as a black minister got tointroduce him?
by John Aravosis (DC) · 10/24/2007 04:12:00 PM ET
Obama's latest sleight of hand in "cure the gays"-gate is he's now offeringto have a gay preacher open his homophobic gospel tour where he's going tobe showcasing an outspoken homophobic bigot who thinks gays are trying tokill your children, who thinks being gay is a "curse," and who thinks thatgays need to be cured (the anti-gay activist is now denying that he everused the word "cured" - whatever, the guy thinks we need to be fixed, can befixed, it's all the same thing).
Which brings up the question: Would Obama put a Klansman on stage so long ashe brought a black minister or a rabbi up there too?
I'm just not getting the equivalence here: One bigot = one gay guy, and theneverything is okay. How many gays balances one bigot, Senator? One, two,three, three-fifths? That's just not the way it works in civil rights,Senator. You don't get to be a bigot so long as you suck up to the gays too.You NEVER get to be a bigot, period. You never get to embrace bigotry, ever.It doesn't matter many how many of your best friends are gay. It doesn'tmatter how many gays you put on stage. You don't ever get to showcase arenowned bigot to line your pockets and get you votes, ever.
Would you do this to any other minority, Senator? Would you let a klansmanor a white supremacist, or a Holocaust denier, on stage so long as youinvited a rabbi and a black minister too? I somehow doubt it. You'd do theright thing and kick the bigot out of your little show. But we're quicklylearning that doing the right thing isn't part of the Obama vocabulary.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/10/bush-semi-threa.html
Bush semi-threatens ENDA veto
October 23, 2007
UPDATE: At the end of the post.
This week's ENDA news began with a warning from fringe anti-gay leader PeterLaBarbera of Americans For Truth that White House staffers not only wereadvising President Bush to sign the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, theywere actually bragging about their involvement in crafting the bill'sreligious exemption.
The idea that White House staffers worked surreptitiously with openly gayMassachusetts Democrat Barney Frank to improve the language of historic gay(and possibly transgender) rights legislation was, well, about as credibleas everything else that comes out of Peter LaBarbera's mouth. But thatdidn't stop gay Democrat blogger John Aravosis from falling for it, in apost that begins "Time for some crow," and brags that he predicted Bushwould not veto ENDA.
The method to LaBarbera's madness, rather than speaking the "Truth" aboutanything, was to rally the conservative chorus to call on the White House totake a position on ENDA, since it was expected to come up for a House voteon Wednesday. The White House responded today with a watered-down vetothreat (of the same type it issued over the hate crime bill), that says,"The bill raises concerns on constitutional and policy grounds, and if H.R.3685 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommendthat he veto the bill."
First and foremost, it is politically very telling that the White Housenever mentions any opposition to the bill's primary purpose, protectingworkers from discrimination based on sexual orientation. The president'sadvisers read the polls and know that the core justification for ENDA isembraced by wide majorities, including among Republicans.
(The veto threat also makes no mention of the transgender issue, which I'vealready heard some claim as proof it's not such political deadweight, butH.R. 3685 (Barney's compromise ENDA bill) doesn't include any mention of"gender identity," so there was no basis to raise the issue in the vetothreat.)
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKN2450662120071024
Gay men can earn 23 pct less than married men: study
Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:02pm BST
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Gay men, but not lesbians, face discrimination atwork, earning up to 23 percent less than married men in some jobs, accordingto a new study.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Whittemore School ofBusiness and Economics spent two years analyzing labor and wage data from91,000 heterosexual and homosexual couples collected by a 2004 U.S. census.
They found that gay men working in management and blue-collar jobs make lessmoney than straight men due to discrimination by their employers
"It was surprising to see how consistent it was that gay men tended to bemore discriminated against in traditionally heterosexual male dominatedprofessions -- blue collar, labor, and management too," researcher BruceElmslie, professor of economics at UNH, told Reuters.
The study found that gay men who live together earn 23 percent less thanmarried men, and 9 percent less than unmarried heterosexual men who livewith a woman.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/sns-ap-people-garry-trudeau,0,3803896.story
Trudeau: `Doonesbury' Doesn't Get Easier
By LISA RATHKE | Associated Press Writer
12:52 PM EDT, October 23, 2007
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt.
Garry Trudeau says topics in his "Doonesbury" comic strip that were atfirst shocking to some readers aren't so anymore, such as one character'srevelation 30 years ago that he was gay.
"Now I can pretty much write about gay issues and not hear from anyone,"Trudeau told students at the Center for Cartoon Studies on Monday."Certainly popular culture has a role to play in destigmatizing."
The 59-year-old cartoonist talked about his work process and the challengeshe's faced over his nearly 40-year career.
"I find it really hard," he said of his work. "It's no less hard than when Istarted."
Trudeau said his syndicated political satire, which has 30 ongoingcharacters, has been pulled from newspapers over the years because of itscontent and political themes.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-1024mcclurkinoct24,1,4690186.story
Gospel singer says he is not anti-gay
By Kelley L. Carter
Tribune staff reporter
6:09 AM CDT, October 24, 2007
Gospel music superstar Donnie McClurkin says he was surprised to wake upTuesday morning to a media firestorm.
The 47-year-old Grammy Award-winning musician is scheduled to perform thisweekend at Sen. Barack Obama's three-day concert series in South Carolina.But in the wake of accusations by a gay-rights group that McClurkin falselyasserts that homosexuality is a choice, bloggers are calling for theDemocratic presidential candidate to cancel the singer's Sunday nightappearance, saying McClurkin's views are anti-gay and incite hate.
McClurkin told The Associated Press on Monday that "sexuality, everything isa matter of choice." But on Tuesday he told the Tribune that his ideals, andmost importantly his ministry, were severely misconstrued.
"I don't believe that even from a religious point of view that Jesus ever discriminated toward anyone, nor do I," McClurkin said in an exclusiveinterview with the Tribune. "Most of the things that were said were totallyout of context and then other things weren't true."
"My only concern is to be in place with Sen. Obama in unity and bring allthe factors together for the sake of change," he said. "That's my onlything. Of course some agents have twisted it as though he [Obama] wereembracing a racist or a Nazi, and that is anything but true."
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[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
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NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 25, 2007
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-senate-southwick,0,1513590.story
Controversial Judge Confirmed by Senate
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
4:37 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Judge Leslie Southwick to the federalappeals court in New Orleans after Republicans overpowered objections byDemocrats who said he wasn't sensitive enough to the region's history ofrace relations.
The 59-38 vote, a rare Republican victory in a Democratic-led Senate, wassealed after the nomination survived its main obstacle, a test tally momentsearlier in which a dozen Democrats sided with Republicans to thwart afilibuster. That left Democrats without the power to block Southwick'sconfirmation, even after a heated debate that raised the pain of civilrights struggles in the 5th Circuit, which serves Mississippi, Louisiana andTexas.
Southwick's record as a state appeals court judge in Mississippi drewopposition from traditionally left-leaning groups who warned Democrats thathis confirmation could mean consequences come Election Day.
"We regard this as a test," said District of Columbia Delegate EleanorHolmes Norton, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"This vote for Leslie Southwick is a vote against the dignity and safety ofour families," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-scotus-spurned-spouse,0,3306027.story
Court Urged to Enter Spurned Spouse Case
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer
12:58 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON
A plumber and a millionaire squared off in Mississippi over a woman. Thewoman chose the rich guy. The plumber sued the millionaire and won more than$750,000.
Now Jerry Fitch Sr., a businessman from Holly Springs, Miss., wants theSupreme Court to step in and limit what a spurned spouse can collect througha lawsuit that claims "alienation of affection."
Fitch said he shouldn't have to pay $112,000 in punitive damages, citing anearlier high court decision overturning state criminal laws against gay sexto bolster his case. He is not contesting the rest of the judgment.
The Mississippi Supreme Court called the matter a classic case of "hesaid/she said/the paramour said."
Mississippi is one of only seven states that still allows lawsuits by peoplewho claim someone stole their wife or husband. The others are Hawaii,Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407A.shtml
War Supplemental Makes Room for Iran
By Maya Schenwar
Wednesday 24 October 2007
The Bush administration's $196.4 billion war supplemental spendingrequest, released Monday, has Democrats reeling. Senate AppropriationsCommittee Chairman Robert Byrd called the supplemental "short-sighted atbest," while House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey remarked in astatement, "It's amazing to me that the president expects to be takenseriously." Yet beyond the request's mind-boggling size, its open-ended aimspoint to the potentially vast scope of the "war on terror" for years tocome - including an undiminished presence in Iraq and the possibility ofaction against Iran.
In the newly revised supplemental, more money than ever has beenappropriated for procurement - the production of new materials, which maytake three years to actually reach the battlefield, according to Departmentof Defense estimates in 2006. Moreover, that battlefield may change. The2008 supplemental's title, the Global War on Terror Request, isappropriately broad, as the majority of the request's appropriations do notrefer exclusively to Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, according to a reportthis morning in Congressional Quarterly Today, the Bush administration'srequest for a "Massive Ordnance Penetrator for the B-2 aircraft in responseto an Urgent Operational Need from theater commanders" could be gearedtoward bombing underground targets in Iran.
Policy experts say that, as it stands, the supplemental contains noprovisions that would prevent its funds from being used to strike Iran.
"With money allocated generally for the global war on terror and thedefense department, if the military is ordered to bomb Iran, theadministration could use those funds to pay for it," said Anita Dancs,research director of the National Priorities Project, in an interview. Ifthe supplemental passes in its current form, even funds originally allottedto Iraq- or Afghanistan-specific activities might be funneled elsewhere.Dancs noted the Department of Defense has been granted such leeway in thepast; earlier in the Iraq War, monies originally designated forreconstruction were transferred to military operations.
The supplemental request comes at a time when the Bush administrationand its allies have Iran on high alert. Two months ago, a McClatchyNewspapers report indicated Vice President Dick Cheney was urging airstrikeson Iran; and in late August, President George W. Bush said in an address, "Ihave authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran'smurderous activities."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407C.shtml
Senate Reverses Bush's Budget Cuts
By Andrew Taylor
The Associated Press
Tuesday 23 October 2007
Washington - Senate Democrats on Tuesday reversed President Bush's cutsto education, health research and grants to local communities as they girdfor Bush's first-ever veto of a regular appropriations bill.
By a 75-19 vote, the Senate gave bipartisan approval to a huge healthand education spending bill that will likely be the first of the fiscal 2008spending bills Democrats will ship to the White House to start a veto battleinvolving the budget for almost every domestic agency.
It promises to be a protracted battle, and Bush has a decided advantage,but Democrats have seized on the massive health and education measure as thebest measure with which to challenge Bush and his GOP allies in Congress.The measure totals over $600 billion and reverses a raft of cuts sought byBush to health research, special education and funding for grants tocommunity groups that help the poor, among others.
The confrontation with Bush over domestic programs - many of which arealso popular with Republicans, as demonstrated by the margin of passage -will come on the heels of the bruising veto battle over a children's healthinsurance bill. Programs funded by the health and education bill affectschoolchildren, workers, the poor and disabled, the unemployed and thosewith special needs or drug and alcohol problems, among others.
"In passing this bill, Democrats in Congress will say that the presidentdoesn't care about children or education or health research," said WhiteHouse press secretary Dana Perino. "We've all heard these tired old linesbefore. The facts demonstrate the president's strong and consistentcommitment to children, education and health research - and the Americanpeople are smart enough to know that there is no such thing as a freelunch."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407F.shtml
Will the GOP Election Theft Machine Do It Again in 2008?
By Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
The Free Press
Friday 19 October 2007
With record low approval ratings for the Bush/Cheney regime and thealbatross of an unpopular war hanging from the GOP's neck, do you think thata Democratic presidential candidate will win the White House, get us out ofIraq, and end our long national nightmare?
Think again - the mighty election theft machine Karl Rove used to stealthe US presidency in 2000 and 2004 may be under attack, but it is still inplace for the upcoming 2008 election.
With his usual devious mastery, Rove has seized upon the nationaloutrage sparked by his electoral larceny and used it as smokescreen while hemakes the American electoral system even MORE unfair, and even EASIER torig. Thus the administration has fired federal attorneys when they would notparticipate in a nationwide campaign to deny minorities and the poor theiraccess to the polls. It has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to installelectronic voting machines that can be "flipped" with a few keystrokes. Andunder the guise of "reforming" our busted electoral system, it is setting usup for another presidential theft in 2008.
Thus it should come as no surprise that our exclusive investigationsinto the firings of eight federal prosecutors who refused to execute Rove'splans for massive disenfranchisement of Democratic voters reveal a patternof illegalities and fraud aimed at reducing the number of minority, poor andyoung voters at the core of Democratic support. In the wake of major newsbreaks, two felony convictions have come from the rigging of the illegalOhio 2004 vote count and recount that gave George W. Bush a secondillegitimate term. Stunning new admissions from county election boards thatillegally destroyed voter records will almost certainly lead to newconvictions. And the multi-million-dollar electronic voting machine scamthat made possible the biggest electoral frauds in US history is undermassive new attack, with key states moving to scrap the machines altogetherin a desperate attempt to restore American democracy - but with the job farfrom done.
Rove, Ney and the Undead
Indeed, the Rovian theft engine is far from dead. The media groundworkhas already been laid out for the Republicans to claim that hordes ofillegal aliens have registered to vote. The Bush administration has beencaught ordering public agencies - possibly in violation of the law - tocease registering voters. In an April 2006 speech to the Republican NationalLawyers Association, Rove openly alluded to the strategy of demanding photoID and purging voter roles of poor, minority voters just as had been done in2000 and 2004. And, as always with Bush/Rove, there is much more beneath thesurface.
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/25/health
Making Higher-Risk Health Plans Palatable
Oct. 25
With health care costs rising, colleges are seeking creative strategies toencourage employees to consider switching to plans that feature lowermonthly premiums and higher employee-paid deductibles.
"It changes behaviors," says Susan A. Carkeek, vice president and chiefhuman resources officer at the University of Virginia, which just boostedbenefits and lowered employee contributions for what it calls the "lowpremium" option.
"People incur lower health expenses who are on the low plan than on the highplan," says Carkeek - who adds that while one likely explanation could bethat younger, healthier employees tend to choose the lower-premium option, ahigh-deductible plan also encourages employees to "be more mindful" inmaking choices about health care.
The costs of services aside, it's generally in the employers' interest todrive down the cost of premiums - which they tend to cover the brunt of -and transfer a greater proportion of costs to the employee in the form ofdeductibles (although, in Virginia's case, the university's contributiontoward the premium doesn't vary based on whether employees opt for the lowor high option).
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Huckabees-Move.html
Iowa Gives Huckabee a Second Look
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 25, 2007
Filed at 3:39 a.m. ET
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Mike Huckabee, who strums a bass guitar and cracksjokes at campaign stops, is quietly establishing himself with Iowa voters asa serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
''I think he's the sleeper candidate this year,'' said Steve Roberts, a DesMoines lawyer who sits on the Republican National Committee. ''He makes avery positive impression in his public appearances and in the debates.''
Huckabee's success thus far in this early voting state has raised thequestion: Can he overcome his rivals' advantages? He doesn't have the moneyof Mitt Romney, the celebrity of Rudy Giuliani or the personal history ofJohn McCain.
But the former Arkansas governor has a message that resonates with manyIowans. He is an ordained Baptist minister whose opposition to abortion andgay rights appeals to social and religious conservatives, and he has apersonal story of losing more than 100 pounds that has helped form his standon health care.
Huckabee often delivers his conservative message while poking fun at himselfand others -- at times while performing with his rock band, Capitol Offense.
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Sun -Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-fljjpsbook1023jjbnoct25,0,2735587.story
Author spends a year 'Living Biblically'
October 25, 2007
The Year of Living Biblically. By A. J. Jacobs. New York: Simon andSchuster, 2008. 389 Pages. $25.
Deftly combining levity and gravity, A. J. Jacobs, an Esquire editor, haswritten an instructive account of his attempt to spend a year following thebehavioral prescriptions set forth in the Bible. This project followed the2004 publication of "The Know-It-All," in which Jacobs described the year hedevoted to trying to become "the smartest person in the world" by readingall 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Seeking a follow-up to thatbest-selling venture, Jacobs came up with the idea of exploring the Bibleand living for a year in accordance with its precepts.
To begin his project, Jacobs spent a month reading the Bible and recording"every rule, every guideline, every suggestion, every nugget of advice." Hewound up with 72 pages and more than 700 rules. He then decided to spendeight months, following the "Old Testament" and four months on the "NewTestament." He explains this division by describing himself as "officiallyJewish" and, in any event, most of the rules are in the "Old Testament."Finally, Jacobs assembled "a board of spiritual advisers: rabbis, ministers,and priests" and he decided to visit some of the groups that take the Bibleliterally.
Perhaps the greatest effect of Jacobs's effort to follow all the rules inthe Bible was on his wife, Julie, and their two-year old son, Jaspar. Thelong beard, the white garb, the ten-string harp, and the shepherd's staffall mark Julie's husband and Jaspar's father as an eccentric. Fortunatelyfor them, Manhattan, where they live, is used to strange sights andidiosyncrasies. However, human relationships generally create problems asJacobs insists on telling the truth and using pebbles to "stone anadulterer."
Some of the biblical rules defy explanation. For example, the Bible bansclothing of mixed fibers. Jacobs finds Mr. Berkowitz who makes home visitsto test whether or not one's clothes are made of mixed fibers. He tellsJacobs that some Biblical rules, such as this one, need to be obeyed simplyas a manifestation of faith. Jacobs concludes, "I have to adjust my brain tothis."
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Bible Belt Blogger
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/blogs/bible-blog/2007/oct/24/claim-romn/
Claim: Romney's money isn't pro-family
Posted October 24, 2007
Bible Belt Blogger: Claim: Romney's money isn't pro-familyFrank Lockwood
The candidate's financial disclosure form shows ties to gambling, alcoholand tobacco companies, critics say.
Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, is listed. So is Coca-Cola,Boyd Gaming, Harrah's, MGM Mirage and a slew of others.
"CHARLOTTE WORLD
Romney's money not where his mouth is
Charlotte, North Carolina
October 24, 2007
By Warren Cole Smith
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had trouble explaining hispast views on abortion, pornography, and homosexuality to religiousconservatives. While he was governor of Massachusetts, a number ofgay-friendly laws were enacted. And his close ties to the MarriottCorporation - as a shareholder and board member - have brought criticismfrom Phil Burress with Citizens for Community Values. Burress said, "Thefact that Marriott hotel chain was dealing in the worst kind of hard corepornographic material and Mr. Romney was sitting on the board at the time isextremely disturbing."
Rusty Leonard, president of Stewardship Partners, says Romney might have yetmore explaining to do. According to Leonard's analysis of Romney's financialdisclosure statement, the Republican - who is aggressively courting"religious right" voters - owns stock in at least a dozen companies withactive ties to abortion, pornography, and (alcohol sales).
"Romney's financial holdings are much worse than the other presidentialcandidates," Leonard said. "That's partly because he is far richer than theother candidates and has more holdings, but it's also because he apparentlyuses no screening process whatsoever."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/washington/25tehran.html?hp
New Steps by U.S. Against Iranians
By HELENE COOPER
October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - The Bush administration will announce a long-debatedpolicy of new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, accusing the elite Qudsdivision of the Revolutionary Guard Corps of supporting terrorism,administration officials said Wednesday night.
The administration also plans to accuse the entire Revolutionary Guard Corpsof proliferating weapons of mass destruction, the officials said. While theUnited States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, thedecision to single out the Guard reflects increased frustration in theadministration with the slow pace of diplomatic negotiations over Tehran'snuclear program.
Both designations will put into play unilateral sanctions intended to impedethe Revolutionary Guard and those who do business with it. This is the firsttime that the United States has taken such steps against the armed forces ofany sovereign government.
The action against the Revolutionary Guard, first reported by The WashingtonPost, would set in motion a series of automatic sanctions that would make iteasier for the United States to block financial accounts and other assetscontrolled by the Guard. In particular, the action would freeze any assetsthe Guard has in the United States, although it is unlikely that the Guardmaintains much in the way of assets in American banks or other institutions.
The decision will be announced jointly on Thursday by Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the administrationofficials said. "This is going to be a broad and wide-ranging effort," asenior administration official said. "We will be freezing assets, and therewill be ripple effects of where we can go from there."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/world/middleeast/25blackwater.html?hp
Under Siege, Blackwater Takes On Air of Bunker
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER and JAMES GLANZ
October 25, 2007
BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 - The Blackwater USA compound here is a fortress within afortress. Surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall of concrete topped by achain-link fence and razor wire, the compound sits deep inside the heavilydefended Green Zone, its two points of entry guarded by Colombian Armyveterans carrying shotguns and automatic rifles.
In the mazelike interior, Blackwater employees live in trailers stacked oneon top of the other in surroundings that one employee likens to a"minimum-security prison."
Since Sept. 16, when Blackwater guards opened fire in a crowded Baghdadsquare, the compound has begun to feel more like a prison, too. On that day,employees of Blackwater, a private security firm hired to protect Americandiplomats, responded to what they called a threat and killed as many as 17people and wounded 24.
Richard J. Griffin, the State Department official who oversaw Blackwater USAand other private security contractors in Iraq, resigned Wednesday.
For weeks, not a word has emerged publicly from the compound, as the F.B.I.,the American military and the Iraqi government investigate the Sept. 16 andearlier Blackwater shootings in Iraq.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/business/25autos4.html?hp
Workers at 4 Michigan Plants Back Chrysler Pact
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
October 25, 2007
DETROIT, Oct. 24 - The tentative agreement between Chrysler and the UnitedAutomobile Workers union appears headed for approval, after four big unionlocals in the Detroit area voted strongly in favor of the contract tonight.
The likely approval of the Chrysler contract is a victory for union leaders,who put on a last-minute lobbying push after the agreement appeared to be injeopardy last weekend.
The four Detroit area factories - two assembly and two stamping plants inWarren and Sterling Heights, Mich. - each approved the contract tonight bywide margins. Together, the plants have more than 9,000 workers.
The Sterling Heights assembly plant voted in favor of the agreement eventhough the local union president, Bill Parker, who headed the U.A.W.bargaining team at Chrysler, opposed the contract. Mr. Parker declinedcomment tonight.
The latest votes mean the contract is passing by 56 percent, with about4,000 more votes in favor than those opposed, according to a person withdirect access to vote totals. That yes vote, though enough to pass, is farsmaller than U.A.W. contracts normally would receive.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur1.html?ref=opinion
Another $200 Billion
Editorial
October 25, 2007
President Bush waited until he had vetoed a relatively inexpensive children's health insurance bill before asking for tens of billions of dollars more forhis misadventure in Iraq. The cynicism of that maneuver is only slightlyless shameful than the president's distorted priorities. Despite a pretenseof fiscal prudence, Mr. Bush keeps throwing money at his war, regardless ofthe cost in blood, treasure or children's health care.
Mr. Bush is threatening to veto most of the 12 domestic spending bills nowbefore Congress because Democrats want to provide $22 billion more than the$933 billion he has requested. His argument? Something about the president'sresponsibility to rein in lawmakers' "temptation to overspend."
This from a leader who turns federal surpluses into deficits, believes thatthe Iraq and Afghanistan wars can be financed on a separate set of bookswith borrowed money, and keeps having to go back to Congress for "emergencyfunding" because he cannot or will not tell the truth about what it iscosting to fight these wars.
Mr. Bush's latest emergency request is for $46 billion. That would bring the2008 price tag for Iraq and Afghanistan to $196.4 billion. Starting at Sept.11, 2001, war-fighting expenses total a staggering $800 billion or more. Thenonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says that by theend of the year spending on Iraq will probably surpass that on the VietnamWar.
Mr. Bush has said most of the new money would go for "day-to-day" militaryoperations and "basic needs" like bullets, body armor and mine-resistantambush-protected vehicles, which are designed to withstand bomb attacks, arising threat to American forces in Iraq. The troops need safer vehicles andbetter armor, but it is beyond our ken why Mr. Bush could not cover this inhis original budget submission, unless he wanted to confuse the public andlimit Congressional oversight.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25collins.html?ref=opinion
Who Doesn't ? Huckabee?
Op-Ed Columnist
By GAIL COLLINS
October 25, 2007
Chuck Norris has spoken.
I know many of you were waiting to hear who the star of "Walker, TexasRanger" has decided to endorse in the presidential race. Well, the winner is... Mike Huckabee.
"It's time to quit choosing our leaders based solely upon charisma or onestrong suite," said Norris, in a statement that was rich in historicalreferences, if a little weak on copy editing.
Norris has a side career as a columnist for a conservative news Web site, soperhaps his opinion carries more weight than your average action star whohas not yet been elected to public office. (It would help, though, if the"Current Events" section of the Chuck Norris home page was not devoted tothe schedule for the World Combat League.) But the question we want toconsider today is why he is virtually the only prominent name backingHuckabee, who is this season's likable presidential candidate. This is thevenerable, if not particularly rewarding role once held by Morris Udall andJohn McCain2000, and it involves having reporters appreciate you much morethan the politicians and donors do.
Like Bill Clinton, Huckabee was born in a town called Hope and became apretty good governor of a state that doesn't make it all that easy. (Plus,you have to love the fact that he lived for a while in a mobile home on theArkansas Statehouse grounds.) He's extremely inclusive, defending minoritieswho are illegal immigrants as well as the ones registered to vote. He can beboth funny and convincing on the stump.
On the downside, I think he'd be a terrible president. He doesn't know beansabout foreign affairs, he wants to replace the income tax with a nationalsales tax, and his positions on social issues are far to the right of thegeneral populace. But why aren't the social conservatives rallying aroundthis guy? Unlike any of the major candidates, he's still on his first wifeand first position on abortion. Once we start getting into the inevitablepersonal stories of redemption, Americans would have a much better timelistening to Huckabee tell how he lost 110 pounds than sitting through Rudy's 9/11 story again or looking at pictures of Mitt's 10 grandchildren.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25cohen.html?ref=opinion
Time for the Bundesmacht
By ROGER COHEN
KABUL, Afghanistan
October 25, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Remember the Wehrmacht? It was a formidable fighting force. The modernGerman army, the Bundeswehr, is also very effective. Thing is, it isreluctant to fight or even place itself in danger.
Given history, that may seem just fine. The United States helped frame theinstitutions of today's Germany precisely to guarantee peace over war. Butin Afghanistan, where 3,200 Germans serve in a hard-pressed NATO force, atouch of "Bundesmacht" would be welcome.
Afghanistan is a divided country. The south and east are dangerous becauseTaliban forces are resurgent there; NATO casualties have been significant.The north and west are quieter; peacekeeping prevails. Tensions have grownbetween front-line alliance states fighting a war and those that are not.
The former group, battling the Taliban in Helmand Province and elsewhere,includes the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. The latteris dominated by Germany, Spain and Italy. The split gives a rough guide toparts of the world that still see military force as inextricable frominternational security and others that are now functionally pacifist.
"In Afghanistan, NATO solidarity collapses at the point of danger," saidJulian Lindley-French, a military expert at the Netherlands Defense Academy."There's no point planning robust operations worldwide if the burden is notshared. A lot of the German troops are little more than heavily armedtraffic cops."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur3.html?ref=opinion
Rational Sentencing
Editorial
October 25, 2007
New York sparked a disastrous national trend during the 1970s with laws thatoften penalized first-time drug felons more severely than rapists ormurderers. Imitated throughout the country, New York's so-called Rockefellerlaws drove up the prison population tenfold and cost the states a fortune,but did nothing to curb the drug trade. Worse still, they tied the hands ofjudges - and destroyed countless young lives - by requiring long prisonterms in cases where leniency and drug treatment were clearly warranted.
New York has made incremental changes to the Rockefeller laws in recentyears, but has stopped short of restoring judicial discretion. Gov. EliotSpitzer seemed to be pushing in that direction this year when he appointed acommission to study the range of state sentencing practices.
The commission's preliminary report contains many valuable recommendationsfor fixing the sentencing system as a whole. But the superficial treatmentgiven the Rockefeller laws has raised fears among fair- sentencing advocatesthat the commission intends to duck the issue in its final report, due nextspring. That cannot be allowed to happen. Voters deserve a thorough airingof this issue and a full menu of options for reforming the most draconiandrug laws the country has yet seen.
The report rightly calls for ending New York's byzantine system of"indeterminate sentencing," under which a judge imposes a minimum and amaximum sentence and the Parole Board decides when to release an offender.It calls for sentencing certain nonviolent offenders to community-basedtreatment instead of prison. It also recommends restoring prison-basededucational and training programs, which have been shown to cut recidivismby giving inmates marketable skills.
Most important, the report calls for the state to establish a permanent,independent sentencing commission to advise legislators. Already working inseveral states, such commissions have independence and statutory authority.At their best, they help legislatures make rational decisions and avoiddisastrous policies that have failed elsewhere, like New York.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur4.html?ref=opinion
The Rural Life: Two Pigs
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
October 25, 2007
Very soon, a farmer and his son will come to the farm to kill our two pigs.If that sentence bothers you, you should probably stop reading now - and youshould probably also stop eating pork. The pigs weigh nearly 300 poundsapiece, and killing them is the reality of eating meat. I talk to the pigswhenever I'm in their pen, and ever since June I've been slowly taming them,getting them used to being scratched. There are two reasons. I truly lovebeing with the pigs. And taming them means it will be that much easier forthe farmer and his son to kill them swiftly, immediately. If I had no moreforeknowledge of my death than these two pigs will have of theirs, I'dconsider myself very lucky.
The questions people ask make it sound as though I should be morallyoutraged at myself, as if it's impossible to scratch the pigs behind theears and still intend to kill them. If I belonged to a more coherent,traditional rural community - one that comes together for pig-butchering inthe fall - I would get to celebrate the ritual in it all, the suddenabundance a well-fed pig represents. It's hard to act that out when the castis a gruff farmer and son, and my wife and me, who have been silenced by thesolemnity of what we're watching.
Because we do watch. That's part of the job. It's how we come to understandwhat the meat itself means. And to me, the word "meat" is at the root of thecontradictory feelings the pig-killing raises. You can add all the extravalue you want - raising heritage breed pigs on pasture with organic grain,all of which we do - and yet somehow the fact that we are doing this formeat, some of which we keep, most of which we trade or sell, makes the wholething sound like a bad bargain. And yet compared with the bargain mostAmericans make when they buy pork in the supermarket, this is beauty itself.
Knowing that you're doing something for the last time is a uniquely humanfear. I thought that would be the hardest thing about having pigs. In fact,it's not so hard, though it does remind me that humans have trouble thinkingcarefully about who knows what. One day soon I'll step into the pen and givethe pigs a thorough scratching, behind the ears, between the eyes, down thespine. Their tails will straighten with pleasure. It will be the last time.I will know it, and they simply won't.
VERLYN KLINKENBORG
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/world/europe/25russia.html
Russia Working to Limit Election Observers
By C. J. CHIVERS
October 25, 2007
MOSCOW, Oct. 24 - Russia has opened a diplomatic campaign to curtail theactivities of election observers in the states of the former Soviet Union,proposing to cut the size of the missions sharply and to prohibit thepublication of their reports immediately after an election.
The proposals, circulated confidentially last month by Russia at theheadquarters in Vienna of the Organization for Security and Cooperation inEurope, would also forbid observers to make any public statements about agovernment's electoral conduct in the days after citizens voted.
Taken together, the proposals would severely undermine the activities of theorganization's election-monitoring arm before two important elections inRussia: the parliamentary election planned for Dec. 2 and presidentialelections next spring.
They are also the latest Kremlin effort to renegotiate standards forgoverning and international cooperation that it accepted after the SovietUnion's collapse, and seem certain to lead to another impasse with the West.
The monitoring arm, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,or O.D.I.H.R., sends long-term and short-term observation teams, oftennumbering in the hundreds of people, to elections throughout the states ofthe former Soviet Union.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402345.html
A New Front in the Abortion Wars
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25
National antiabortion leaders put the finishing touches yesterday on aletter to be sent to all members of Congress, urging suspension of more than$300 million in federal funding of Planned Parenthood until a massivecriminal case brought in Kansas against the abortion rights organization issettled. That launches an attack against the nation's largest purveyor of"reproductive health care" -- including abortions.
On Oct. 17, Johnson County District Judge James F. Vano in suburban KansasCity spent eight hours reviewing a 107-count grand jury indictment againstPlanned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. He decided there was"probable cause" to proceed. Allegations of unlawful late-term abortions andother abortion-connected crimes were brought by Johnson County DistrictAttorney Phill Kline, a pro-life hero nationally who is viewed as a fanaticby advocates of abortion rights. The prosecution alleges violation of stateand federal laws and falsification of documents to justify those acts.
This opens a new front in the endless abortion wars. No change in the statusquo had seemed possible for pro-lifers. The 5 to 4 Supreme Court advantagefor abortion is frozen, and a Democratic-controlled Congress will not passnew antiabortion legislation, much less a constitutional amendment. Theoffensive against abortion now takes dead aim at Planned Parenthood andattempts to expand a Kansas criminal prosecution into a nationwide assault.
"Bloody Kansas" was the battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forcesnearly 150 years ago, and today it is a center of abortion conflict. Thoughpolls show that 60 percent of Kansas voters are pro-life, antiabortionactivists call the state "the abortion capital of the world" -- mainlybecause of George Tiller. At his Wichita clinic, Tiller is one of the fewdoctors still performing late-term abortions in this country.
The struggle has ripped asunder Kansas's dominant Republican Party, withKline at the heart of it. He won passage of antiabortion legislation duringeight years in the state House of Representatives, before his narrow 2002election as state attorney general. Kline's vigorous prosecution of allegedabortion offenses made him the principal national target of the abortionindustry.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402336.html
Trying Times for the Obama Faithful
By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25
CHICAGO -- These are difficult days for supporters of Barack Obama. Thiscity is filled with people who have voted for, worked for, contributed toand, in many cases, prayed for the success of the young senator fromIllinois. The struggle he has had in trying to overtake Hillary Clinton forthe Democratic presidential nomination is wearing on their morale.
Last weekend, I heard them tell each other that while the race startedmonths ago, it is still the early going; that the crucial days in Iowa andNew Hampshire are still ahead; and that there is time for Obama to closewith a rush, as he did when he came from behind to capture the nominationfor his Senate seat in 2004.
But the steady drumbeat of polls showing Clinton with more support than allthe other Democrats combined -- and twice as much as Obama -- is taking atoll. In their private moments, they wonder whether even Obama, gifted as heis, can pull off this feat.
Such doubts can afflict any trailing candidate's campaign, but they areparticularly pronounced -- and poignant -- in this case. Obama burst ontothe national stage with such high expectations, fueled by his remarkablespeech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, that nothing,including the presidency, seemed beyond his reach.
The elevated stature he enjoyed nationally was nothing compared with thenear reverence he commands among his friends here. Those who have workedclosely with him through the past decade, in politics, community affairs orthe antiwar movement, exhaust the list of superlatives in speaking about himand his wife, Michelle.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402061.html
How Not to Promote Democracy in Cuba
By Vicki Huddleston
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 12:00 AM
President Bush yesterday made a case for bringing democracy to Cuba. Yet bytelling the Cuban people not to expect help from the U.S. until they havemade Cuba free, and by refusing to make any substantive change to U.S.policy, he is actually forestalling democratization.
In his speech at the State Department, Bush offered several carrots to theCuban people: computers and Internet access; scholarships through thePartnership for Latin American Youth; and, most significant, access togrants, loans and debt relief provided by a multibillion-dollar "FreedomFund for Cuba." But he conditioned all these on evidence of reform. He wantsto see "opposition parties have the freedom to organize, assemble and speakwith equal access to the airwaves," "a free and independent press [that] hasthe power to operate without censors," and removal of the government"stranglehold on private economic activity."
Those are admirable goals. But evidence from democratic transitions aroundthe world shows that dictators fall only when the people they oppress areempowered with the help of governments, non-governmental organizations andindividuals from outside their country. For instance, of the former Sovietcountries, the ones that became democratic and joined the European Union hadthe most contact with their neighbors in Western Europe. It's unrealistic toexpect Cubans to magically transform their authoritarian government into ademocracy on their own. We won't see a viable political opposition orvibrant free press until we help build up Cuban civil society.
We also won't see meaningful movement toward democracy without changes tothe U.S.'s rigid travel restrictions. These prevent the person-to-personcontact and exchange of ideas that could build support for democracy andcompetition within Cuba.
At the same time, the U.S. provides a safety valve that allows the mostdisillusioned Cubans and their families to escape rather than press forchange at home. Bush was joined by many Cuban-born,could-have-been-reformers at the State Department yesterday, includingCommerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and former Sen. Mel Martinez, Rep.Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402757.html?hpid=topnews
White House Feels Waxman's Oversight Gaze
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A01
For months, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee,has been threatening, subpoenaing and just plain badgering Secretary ofState Condoleezza Rice to come before his panel to answer questions aboutthe run-up to the Iraq war, corruption and State Department contracting.
Today, Rice will finally appear. But Waxman (D-Calif.) has not spent theweek on a victory lap. He has found time to produce evidence accusing StateDepartment security contractor Blackwater Worldwide of tax evasion, to fireoff a letter to Rice demanding information about alleged mismanagement of a$1 billion contract to train Iraqi police, and to hold a hearing on uraniumpoisoning on Navajo land.
Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat inthe majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. Butin Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran --with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waitingfor this for 14 years.
These days, the 16-term congressman is always ready with a hearing, a freshcrop of internal administration e-mails or a new explosive report. And hehas more than two dozen investigations underway, on such issues as thepoliticization of the entire federal government, formaldehyde in FederalEmergency Management Agency trailers, global warming, and safety concernsabout the diabetes drug Avandia.
"We have to let people know they have someone watching them after six yearswith no oversight at all," said Waxman, 68. "And we've got a lot oflow-hanging fruit to pick."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402408.html?hpid=topnews
House Democrats Set For Vote on New Version Of Children's Health Bill
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A03
Just one week after failing to override President Bush's veto, HouseDemocrats will put a new version of their $35 billion expansion of the StateChildren's Health Insurance Program to a vote today, hoping that minorchanges will win enough Republicans to beat Bush this round.
The new version will underscore that illegal immigrants will not have accessto the expanded program. It will ease adults off the program in one year,rather than the two in the vetoed version. And it establishes a firmereligibility cap at 300 percent of the federal poverty line, just more than$60,000 for a family of four.
The move took Republican leaders by surprise. Bush administration officialsyesterday voiced conciliation, suggesting the president could acceptlegislation that would expand the program by about $20 billion over fiveyears, far bigger than the $5 billion expansion that Bush initiallyproposed. At the same time, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitthas been meeting with House and Senate Republicans, urging them to hold theline against an even larger bill. And Bush continues to oppose the tobaccotax increase that Democrats want to fund the measure.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) has been meeting all week withsome of the 45 House Republicans who voted for the first bill, looking forways to win the dozen or so votes that supporters needed to override anotherveto. But Democratic leaders have yet to reach out to the Republicans whovoted against the measure.
"When they need my vote, they don't even have the courage to ask me for it,"complained Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.), who has suffered through a barrage ofadvertisements from Democratic allies accusing him of forsaking children.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102500383.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Nobel Laureate Talks With Myanmar Aide
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 10:00 AM
YANGON, Myanma -- (AP) _ Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi _ under housearrest for 12 of the last 18 years _ met for about an hour with a Myanmargovernment official Thursday, state-run television reported.
The Nobel peace laureate was driven from her home to a nearby governmentguest house, where she held talks with newly appointed "minister forrelations" Aung Kyi, state-run television reported.
A retired major general, Aung Kyi was appointed to the post on Oct. 8 tohold talks with Suu Kyi.
It is not clear if this is Suu Kyi's first meeting with Aung Kyi.
His exact duties have not been detailed, but it appeared Aung Kyi wouldcoordinate all of Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the UnitedNations, which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracyadvocates and the junta.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402568.html?hpid=sec-tech
Self-Appointed Traffic Cop
By Rob Pegoraro
Thursday, October 25, 2007; D01
Is the company you pay to bring you the Internet blocking parts of itinstead?
That's been a fear of some Internet users for a long time. Now many Comcastcustomers are anxious after reading the Associated Press report last weekthat the cable-modem service interferes with the BitTorrent file-sharingprogram.
The news has put the Philadelphia-based corporation in an awkward spot andbrought the network neutrality debate back to life, just when it seemed thatthe issue was dead in Washington.
"Network neutrality" describes what most Internet service providers say theyalready do: treat all non-malicious Internet traffic equally.
But some of the largest telecom companies, such as AT&T, have said they'dlike to charge some Internet sites more for faster delivery of theircontent. They propose the Internet equivalent of building toll lanesalongside a busy freeway, then inviting some drivers to pay more for thatfaster access.
Regulators responded by requiring a few newly-merged telecoms, such as AT&T,to follow network-neutrality rules. Public pressure has kept other companiesfrom changing the terms of their broadband services. Most mobile-phonecarriers forbid receiving streaming audio or video feeds not provided by thecompanies.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402759.html?hpid=sec-education
Lifting the Veil From A Deadly Disease
Laura Bush Speaks With Saudi Women About Breast Cancer
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A13
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24 -- When gynecologist Samia al-Amoudi was foundlast year to have breast cancer, a disease that still carries an intensestigma in this conservative country where women are forced to cover inpublic, she decided to share the details in her newspaper column, shockingmany Saudis.
But the 50-year-old single mother insisted on telling her story in more than30 television, magazine and newspaper interviews, trying to force aspotlight, she said, on a disease believed to be the leading cause of deathamong Middle Eastern women.
This week's visit to Saudi Arabia by first lady Laura Bush, who is on aregional tour to raise awareness about breast cancer, is a windfall toAmoudi's battle to bring the issue to the public, she said.
"The fact that there is a lot of media coverage of your visit, and peopleknow you are here only for the purpose of spreading breast cancer awareness,that gives it importance and will really help our campaign," Amoudi toldBush at a "Break the Silence" coffee meeting Wednesday with other breastcancer survivors.
Bush is visiting the Persian Gulf region as part of the U.S.-Middle EastPartnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research, launched in 2006 withJordan and the United Arab Emirates, and this week in Saudi Arabia. Shedescribed the initiative at its launch last year as "the very best kind ofpublic diplomacy."
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-broder19octnboct24,0,137157.story
Despite SCHIP veto, progress is possible
October 24, 2007
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.
For most of the American public, Secretary of Health and Human ServicesMichael Leavitt is best defined by his role defending Pres. George Bush'scontroversial veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Leavitt, along with the president, has argued that the bipartisan bill istoo ambitious and too expensive, encroaching on the private insurancemarket. For his pains, he has been characterized as an ogre, standing in theway of better treatment for millions of youngsters in cash-strappedfamilies.
That is not the man I got to know and admire in his years as governor ofUtah and a leader in the National Governors Association. And it is not theman I heard address a conference of health care insurers and providers herelast week.
Leavitt, who on this occasion said not a word about the SCHIP veto overrideattempt then looming before Congress, instead described what he and hiscolleagues are doing to prepare for the coming revolution in health care inthis country. It is a story that, while less publicized than the SCHIPfight, holds promise of a better day not just for children, but for allAmericans.
What I learned about Leavitt in his years as governor is that he is blessedwith vision that sees future policy challenges and developments more clearlythan most politicians. In this case, he is visualizing a radically differentkind of medical marketplace, where families armed with specific informationabout the treatment success and prices of hospitals and doctors can shop atwill for the best quality and most affordable care.
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The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/10/24/lawsuit_filed_challenging_michigan_presidential_primary/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+New+Hampshire+news
Lawsuit filed challenging Michigan presidential primary
By Kathy Barks Hoffman, AP Political Writer | October 24, 2007
LANSING, Mich. --A lawsuit was filed Wednesdasy asking a judge to keepMichigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary from going forward until issues areresolved over who will have access to voting records.
Mark Grebner, head of an East Lansing political consulting company thatsells voter lists, filed the lawsuit along with former Detroit Free Presspolitical columnist Hugh McDiarmid, alternative newspaper publisher BerlSchwartz and several other plaintiffs.
They're unhappy the state Democratic and Republican parties will be allowedto keep track of voters' names and whether they took a Democratic or GOPballot in the primary. No public record of that information will be kept,however.
Grebner wants a judge to prevent Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land fromrefusing FOIA requests for the information. He also wants a judge to orderLand to determine the fair market value of the voter list and require thestate parties to pay that amount once an agreement is reached with themrestricting how the information is used.
"It's just frightening to suggest that the records of a public election arethe private property of the political parties for their profit," Grebnersaid Wednesday.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-immig25oct25,1,6179098.story?coll=la-news-politics-national
Senate rejects kids citizenship measure: Opponents call the Dream Act'amnesty' for immigrant children.
By Nicole Gaouette and Johanna Neuman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill offering the childrenof illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they serve in the military orcomplete two years of higher education. The defeat of the measure, which hadattracted bipartisan support, underscored the difficulty of enacting even anarrowly tailored proposal in the polarizing atmosphere surroundingimmigration reform.
The vote on the proposal was 52 to 44, short of the 60-vote margin needed toprevent a filibuster and begin debate. It was one small piece of acomprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate earlier thisyear, and it sparked a brief but heated debate.
Opponents called the bill a form of amnesty and argued that it would createincentives for illegal immigrants to cross the border with their children.But Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who supported the measure, said that"to turn on these children and treat them as criminals is an indication ofthe level of emotion and, in some cases, bigotry and hatred that is involvedin this debate."
His remarks were directed at Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who on Tuesdaysuggested that immigrants who had attended a meeting in Durbin's office wereillegal and should have been arrested.
Tancredo, a presidential candidate who has staked his campaign on toughimmigration enforcement, dismissed Durbin's understanding of the issue: "Idon't expect Dick Durbin to be able to tell the difference between legalresidents and illegal aliens."
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-mukasey25oct25,1,3919880.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Mukasey's take on torture
His evasive testimony hinders what was supposed to be a breezy confirmationprocess
October 25, 2007
Michael B. Mukasey, who once seemed headed to confirmation as attorneygeneral by acclamation, may now be facing a narrower and more contentiousvote. That's the price the retired federal judge from New York will have topay unless he reconsiders some evasive testimony about torture.
Mukasey remains infinitely preferable to Alberto R. Gonzales, thepresidential crony he would succeed. At hearings before the Senate JudiciaryCommittee last week, he promised to depoliticize the Justice Department andsaid he would resign rather than acquiesce in illegal behavior. In anadministration that too often has been blind to the requirements of the ruleof law, even a one-eyed attorney general would be an improvement.
Still, we were disappointed that Mukasey hedged when asked whether thesimulated drowning known as "water-boarding" violates domestic andinternational prohibitions on torture. Mukasey said that "it would beirresponsible of me to discuss particular techniques with which I am notfamiliar."
As the 10 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee noted in a letter to thenominee, water-boarding "has been the subject of much public discussion."What isn't clear is whether the CIA reserves the right to resort to thatappalling practice to elicit information, reliable or otherwise, fromsuspected terrorists.
Some members of Congress believe that water-boarding is off the table; theBush administration has been less explicit. It declines to describe what itcalls "enhanced" interrogation techniques -- Mukasey calls them "coercive" techniques -- encouraging speculation that water-boarding, like sleepdeprivation, extreme temperatures, shaking, slapping and placing prisonersin uncomfortable "stress" positions, will still be permitted.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/us/politics/25torture.html?ex=1193976000&en=8f549f4966a9d13f&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVERNEWS
Giuliani Questioned on Torture
By MICHAEL COOPER
October 25, 2007
DAVENPORT, Iowa, Oct. 24 - Rudolph W. Giuliani told a group of Iowans onWednesday night that he favors the "aggressive questioning" of terroristsbut that he does not know whether waterboarding, a simulated drowningtechnique, is torture.
Asked at a community meeting here whether he considered waterboardingtorture, Mr. Giuliani said: "It depends on how it's done. It depends on thecircumstances. It depends on who does it."
He went on to say that the way the practice had been described in newsreports - "particularly in the liberal media" - he did not believe it shouldbe allowed. But he expressed doubts about whether it had been describedaccurately.
"America should not allow torture," Mr. Giuliani said. "But America shouldengage in aggressive questioning of Islamic terrorists who are arrested orwho are apprehended."
"The line between the two is very delicate and very difficult," he said."But we can't abandon aggressive questioning of people who are intent oncoming here to kill us."
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USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-10-24-obama_N.htm?csp=34
Obama fights to overcome view he's inexperienced
By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY
BOSTON - Democrats Barack Obama and Deval Patrick share a friendship,similar résumés, a political consultant and the complicated expectationsthat come with being African-American politicians.
Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts, this week left behind his past as aformer Justice Department official under President Clinton and threw hissupport to Obama, who is battling for votes against Sen. Hillary RodhamClinton. Patrick promised to mobilize his political network to canvass forObama in next-door New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary.
The two friends sat down with USA TODAY late Tuesday for a joint interview,in which they talked about their belief in an inspirational and inclusiveapproach to politics and their conviction that a lengthy political résumé isunnecessary and even counterproductive.
Obama and Patrick have each faced charges of political inexperience and theassumption that their appeal will be primarily to black voters, the governorsaid. Both, however, won their current offices with broad-based support.
"People made a mistake . by supposing, presuming, that our appeal would bein certain discrete corners of people who looked like us and thought likeus," Patrick said. "The whole point was to reach across divides and invitepeople who had checked out to check back in. And they did."
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402712.html
Iran Becomes an Issue In Democratic Contest
Clinton Moves to Counter Rivals' Criticism
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A07
In the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Iran has becomethe new Iraq.
Iran is now the front line in a foreign policy debate that has found Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) defending a vote that her rivals said couldembolden President Bush to once again launch unilateral military actionagainst a Middle Eastern nation.
The discussion is almost identical to one that took place earlier in thecampaign over Clinton's 2002 vote for the resolution authorizing Bush to goto war in Iraq, except that, in this case, she finds herself on the oppositeside of all her leading rivals for the nomination.
The focus on Iran highlights the extent to which national security remainsthe key fault line in the Democratic race as Clinton's opponents seek toslow her momentum. With the administration now preparing to designate abranch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terroristorganization and to impose sanctions on Iran, the debate is only likely tointensify.
Clinton has moved aggressively to contain any possible damage. Over theweekend, her campaign flooded Iowa -- the most competitive state in theDemocratic contest -- with a mailer that included a lengthy letter from thecandidate explaining why she supported a Senate measure urging theadministration to label the IRGC a terrorist organization.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402424.html
110th Congress Eclipses Voting Pace
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A23
The 110th Congress under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been calledlots of things: Historic, do-nothing, ethical, overbearing and much more,based on one's political views. But now Pelosi can add one more moniker tothe list: record-setting.
On a bill dealing with reorganizing Hawaiian governments yesterday, theHouse conducted its 1,000th roll-call vote this year, something never beforeachieved in a single year in the history of recorded House votes.
Democratic leaders and aides, many of whom initially confessed to not evenbeing aware of the achievement, spun the matter as if it were akin to theDow Jones Industrial Average crossing the 10,000 barrier. They claimed the1,000th vote as a sign that the chamber is busy passing the agenda theyvowed to pass a year ago when they won the majority for the first time in adozen years.
"I'll do 1,000 roll-call votes if we raise the minimum wage; I'll do 1,000roll-call votes if it increases veterans' benefits. I'll do 2,000," saidRep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic caucus.
But Republicans, who were just as unaware of the record-breaking pace, sawit as the perfect symbol for a lack of achievement almost 10 months intoPelosi's reign. They said it's something more akin to Congress on votingsteroids, leading to popularity ratings that are in line with baseballslugger Barry Bonds.
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Forwarded from George Broadhead
EuroQueer
The latest Euro-Letter of the International Lesbian and Gay Association(ILGA) reports that in seven countries of the world the death penalty isapplied for consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex.
These countries are:
. Iran
. Mauritania
. Saudi-Arabia
. Sudan
. United Arab Emirates
. Yemen
. Nigeria (death penalty applies to 12 Northern provinces with Sharia law)
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the religion practised in allthese countries is Islam, yet when Humanists and Secularists point this (andother examples of Islamic homophobia) out, they are invariably castigatedfor being Islamophobia.
George Broadhead
=
[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
#####
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-senate-southwick,0,1513590.story
Controversial Judge Confirmed by Senate
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
4:37 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Judge Leslie Southwick to the federalappeals court in New Orleans after Republicans overpowered objections byDemocrats who said he wasn't sensitive enough to the region's history ofrace relations.
The 59-38 vote, a rare Republican victory in a Democratic-led Senate, wassealed after the nomination survived its main obstacle, a test tally momentsearlier in which a dozen Democrats sided with Republicans to thwart afilibuster. That left Democrats without the power to block Southwick'sconfirmation, even after a heated debate that raised the pain of civilrights struggles in the 5th Circuit, which serves Mississippi, Louisiana andTexas.
Southwick's record as a state appeals court judge in Mississippi drewopposition from traditionally left-leaning groups who warned Democrats thathis confirmation could mean consequences come Election Day.
"We regard this as a test," said District of Columbia Delegate EleanorHolmes Norton, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"This vote for Leslie Southwick is a vote against the dignity and safety ofour families," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-scotus-spurned-spouse,0,3306027.story
Court Urged to Enter Spurned Spouse Case
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer
12:58 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON
A plumber and a millionaire squared off in Mississippi over a woman. Thewoman chose the rich guy. The plumber sued the millionaire and won more than$750,000.
Now Jerry Fitch Sr., a businessman from Holly Springs, Miss., wants theSupreme Court to step in and limit what a spurned spouse can collect througha lawsuit that claims "alienation of affection."
Fitch said he shouldn't have to pay $112,000 in punitive damages, citing anearlier high court decision overturning state criminal laws against gay sexto bolster his case. He is not contesting the rest of the judgment.
The Mississippi Supreme Court called the matter a classic case of "hesaid/she said/the paramour said."
Mississippi is one of only seven states that still allows lawsuits by peoplewho claim someone stole their wife or husband. The others are Hawaii,Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407A.shtml
War Supplemental Makes Room for Iran
By Maya Schenwar
Wednesday 24 October 2007
The Bush administration's $196.4 billion war supplemental spendingrequest, released Monday, has Democrats reeling. Senate AppropriationsCommittee Chairman Robert Byrd called the supplemental "short-sighted atbest," while House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey remarked in astatement, "It's amazing to me that the president expects to be takenseriously." Yet beyond the request's mind-boggling size, its open-ended aimspoint to the potentially vast scope of the "war on terror" for years tocome - including an undiminished presence in Iraq and the possibility ofaction against Iran.
In the newly revised supplemental, more money than ever has beenappropriated for procurement - the production of new materials, which maytake three years to actually reach the battlefield, according to Departmentof Defense estimates in 2006. Moreover, that battlefield may change. The2008 supplemental's title, the Global War on Terror Request, isappropriately broad, as the majority of the request's appropriations do notrefer exclusively to Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, according to a reportthis morning in Congressional Quarterly Today, the Bush administration'srequest for a "Massive Ordnance Penetrator for the B-2 aircraft in responseto an Urgent Operational Need from theater commanders" could be gearedtoward bombing underground targets in Iran.
Policy experts say that, as it stands, the supplemental contains noprovisions that would prevent its funds from being used to strike Iran.
"With money allocated generally for the global war on terror and thedefense department, if the military is ordered to bomb Iran, theadministration could use those funds to pay for it," said Anita Dancs,research director of the National Priorities Project, in an interview. Ifthe supplemental passes in its current form, even funds originally allottedto Iraq- or Afghanistan-specific activities might be funneled elsewhere.Dancs noted the Department of Defense has been granted such leeway in thepast; earlier in the Iraq War, monies originally designated forreconstruction were transferred to military operations.
The supplemental request comes at a time when the Bush administrationand its allies have Iran on high alert. Two months ago, a McClatchyNewspapers report indicated Vice President Dick Cheney was urging airstrikeson Iran; and in late August, President George W. Bush said in an address, "Ihave authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran'smurderous activities."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407C.shtml
Senate Reverses Bush's Budget Cuts
By Andrew Taylor
The Associated Press
Tuesday 23 October 2007
Washington - Senate Democrats on Tuesday reversed President Bush's cutsto education, health research and grants to local communities as they girdfor Bush's first-ever veto of a regular appropriations bill.
By a 75-19 vote, the Senate gave bipartisan approval to a huge healthand education spending bill that will likely be the first of the fiscal 2008spending bills Democrats will ship to the White House to start a veto battleinvolving the budget for almost every domestic agency.
It promises to be a protracted battle, and Bush has a decided advantage,but Democrats have seized on the massive health and education measure as thebest measure with which to challenge Bush and his GOP allies in Congress.The measure totals over $600 billion and reverses a raft of cuts sought byBush to health research, special education and funding for grants tocommunity groups that help the poor, among others.
The confrontation with Bush over domestic programs - many of which arealso popular with Republicans, as demonstrated by the margin of passage -will come on the heels of the bruising veto battle over a children's healthinsurance bill. Programs funded by the health and education bill affectschoolchildren, workers, the poor and disabled, the unemployed and thosewith special needs or drug and alcohol problems, among others.
"In passing this bill, Democrats in Congress will say that the presidentdoesn't care about children or education or health research," said WhiteHouse press secretary Dana Perino. "We've all heard these tired old linesbefore. The facts demonstrate the president's strong and consistentcommitment to children, education and health research - and the Americanpeople are smart enough to know that there is no such thing as a freelunch."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407F.shtml
Will the GOP Election Theft Machine Do It Again in 2008?
By Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
The Free Press
Friday 19 October 2007
With record low approval ratings for the Bush/Cheney regime and thealbatross of an unpopular war hanging from the GOP's neck, do you think thata Democratic presidential candidate will win the White House, get us out ofIraq, and end our long national nightmare?
Think again - the mighty election theft machine Karl Rove used to stealthe US presidency in 2000 and 2004 may be under attack, but it is still inplace for the upcoming 2008 election.
With his usual devious mastery, Rove has seized upon the nationaloutrage sparked by his electoral larceny and used it as smokescreen while hemakes the American electoral system even MORE unfair, and even EASIER torig. Thus the administration has fired federal attorneys when they would notparticipate in a nationwide campaign to deny minorities and the poor theiraccess to the polls. It has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to installelectronic voting machines that can be "flipped" with a few keystrokes. Andunder the guise of "reforming" our busted electoral system, it is setting usup for another presidential theft in 2008.
Thus it should come as no surprise that our exclusive investigationsinto the firings of eight federal prosecutors who refused to execute Rove'splans for massive disenfranchisement of Democratic voters reveal a patternof illegalities and fraud aimed at reducing the number of minority, poor andyoung voters at the core of Democratic support. In the wake of major newsbreaks, two felony convictions have come from the rigging of the illegalOhio 2004 vote count and recount that gave George W. Bush a secondillegitimate term. Stunning new admissions from county election boards thatillegally destroyed voter records will almost certainly lead to newconvictions. And the multi-million-dollar electronic voting machine scamthat made possible the biggest electoral frauds in US history is undermassive new attack, with key states moving to scrap the machines altogetherin a desperate attempt to restore American democracy - but with the job farfrom done.
Rove, Ney and the Undead
Indeed, the Rovian theft engine is far from dead. The media groundworkhas already been laid out for the Republicans to claim that hordes ofillegal aliens have registered to vote. The Bush administration has beencaught ordering public agencies - possibly in violation of the law - tocease registering voters. In an April 2006 speech to the Republican NationalLawyers Association, Rove openly alluded to the strategy of demanding photoID and purging voter roles of poor, minority voters just as had been done in2000 and 2004. And, as always with Bush/Rove, there is much more beneath thesurface.
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/25/health
Making Higher-Risk Health Plans Palatable
Oct. 25
With health care costs rising, colleges are seeking creative strategies toencourage employees to consider switching to plans that feature lowermonthly premiums and higher employee-paid deductibles.
"It changes behaviors," says Susan A. Carkeek, vice president and chiefhuman resources officer at the University of Virginia, which just boostedbenefits and lowered employee contributions for what it calls the "lowpremium" option.
"People incur lower health expenses who are on the low plan than on the highplan," says Carkeek - who adds that while one likely explanation could bethat younger, healthier employees tend to choose the lower-premium option, ahigh-deductible plan also encourages employees to "be more mindful" inmaking choices about health care.
The costs of services aside, it's generally in the employers' interest todrive down the cost of premiums - which they tend to cover the brunt of -and transfer a greater proportion of costs to the employee in the form ofdeductibles (although, in Virginia's case, the university's contributiontoward the premium doesn't vary based on whether employees opt for the lowor high option).
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Huckabees-Move.html
Iowa Gives Huckabee a Second Look
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 25, 2007
Filed at 3:39 a.m. ET
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Mike Huckabee, who strums a bass guitar and cracksjokes at campaign stops, is quietly establishing himself with Iowa voters asa serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
''I think he's the sleeper candidate this year,'' said Steve Roberts, a DesMoines lawyer who sits on the Republican National Committee. ''He makes avery positive impression in his public appearances and in the debates.''
Huckabee's success thus far in this early voting state has raised thequestion: Can he overcome his rivals' advantages? He doesn't have the moneyof Mitt Romney, the celebrity of Rudy Giuliani or the personal history ofJohn McCain.
But the former Arkansas governor has a message that resonates with manyIowans. He is an ordained Baptist minister whose opposition to abortion andgay rights appeals to social and religious conservatives, and he has apersonal story of losing more than 100 pounds that has helped form his standon health care.
Huckabee often delivers his conservative message while poking fun at himselfand others -- at times while performing with his rock band, Capitol Offense.
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Sun -Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-fljjpsbook1023jjbnoct25,0,2735587.story
Author spends a year 'Living Biblically'
October 25, 2007
The Year of Living Biblically. By A. J. Jacobs. New York: Simon andSchuster, 2008. 389 Pages. $25.
Deftly combining levity and gravity, A. J. Jacobs, an Esquire editor, haswritten an instructive account of his attempt to spend a year following thebehavioral prescriptions set forth in the Bible. This project followed the2004 publication of "The Know-It-All," in which Jacobs described the year hedevoted to trying to become "the smartest person in the world" by readingall 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Seeking a follow-up to thatbest-selling venture, Jacobs came up with the idea of exploring the Bibleand living for a year in accordance with its precepts.
To begin his project, Jacobs spent a month reading the Bible and recording"every rule, every guideline, every suggestion, every nugget of advice." Hewound up with 72 pages and more than 700 rules. He then decided to spendeight months, following the "Old Testament" and four months on the "NewTestament." He explains this division by describing himself as "officiallyJewish" and, in any event, most of the rules are in the "Old Testament."Finally, Jacobs assembled "a board of spiritual advisers: rabbis, ministers,and priests" and he decided to visit some of the groups that take the Bibleliterally.
Perhaps the greatest effect of Jacobs's effort to follow all the rules inthe Bible was on his wife, Julie, and their two-year old son, Jaspar. Thelong beard, the white garb, the ten-string harp, and the shepherd's staffall mark Julie's husband and Jaspar's father as an eccentric. Fortunatelyfor them, Manhattan, where they live, is used to strange sights andidiosyncrasies. However, human relationships generally create problems asJacobs insists on telling the truth and using pebbles to "stone anadulterer."
Some of the biblical rules defy explanation. For example, the Bible bansclothing of mixed fibers. Jacobs finds Mr. Berkowitz who makes home visitsto test whether or not one's clothes are made of mixed fibers. He tellsJacobs that some Biblical rules, such as this one, need to be obeyed simplyas a manifestation of faith. Jacobs concludes, "I have to adjust my brain tothis."
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Bible Belt Blogger
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/blogs/bible-blog/2007/oct/24/claim-romn/
Claim: Romney's money isn't pro-family
Posted October 24, 2007
Bible Belt Blogger: Claim: Romney's money isn't pro-familyFrank Lockwood
The candidate's financial disclosure form shows ties to gambling, alcoholand tobacco companies, critics say.
Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, is listed. So is Coca-Cola,Boyd Gaming, Harrah's, MGM Mirage and a slew of others.
"CHARLOTTE WORLD
Romney's money not where his mouth is
Charlotte, North Carolina
October 24, 2007
By Warren Cole Smith
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had trouble explaining hispast views on abortion, pornography, and homosexuality to religiousconservatives. While he was governor of Massachusetts, a number ofgay-friendly laws were enacted. And his close ties to the MarriottCorporation - as a shareholder and board member - have brought criticismfrom Phil Burress with Citizens for Community Values. Burress said, "Thefact that Marriott hotel chain was dealing in the worst kind of hard corepornographic material and Mr. Romney was sitting on the board at the time isextremely disturbing."
Rusty Leonard, president of Stewardship Partners, says Romney might have yetmore explaining to do. According to Leonard's analysis of Romney's financialdisclosure statement, the Republican - who is aggressively courting"religious right" voters - owns stock in at least a dozen companies withactive ties to abortion, pornography, and (alcohol sales).
"Romney's financial holdings are much worse than the other presidentialcandidates," Leonard said. "That's partly because he is far richer than theother candidates and has more holdings, but it's also because he apparentlyuses no screening process whatsoever."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/washington/25tehran.html?hp
New Steps by U.S. Against Iranians
By HELENE COOPER
October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - The Bush administration will announce a long-debatedpolicy of new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, accusing the elite Qudsdivision of the Revolutionary Guard Corps of supporting terrorism,administration officials said Wednesday night.
The administration also plans to accuse the entire Revolutionary Guard Corpsof proliferating weapons of mass destruction, the officials said. While theUnited States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, thedecision to single out the Guard reflects increased frustration in theadministration with the slow pace of diplomatic negotiations over Tehran'snuclear program.
Both designations will put into play unilateral sanctions intended to impedethe Revolutionary Guard and those who do business with it. This is the firsttime that the United States has taken such steps against the armed forces ofany sovereign government.
The action against the Revolutionary Guard, first reported by The WashingtonPost, would set in motion a series of automatic sanctions that would make iteasier for the United States to block financial accounts and other assetscontrolled by the Guard. In particular, the action would freeze any assetsthe Guard has in the United States, although it is unlikely that the Guardmaintains much in the way of assets in American banks or other institutions.
The decision will be announced jointly on Thursday by Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the administrationofficials said. "This is going to be a broad and wide-ranging effort," asenior administration official said. "We will be freezing assets, and therewill be ripple effects of where we can go from there."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/world/middleeast/25blackwater.html?hp
Under Siege, Blackwater Takes On Air of Bunker
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER and JAMES GLANZ
October 25, 2007
BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 - The Blackwater USA compound here is a fortress within afortress. Surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall of concrete topped by achain-link fence and razor wire, the compound sits deep inside the heavilydefended Green Zone, its two points of entry guarded by Colombian Armyveterans carrying shotguns and automatic rifles.
In the mazelike interior, Blackwater employees live in trailers stacked oneon top of the other in surroundings that one employee likens to a"minimum-security prison."
Since Sept. 16, when Blackwater guards opened fire in a crowded Baghdadsquare, the compound has begun to feel more like a prison, too. On that day,employees of Blackwater, a private security firm hired to protect Americandiplomats, responded to what they called a threat and killed as many as 17people and wounded 24.
Richard J. Griffin, the State Department official who oversaw Blackwater USAand other private security contractors in Iraq, resigned Wednesday.
For weeks, not a word has emerged publicly from the compound, as the F.B.I.,the American military and the Iraqi government investigate the Sept. 16 andearlier Blackwater shootings in Iraq.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/business/25autos4.html?hp
Workers at 4 Michigan Plants Back Chrysler Pact
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
October 25, 2007
DETROIT, Oct. 24 - The tentative agreement between Chrysler and the UnitedAutomobile Workers union appears headed for approval, after four big unionlocals in the Detroit area voted strongly in favor of the contract tonight.
The likely approval of the Chrysler contract is a victory for union leaders,who put on a last-minute lobbying push after the agreement appeared to be injeopardy last weekend.
The four Detroit area factories - two assembly and two stamping plants inWarren and Sterling Heights, Mich. - each approved the contract tonight bywide margins. Together, the plants have more than 9,000 workers.
The Sterling Heights assembly plant voted in favor of the agreement eventhough the local union president, Bill Parker, who headed the U.A.W.bargaining team at Chrysler, opposed the contract. Mr. Parker declinedcomment tonight.
The latest votes mean the contract is passing by 56 percent, with about4,000 more votes in favor than those opposed, according to a person withdirect access to vote totals. That yes vote, though enough to pass, is farsmaller than U.A.W. contracts normally would receive.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur1.html?ref=opinion
Another $200 Billion
Editorial
October 25, 2007
President Bush waited until he had vetoed a relatively inexpensive children's health insurance bill before asking for tens of billions of dollars more forhis misadventure in Iraq. The cynicism of that maneuver is only slightlyless shameful than the president's distorted priorities. Despite a pretenseof fiscal prudence, Mr. Bush keeps throwing money at his war, regardless ofthe cost in blood, treasure or children's health care.
Mr. Bush is threatening to veto most of the 12 domestic spending bills nowbefore Congress because Democrats want to provide $22 billion more than the$933 billion he has requested. His argument? Something about the president'sresponsibility to rein in lawmakers' "temptation to overspend."
This from a leader who turns federal surpluses into deficits, believes thatthe Iraq and Afghanistan wars can be financed on a separate set of bookswith borrowed money, and keeps having to go back to Congress for "emergencyfunding" because he cannot or will not tell the truth about what it iscosting to fight these wars.
Mr. Bush's latest emergency request is for $46 billion. That would bring the2008 price tag for Iraq and Afghanistan to $196.4 billion. Starting at Sept.11, 2001, war-fighting expenses total a staggering $800 billion or more. Thenonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says that by theend of the year spending on Iraq will probably surpass that on the VietnamWar.
Mr. Bush has said most of the new money would go for "day-to-day" militaryoperations and "basic needs" like bullets, body armor and mine-resistantambush-protected vehicles, which are designed to withstand bomb attacks, arising threat to American forces in Iraq. The troops need safer vehicles andbetter armor, but it is beyond our ken why Mr. Bush could not cover this inhis original budget submission, unless he wanted to confuse the public andlimit Congressional oversight.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25collins.html?ref=opinion
Who Doesn't ? Huckabee?
Op-Ed Columnist
By GAIL COLLINS
October 25, 2007
Chuck Norris has spoken.
I know many of you were waiting to hear who the star of "Walker, TexasRanger" has decided to endorse in the presidential race. Well, the winner is... Mike Huckabee.
"It's time to quit choosing our leaders based solely upon charisma or onestrong suite," said Norris, in a statement that was rich in historicalreferences, if a little weak on copy editing.
Norris has a side career as a columnist for a conservative news Web site, soperhaps his opinion carries more weight than your average action star whohas not yet been elected to public office. (It would help, though, if the"Current Events" section of the Chuck Norris home page was not devoted tothe schedule for the World Combat League.) But the question we want toconsider today is why he is virtually the only prominent name backingHuckabee, who is this season's likable presidential candidate. This is thevenerable, if not particularly rewarding role once held by Morris Udall andJohn McCain2000, and it involves having reporters appreciate you much morethan the politicians and donors do.
Like Bill Clinton, Huckabee was born in a town called Hope and became apretty good governor of a state that doesn't make it all that easy. (Plus,you have to love the fact that he lived for a while in a mobile home on theArkansas Statehouse grounds.) He's extremely inclusive, defending minoritieswho are illegal immigrants as well as the ones registered to vote. He can beboth funny and convincing on the stump.
On the downside, I think he'd be a terrible president. He doesn't know beansabout foreign affairs, he wants to replace the income tax with a nationalsales tax, and his positions on social issues are far to the right of thegeneral populace. But why aren't the social conservatives rallying aroundthis guy? Unlike any of the major candidates, he's still on his first wifeand first position on abortion. Once we start getting into the inevitablepersonal stories of redemption, Americans would have a much better timelistening to Huckabee tell how he lost 110 pounds than sitting through Rudy's 9/11 story again or looking at pictures of Mitt's 10 grandchildren.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25cohen.html?ref=opinion
Time for the Bundesmacht
By ROGER COHEN
KABUL, Afghanistan
October 25, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Remember the Wehrmacht? It was a formidable fighting force. The modernGerman army, the Bundeswehr, is also very effective. Thing is, it isreluctant to fight or even place itself in danger.
Given history, that may seem just fine. The United States helped frame theinstitutions of today's Germany precisely to guarantee peace over war. Butin Afghanistan, where 3,200 Germans serve in a hard-pressed NATO force, atouch of "Bundesmacht" would be welcome.
Afghanistan is a divided country. The south and east are dangerous becauseTaliban forces are resurgent there; NATO casualties have been significant.The north and west are quieter; peacekeeping prevails. Tensions have grownbetween front-line alliance states fighting a war and those that are not.
The former group, battling the Taliban in Helmand Province and elsewhere,includes the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. The latteris dominated by Germany, Spain and Italy. The split gives a rough guide toparts of the world that still see military force as inextricable frominternational security and others that are now functionally pacifist.
"In Afghanistan, NATO solidarity collapses at the point of danger," saidJulian Lindley-French, a military expert at the Netherlands Defense Academy."There's no point planning robust operations worldwide if the burden is notshared. A lot of the German troops are little more than heavily armedtraffic cops."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur3.html?ref=opinion
Rational Sentencing
Editorial
October 25, 2007
New York sparked a disastrous national trend during the 1970s with laws thatoften penalized first-time drug felons more severely than rapists ormurderers. Imitated throughout the country, New York's so-called Rockefellerlaws drove up the prison population tenfold and cost the states a fortune,but did nothing to curb the drug trade. Worse still, they tied the hands ofjudges - and destroyed countless young lives - by requiring long prisonterms in cases where leniency and drug treatment were clearly warranted.
New York has made incremental changes to the Rockefeller laws in recentyears, but has stopped short of restoring judicial discretion. Gov. EliotSpitzer seemed to be pushing in that direction this year when he appointed acommission to study the range of state sentencing practices.
The commission's preliminary report contains many valuable recommendationsfor fixing the sentencing system as a whole. But the superficial treatmentgiven the Rockefeller laws has raised fears among fair- sentencing advocatesthat the commission intends to duck the issue in its final report, due nextspring. That cannot be allowed to happen. Voters deserve a thorough airingof this issue and a full menu of options for reforming the most draconiandrug laws the country has yet seen.
The report rightly calls for ending New York's byzantine system of"indeterminate sentencing," under which a judge imposes a minimum and amaximum sentence and the Parole Board decides when to release an offender.It calls for sentencing certain nonviolent offenders to community-basedtreatment instead of prison. It also recommends restoring prison-basededucational and training programs, which have been shown to cut recidivismby giving inmates marketable skills.
Most important, the report calls for the state to establish a permanent,independent sentencing commission to advise legislators. Already working inseveral states, such commissions have independence and statutory authority.At their best, they help legislatures make rational decisions and avoiddisastrous policies that have failed elsewhere, like New York.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur4.html?ref=opinion
The Rural Life: Two Pigs
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
October 25, 2007
Very soon, a farmer and his son will come to the farm to kill our two pigs.If that sentence bothers you, you should probably stop reading now - and youshould probably also stop eating pork. The pigs weigh nearly 300 poundsapiece, and killing them is the reality of eating meat. I talk to the pigswhenever I'm in their pen, and ever since June I've been slowly taming them,getting them used to being scratched. There are two reasons. I truly lovebeing with the pigs. And taming them means it will be that much easier forthe farmer and his son to kill them swiftly, immediately. If I had no moreforeknowledge of my death than these two pigs will have of theirs, I'dconsider myself very lucky.
The questions people ask make it sound as though I should be morallyoutraged at myself, as if it's impossible to scratch the pigs behind theears and still intend to kill them. If I belonged to a more coherent,traditional rural community - one that comes together for pig-butchering inthe fall - I would get to celebrate the ritual in it all, the suddenabundance a well-fed pig represents. It's hard to act that out when the castis a gruff farmer and son, and my wife and me, who have been silenced by thesolemnity of what we're watching.
Because we do watch. That's part of the job. It's how we come to understandwhat the meat itself means. And to me, the word "meat" is at the root of thecontradictory feelings the pig-killing raises. You can add all the extravalue you want - raising heritage breed pigs on pasture with organic grain,all of which we do - and yet somehow the fact that we are doing this formeat, some of which we keep, most of which we trade or sell, makes the wholething sound like a bad bargain. And yet compared with the bargain mostAmericans make when they buy pork in the supermarket, this is beauty itself.
Knowing that you're doing something for the last time is a uniquely humanfear. I thought that would be the hardest thing about having pigs. In fact,it's not so hard, though it does remind me that humans have trouble thinkingcarefully about who knows what. One day soon I'll step into the pen and givethe pigs a thorough scratching, behind the ears, between the eyes, down thespine. Their tails will straighten with pleasure. It will be the last time.I will know it, and they simply won't.
VERLYN KLINKENBORG
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/world/europe/25russia.html
Russia Working to Limit Election Observers
By C. J. CHIVERS
October 25, 2007
MOSCOW, Oct. 24 - Russia has opened a diplomatic campaign to curtail theactivities of election observers in the states of the former Soviet Union,proposing to cut the size of the missions sharply and to prohibit thepublication of their reports immediately after an election.
The proposals, circulated confidentially last month by Russia at theheadquarters in Vienna of the Organization for Security and Cooperation inEurope, would also forbid observers to make any public statements about agovernment's electoral conduct in the days after citizens voted.
Taken together, the proposals would severely undermine the activities of theorganization's election-monitoring arm before two important elections inRussia: the parliamentary election planned for Dec. 2 and presidentialelections next spring.
They are also the latest Kremlin effort to renegotiate standards forgoverning and international cooperation that it accepted after the SovietUnion's collapse, and seem certain to lead to another impasse with the West.
The monitoring arm, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,or O.D.I.H.R., sends long-term and short-term observation teams, oftennumbering in the hundreds of people, to elections throughout the states ofthe former Soviet Union.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402345.html
A New Front in the Abortion Wars
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25
National antiabortion leaders put the finishing touches yesterday on aletter to be sent to all members of Congress, urging suspension of more than$300 million in federal funding of Planned Parenthood until a massivecriminal case brought in Kansas against the abortion rights organization issettled. That launches an attack against the nation's largest purveyor of"reproductive health care" -- including abortions.
On Oct. 17, Johnson County District Judge James F. Vano in suburban KansasCity spent eight hours reviewing a 107-count grand jury indictment againstPlanned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. He decided there was"probable cause" to proceed. Allegations of unlawful late-term abortions andother abortion-connected crimes were brought by Johnson County DistrictAttorney Phill Kline, a pro-life hero nationally who is viewed as a fanaticby advocates of abortion rights. The prosecution alleges violation of stateand federal laws and falsification of documents to justify those acts.
This opens a new front in the endless abortion wars. No change in the statusquo had seemed possible for pro-lifers. The 5 to 4 Supreme Court advantagefor abortion is frozen, and a Democratic-controlled Congress will not passnew antiabortion legislation, much less a constitutional amendment. Theoffensive against abortion now takes dead aim at Planned Parenthood andattempts to expand a Kansas criminal prosecution into a nationwide assault.
"Bloody Kansas" was the battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forcesnearly 150 years ago, and today it is a center of abortion conflict. Thoughpolls show that 60 percent of Kansas voters are pro-life, antiabortionactivists call the state "the abortion capital of the world" -- mainlybecause of George Tiller. At his Wichita clinic, Tiller is one of the fewdoctors still performing late-term abortions in this country.
The struggle has ripped asunder Kansas's dominant Republican Party, withKline at the heart of it. He won passage of antiabortion legislation duringeight years in the state House of Representatives, before his narrow 2002election as state attorney general. Kline's vigorous prosecution of allegedabortion offenses made him the principal national target of the abortionindustry.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402336.html
Trying Times for the Obama Faithful
By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25
CHICAGO -- These are difficult days for supporters of Barack Obama. Thiscity is filled with people who have voted for, worked for, contributed toand, in many cases, prayed for the success of the young senator fromIllinois. The struggle he has had in trying to overtake Hillary Clinton forthe Democratic presidential nomination is wearing on their morale.
Last weekend, I heard them tell each other that while the race startedmonths ago, it is still the early going; that the crucial days in Iowa andNew Hampshire are still ahead; and that there is time for Obama to closewith a rush, as he did when he came from behind to capture the nominationfor his Senate seat in 2004.
But the steady drumbeat of polls showing Clinton with more support than allthe other Democrats combined -- and twice as much as Obama -- is taking atoll. In their private moments, they wonder whether even Obama, gifted as heis, can pull off this feat.
Such doubts can afflict any trailing candidate's campaign, but they areparticularly pronounced -- and poignant -- in this case. Obama burst ontothe national stage with such high expectations, fueled by his remarkablespeech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, that nothing,including the presidency, seemed beyond his reach.
The elevated stature he enjoyed nationally was nothing compared with thenear reverence he commands among his friends here. Those who have workedclosely with him through the past decade, in politics, community affairs orthe antiwar movement, exhaust the list of superlatives in speaking about himand his wife, Michelle.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402061.html
How Not to Promote Democracy in Cuba
By Vicki Huddleston
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 12:00 AM
President Bush yesterday made a case for bringing democracy to Cuba. Yet bytelling the Cuban people not to expect help from the U.S. until they havemade Cuba free, and by refusing to make any substantive change to U.S.policy, he is actually forestalling democratization.
In his speech at the State Department, Bush offered several carrots to theCuban people: computers and Internet access; scholarships through thePartnership for Latin American Youth; and, most significant, access togrants, loans and debt relief provided by a multibillion-dollar "FreedomFund for Cuba." But he conditioned all these on evidence of reform. He wantsto see "opposition parties have the freedom to organize, assemble and speakwith equal access to the airwaves," "a free and independent press [that] hasthe power to operate without censors," and removal of the government"stranglehold on private economic activity."
Those are admirable goals. But evidence from democratic transitions aroundthe world shows that dictators fall only when the people they oppress areempowered with the help of governments, non-governmental organizations andindividuals from outside their country. For instance, of the former Sovietcountries, the ones that became democratic and joined the European Union hadthe most contact with their neighbors in Western Europe. It's unrealistic toexpect Cubans to magically transform their authoritarian government into ademocracy on their own. We won't see a viable political opposition orvibrant free press until we help build up Cuban civil society.
We also won't see meaningful movement toward democracy without changes tothe U.S.'s rigid travel restrictions. These prevent the person-to-personcontact and exchange of ideas that could build support for democracy andcompetition within Cuba.
At the same time, the U.S. provides a safety valve that allows the mostdisillusioned Cubans and their families to escape rather than press forchange at home. Bush was joined by many Cuban-born,could-have-been-reformers at the State Department yesterday, includingCommerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and former Sen. Mel Martinez, Rep.Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402757.html?hpid=topnews
White House Feels Waxman's Oversight Gaze
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A01
For months, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee,has been threatening, subpoenaing and just plain badgering Secretary ofState Condoleezza Rice to come before his panel to answer questions aboutthe run-up to the Iraq war, corruption and State Department contracting.
Today, Rice will finally appear. But Waxman (D-Calif.) has not spent theweek on a victory lap. He has found time to produce evidence accusing StateDepartment security contractor Blackwater Worldwide of tax evasion, to fireoff a letter to Rice demanding information about alleged mismanagement of a$1 billion contract to train Iraqi police, and to hold a hearing on uraniumpoisoning on Navajo land.
Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat inthe majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. Butin Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran --with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waitingfor this for 14 years.
These days, the 16-term congressman is always ready with a hearing, a freshcrop of internal administration e-mails or a new explosive report. And hehas more than two dozen investigations underway, on such issues as thepoliticization of the entire federal government, formaldehyde in FederalEmergency Management Agency trailers, global warming, and safety concernsabout the diabetes drug Avandia.
"We have to let people know they have someone watching them after six yearswith no oversight at all," said Waxman, 68. "And we've got a lot oflow-hanging fruit to pick."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402408.html?hpid=topnews
House Democrats Set For Vote on New Version Of Children's Health Bill
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A03
Just one week after failing to override President Bush's veto, HouseDemocrats will put a new version of their $35 billion expansion of the StateChildren's Health Insurance Program to a vote today, hoping that minorchanges will win enough Republicans to beat Bush this round.
The new version will underscore that illegal immigrants will not have accessto the expanded program. It will ease adults off the program in one year,rather than the two in the vetoed version. And it establishes a firmereligibility cap at 300 percent of the federal poverty line, just more than$60,000 for a family of four.
The move took Republican leaders by surprise. Bush administration officialsyesterday voiced conciliation, suggesting the president could acceptlegislation that would expand the program by about $20 billion over fiveyears, far bigger than the $5 billion expansion that Bush initiallyproposed. At the same time, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitthas been meeting with House and Senate Republicans, urging them to hold theline against an even larger bill. And Bush continues to oppose the tobaccotax increase that Democrats want to fund the measure.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) has been meeting all week withsome of the 45 House Republicans who voted for the first bill, looking forways to win the dozen or so votes that supporters needed to override anotherveto. But Democratic leaders have yet to reach out to the Republicans whovoted against the measure.
"When they need my vote, they don't even have the courage to ask me for it,"complained Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.), who has suffered through a barrage ofadvertisements from Democratic allies accusing him of forsaking children.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102500383.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Nobel Laureate Talks With Myanmar Aide
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 10:00 AM
YANGON, Myanma -- (AP) _ Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi _ under housearrest for 12 of the last 18 years _ met for about an hour with a Myanmargovernment official Thursday, state-run television reported.
The Nobel peace laureate was driven from her home to a nearby governmentguest house, where she held talks with newly appointed "minister forrelations" Aung Kyi, state-run television reported.
A retired major general, Aung Kyi was appointed to the post on Oct. 8 tohold talks with Suu Kyi.
It is not clear if this is Suu Kyi's first meeting with Aung Kyi.
His exact duties have not been detailed, but it appeared Aung Kyi wouldcoordinate all of Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the UnitedNations, which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracyadvocates and the junta.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402568.html?hpid=sec-tech
Self-Appointed Traffic Cop
By Rob Pegoraro
Thursday, October 25, 2007; D01
Is the company you pay to bring you the Internet blocking parts of itinstead?
That's been a fear of some Internet users for a long time. Now many Comcastcustomers are anxious after reading the Associated Press report last weekthat the cable-modem service interferes with the BitTorrent file-sharingprogram.
The news has put the Philadelphia-based corporation in an awkward spot andbrought the network neutrality debate back to life, just when it seemed thatthe issue was dead in Washington.
"Network neutrality" describes what most Internet service providers say theyalready do: treat all non-malicious Internet traffic equally.
But some of the largest telecom companies, such as AT&T, have said they'dlike to charge some Internet sites more for faster delivery of theircontent. They propose the Internet equivalent of building toll lanesalongside a busy freeway, then inviting some drivers to pay more for thatfaster access.
Regulators responded by requiring a few newly-merged telecoms, such as AT&T,to follow network-neutrality rules. Public pressure has kept other companiesfrom changing the terms of their broadband services. Most mobile-phonecarriers forbid receiving streaming audio or video feeds not provided by thecompanies.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402759.html?hpid=sec-education
Lifting the Veil From A Deadly Disease
Laura Bush Speaks With Saudi Women About Breast Cancer
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A13
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24 -- When gynecologist Samia al-Amoudi was foundlast year to have breast cancer, a disease that still carries an intensestigma in this conservative country where women are forced to cover inpublic, she decided to share the details in her newspaper column, shockingmany Saudis.
But the 50-year-old single mother insisted on telling her story in more than30 television, magazine and newspaper interviews, trying to force aspotlight, she said, on a disease believed to be the leading cause of deathamong Middle Eastern women.
This week's visit to Saudi Arabia by first lady Laura Bush, who is on aregional tour to raise awareness about breast cancer, is a windfall toAmoudi's battle to bring the issue to the public, she said.
"The fact that there is a lot of media coverage of your visit, and peopleknow you are here only for the purpose of spreading breast cancer awareness,that gives it importance and will really help our campaign," Amoudi toldBush at a "Break the Silence" coffee meeting Wednesday with other breastcancer survivors.
Bush is visiting the Persian Gulf region as part of the U.S.-Middle EastPartnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research, launched in 2006 withJordan and the United Arab Emirates, and this week in Saudi Arabia. Shedescribed the initiative at its launch last year as "the very best kind ofpublic diplomacy."
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-broder19octnboct24,0,137157.story
Despite SCHIP veto, progress is possible
October 24, 2007
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.
For most of the American public, Secretary of Health and Human ServicesMichael Leavitt is best defined by his role defending Pres. George Bush'scontroversial veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Leavitt, along with the president, has argued that the bipartisan bill istoo ambitious and too expensive, encroaching on the private insurancemarket. For his pains, he has been characterized as an ogre, standing in theway of better treatment for millions of youngsters in cash-strappedfamilies.
That is not the man I got to know and admire in his years as governor ofUtah and a leader in the National Governors Association. And it is not theman I heard address a conference of health care insurers and providers herelast week.
Leavitt, who on this occasion said not a word about the SCHIP veto overrideattempt then looming before Congress, instead described what he and hiscolleagues are doing to prepare for the coming revolution in health care inthis country. It is a story that, while less publicized than the SCHIPfight, holds promise of a better day not just for children, but for allAmericans.
What I learned about Leavitt in his years as governor is that he is blessedwith vision that sees future policy challenges and developments more clearlythan most politicians. In this case, he is visualizing a radically differentkind of medical marketplace, where families armed with specific informationabout the treatment success and prices of hospitals and doctors can shop atwill for the best quality and most affordable care.
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The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/10/24/lawsuit_filed_challenging_michigan_presidential_primary/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+New+Hampshire+news
Lawsuit filed challenging Michigan presidential primary
By Kathy Barks Hoffman, AP Political Writer | October 24, 2007
LANSING, Mich. --A lawsuit was filed Wednesdasy asking a judge to keepMichigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary from going forward until issues areresolved over who will have access to voting records.
Mark Grebner, head of an East Lansing political consulting company thatsells voter lists, filed the lawsuit along with former Detroit Free Presspolitical columnist Hugh McDiarmid, alternative newspaper publisher BerlSchwartz and several other plaintiffs.
They're unhappy the state Democratic and Republican parties will be allowedto keep track of voters' names and whether they took a Democratic or GOPballot in the primary. No public record of that information will be kept,however.
Grebner wants a judge to prevent Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land fromrefusing FOIA requests for the information. He also wants a judge to orderLand to determine the fair market value of the voter list and require thestate parties to pay that amount once an agreement is reached with themrestricting how the information is used.
"It's just frightening to suggest that the records of a public election arethe private property of the political parties for their profit," Grebnersaid Wednesday.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-immig25oct25,1,6179098.story?coll=la-news-politics-national
Senate rejects kids citizenship measure: Opponents call the Dream Act'amnesty' for immigrant children.
By Nicole Gaouette and Johanna Neuman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill offering the childrenof illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they serve in the military orcomplete two years of higher education. The defeat of the measure, which hadattracted bipartisan support, underscored the difficulty of enacting even anarrowly tailored proposal in the polarizing atmosphere surroundingimmigration reform.
The vote on the proposal was 52 to 44, short of the 60-vote margin needed toprevent a filibuster and begin debate. It was one small piece of acomprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate earlier thisyear, and it sparked a brief but heated debate.
Opponents called the bill a form of amnesty and argued that it would createincentives for illegal immigrants to cross the border with their children.But Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who supported the measure, said that"to turn on these children and treat them as criminals is an indication ofthe level of emotion and, in some cases, bigotry and hatred that is involvedin this debate."
His remarks were directed at Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who on Tuesdaysuggested that immigrants who had attended a meeting in Durbin's office wereillegal and should have been arrested.
Tancredo, a presidential candidate who has staked his campaign on toughimmigration enforcement, dismissed Durbin's understanding of the issue: "Idon't expect Dick Durbin to be able to tell the difference between legalresidents and illegal aliens."
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-mukasey25oct25,1,3919880.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Mukasey's take on torture
His evasive testimony hinders what was supposed to be a breezy confirmationprocess
October 25, 2007
Michael B. Mukasey, who once seemed headed to confirmation as attorneygeneral by acclamation, may now be facing a narrower and more contentiousvote. That's the price the retired federal judge from New York will have topay unless he reconsiders some evasive testimony about torture.
Mukasey remains infinitely preferable to Alberto R. Gonzales, thepresidential crony he would succeed. At hearings before the Senate JudiciaryCommittee last week, he promised to depoliticize the Justice Department andsaid he would resign rather than acquiesce in illegal behavior. In anadministration that too often has been blind to the requirements of the ruleof law, even a one-eyed attorney general would be an improvement.
Still, we were disappointed that Mukasey hedged when asked whether thesimulated drowning known as "water-boarding" violates domestic andinternational prohibitions on torture. Mukasey said that "it would beirresponsible of me to discuss particular techniques with which I am notfamiliar."
As the 10 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee noted in a letter to thenominee, water-boarding "has been the subject of much public discussion."What isn't clear is whether the CIA reserves the right to resort to thatappalling practice to elicit information, reliable or otherwise, fromsuspected terrorists.
Some members of Congress believe that water-boarding is off the table; theBush administration has been less explicit. It declines to describe what itcalls "enhanced" interrogation techniques -- Mukasey calls them "coercive" techniques -- encouraging speculation that water-boarding, like sleepdeprivation, extreme temperatures, shaking, slapping and placing prisonersin uncomfortable "stress" positions, will still be permitted.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/us/politics/25torture.html?ex=1193976000&en=8f549f4966a9d13f&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVERNEWS
Giuliani Questioned on Torture
By MICHAEL COOPER
October 25, 2007
DAVENPORT, Iowa, Oct. 24 - Rudolph W. Giuliani told a group of Iowans onWednesday night that he favors the "aggressive questioning" of terroristsbut that he does not know whether waterboarding, a simulated drowningtechnique, is torture.
Asked at a community meeting here whether he considered waterboardingtorture, Mr. Giuliani said: "It depends on how it's done. It depends on thecircumstances. It depends on who does it."
He went on to say that the way the practice had been described in newsreports - "particularly in the liberal media" - he did not believe it shouldbe allowed. But he expressed doubts about whether it had been describedaccurately.
"America should not allow torture," Mr. Giuliani said. "But America shouldengage in aggressive questioning of Islamic terrorists who are arrested orwho are apprehended."
"The line between the two is very delicate and very difficult," he said."But we can't abandon aggressive questioning of people who are intent oncoming here to kill us."
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USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-10-24-obama_N.htm?csp=34
Obama fights to overcome view he's inexperienced
By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY
BOSTON - Democrats Barack Obama and Deval Patrick share a friendship,similar résumés, a political consultant and the complicated expectationsthat come with being African-American politicians.
Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts, this week left behind his past as aformer Justice Department official under President Clinton and threw hissupport to Obama, who is battling for votes against Sen. Hillary RodhamClinton. Patrick promised to mobilize his political network to canvass forObama in next-door New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary.
The two friends sat down with USA TODAY late Tuesday for a joint interview,in which they talked about their belief in an inspirational and inclusiveapproach to politics and their conviction that a lengthy political résumé isunnecessary and even counterproductive.
Obama and Patrick have each faced charges of political inexperience and theassumption that their appeal will be primarily to black voters, the governorsaid. Both, however, won their current offices with broad-based support.
"People made a mistake . by supposing, presuming, that our appeal would bein certain discrete corners of people who looked like us and thought likeus," Patrick said. "The whole point was to reach across divides and invitepeople who had checked out to check back in. And they did."
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402712.html
Iran Becomes an Issue In Democratic Contest
Clinton Moves to Counter Rivals' Criticism
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A07
In the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Iran has becomethe new Iraq.
Iran is now the front line in a foreign policy debate that has found Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) defending a vote that her rivals said couldembolden President Bush to once again launch unilateral military actionagainst a Middle Eastern nation.
The discussion is almost identical to one that took place earlier in thecampaign over Clinton's 2002 vote for the resolution authorizing Bush to goto war in Iraq, except that, in this case, she finds herself on the oppositeside of all her leading rivals for the nomination.
The focus on Iran highlights the extent to which national security remainsthe key fault line in the Democratic race as Clinton's opponents seek toslow her momentum. With the administration now preparing to designate abranch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terroristorganization and to impose sanctions on Iran, the debate is only likely tointensify.
Clinton has moved aggressively to contain any possible damage. Over theweekend, her campaign flooded Iowa -- the most competitive state in theDemocratic contest -- with a mailer that included a lengthy letter from thecandidate explaining why she supported a Senate measure urging theadministration to label the IRGC a terrorist organization.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402424.html
110th Congress Eclipses Voting Pace
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A23
The 110th Congress under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been calledlots of things: Historic, do-nothing, ethical, overbearing and much more,based on one's political views. But now Pelosi can add one more moniker tothe list: record-setting.
On a bill dealing with reorganizing Hawaiian governments yesterday, theHouse conducted its 1,000th roll-call vote this year, something never beforeachieved in a single year in the history of recorded House votes.
Democratic leaders and aides, many of whom initially confessed to not evenbeing aware of the achievement, spun the matter as if it were akin to theDow Jones Industrial Average crossing the 10,000 barrier. They claimed the1,000th vote as a sign that the chamber is busy passing the agenda theyvowed to pass a year ago when they won the majority for the first time in adozen years.
"I'll do 1,000 roll-call votes if we raise the minimum wage; I'll do 1,000roll-call votes if it increases veterans' benefits. I'll do 2,000," saidRep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic caucus.
But Republicans, who were just as unaware of the record-breaking pace, sawit as the perfect symbol for a lack of achievement almost 10 months intoPelosi's reign. They said it's something more akin to Congress on votingsteroids, leading to popularity ratings that are in line with baseballslugger Barry Bonds.
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Forwarded from George Broadhead
EuroQueer
The latest Euro-Letter of the International Lesbian and Gay Association(ILGA) reports that in seven countries of the world the death penalty isapplied for consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex.
These countries are:
. Iran
. Mauritania
. Saudi-Arabia
. Sudan
. United Arab Emirates
. Yemen
. Nigeria (death penalty applies to 12 Northern provinces with Sharia law)
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the religion practised in allthese countries is Islam, yet when Humanists and Secularists point this (andother examples of Islamic homophobia) out, they are invariably castigatedfor being Islamophobia.
George Broadhead
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