More Wednesday Male Beauty

Catholic Pharmacy Shutters Doors in Virginia

A reader sent me the link to a story in the Washington Times - not one of my normal reads I will confess - about a pharmacy in Northern Virginia that opened to a lot of wingnut fanfare that was forced to close because it put "moral values" ahead of stocking inventory that customers want to purchase. The American Family Association and other "family values" organizations have perennial "boycotts" and other attacks on businesses that market to the LGBT community - e.g., Ford, Coke, Walgreens, etc. In truth, these businesses not forgotten the message the Catholic Pharmacy apparently never grasped. Businesses are in business to make money and earn a profit. And in the case of publicly traded companies, to generate dividends to shareholders. By refusing to carry contraceptives, many cosmetics and other products, the pharmacy sent the message that segments of the consumer base (including many Catholics who ignore the Vatican's teachings on birth control and many other issues) were simply not wanted. Or worse yet, that they were looked down upon and condemned by the sanctimonious pharmacy operators. Here are some story highlights:
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DMC Pharmacy, a pro-life Catholic pharmacy that opened with much fanfare in Chantilly, Va., in October 2008, closed last month because of lack of funds. "We could not make it work financially," said Robert Laird, executive director for the pharmacy, whose letters stood for Divine Mercy Care. "We could never get that big push to make it viable and finally the board of directors said enough was enough." By the time the store closed March 4, it was losing in the tens of thousands of dollars per month.
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[T]he 1,500-square-foot store on Metrotech Drive did not stock birth control pills, condoms, cigarettes or pornographic magazines. It did have booklets on natural family planning below a picture of St. John Leonardi, the patron saint of pharmacists. It was one of seven pharmacies in the country that refused to dispense contraceptives for moral reasons, on the grounds they caused abortions, lead to promiscuity or endangered a woman's health.
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Situated next to a Catholic bookstore, the founders hoped to attract clientele from St. Timothy and St. Veronica, two nearby Catholic parishes totaling 20,000 members. Within five miles were four other booming churches with 30,000 Catholics. . . . But regular customers never materialized in great numbers.
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Plus, DMC never got into the heavy retail items, such as cosmetics, toys and fast food, that help keep similar pharmacies afloat.

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I feel sorry for employees who have lost their jobs, but not so much sympathy for the store's owners who should have had more business sense.

Family Research Council in Hysteria Over Census Count of Same Sex Couples

Admittedly, it doesn't take much to get Tony Perkins at Family Research Council (pictured at right) enraged and the spittle flying. Particularly if the issue involves admitting that gays - and worse yet committed same sex couples - even exist. Not to mention those that do exist do not conform to the sexually promiscuous, drug using, heavy alcohol imbibing image of gays that FRC so likes to disseminate. Thus, Perkins' apoplexy over the U. S. Census Bureau's efforts to convince gay couples to complete and submit their census survey forms (the boyfriend and I have already mailed our form in). I suspect that the biggest concerns of the folks at FRC are that (1) there are far more same sex couples than people suspect and (2) that committed relationships are indeed prevalent. It is far easier to disparage those who can be depicted as a small number of freaks that a sizable group documented by government record keeping. Naturally, Perkins and FRC blame much of the census heresy on President Obama who they see as not a true American (i.e., he's not white, evangelical Christian, anti-immigrant, and in la la land in terms of his knowledge of true history). Here are highlights from Perkins' screed in an FRC press release:
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Ignoring federal and state laws defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the U.S. Census Bureau released videos on Monday encouraging homosexual couples who consider themselves "married" to list themselves as such on this year's census forms. The videos also urge cross-dressers to identify themselves with whatever sex they prefer.
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Family Research Council President Tony Perkins responded with the following comments:
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"The law should count for something when the Census Bureau counts America's population, but apparently it doesn't on President Obama's watch. The President's Commerce Department is actively encouraging people to ignore U.S. marriage law and invent new definitions for their relationships. What kind of government actively lobbies citizens to lie on their forms?
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"When it comes to advancing the extreme homosexual agenda, this White House has no limits, not even the facts. The Defense of Marriage Act forbids the federal government from recognizing same-sex relationships as 'marriages.'
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My question to Tony is this: If committed same sex couples cannot be counted as "married," how does he want closeted GOP politicians looking for gay trysts and/or "ex-gays" in false marriages to be counted?

McDonnell's Confederate History Month Proclamation - Is He Tone Defeaf?

I will admit that I am a Civil War buff and have nothing against recognizing Virginia's history. Indeed, on my mother's side of the family from New Orleans, I have my own Confederate ancestors, one of whom was in a Union prison camp. But only a month after he and Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli generated worldwide negative press for Virginia on the state's support of discrimination against its LGBT citizens, was it a good idea to potentially give the appearance that the state is racist and anti-black too? Truthfully, I'm not sure what Bob McDonnell was thinking other than seeking to pander to the far right elements in the shrinking Republican Party of Virginia base who long for the days when, as one former classmate described the mindset, "men were men, women knew their place, and as for blacks, every white man could own one." No, it wasn't George Allen, although I can imagine him saying that too and, unlike this other classmate, it would not be a joke. Virginia has many pressing problems and stirring up more racial unrest and images of state supported discrimination does nothing to address them. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:
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Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday but that political observers said would strengthen his position with his conservative base.
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The two previous Democratic governors had refused to issue the mostly symbolic proclamation honoring the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. McDonnell (R) revived a practice started by Republican governor George Allen in 1997. McDonnell left out anti-slavery language that Allen's successor, James S. Gilmore III (R), had included in his proclamation.
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McDonnell said Tuesday that the move was designed to promote tourism in the state, which next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. McDonnell said he did not include a reference to slavery because "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states.
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The proclamation was condemned by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP. Former governor L. Douglas Wilder called it "mind-boggling to say the least" that McDonnell did not reference slavery or Virginia's struggle with civil rights in his proclamation.
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The seven-paragraph declaration calls for Virginians to "understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War."
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The Virginia NAACP and the state's Legislative Black Caucus called the proclamation an insult to a large segment of the state's population, particularly because it never acknowledges slavery.

"Governor McDonnell's proclamation was offensive and offered a disturbing revision of the Civil War and the brutal era that followed," said Del. Kenneth Cooper Alexander (D-Norfolk), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. "Virginia has worked hard to move beyond the very things for which Governor McDonnell seems nostalgic."

Wednesday Male Beauty

Health Care Opponet Charged With Threat To Kill Senator Patty Murray

The hysteria among the far right - and even some Republicans that I know - over health care reform is out of control and sadly devoid from objective facts. One of the underlying rants is that they don't want to pay for health care for "others" yet are unable to grasp that they already are paying - just in a inefficient and non-cost effective manner. With many family members and friends in the medical field, I have heard all to often that by not covering preventive care, the USA's system puts off treatment until it is often catastrophic and ungodly expense. In addition, because of all the write offs that hospitals must make for the uninsured who cannot pay for service, all the rest of us are getting billed at multiple times the real cost to cover these same write offs. Believe me, those who are ranting and raving are already paying. It's just that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are failing to tell them very important facts. One GOP friend who I spoke with thanked for making him realize he'd been denied important details. While some can be reasoned with, others are not and are increasingly threatening violence. Here are highlights on a threat against Patty Murray, a U.S. Senator (pictured above) via the Seattle Times:
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A 63-year-old Yakima County man has been charged with threatening to kill U.S. Sen. Patty Murray over her support of the National Health Care Reform Act. The FBI and local police arrested Charles Alan Wilson at his Selah home early Tuesday. Wilson was scheduled to make an appearance in U.S. District Court in Yakima, and he will then be transported to Seattle, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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According to the charges, staffers in Murray's office in the Jackson Building in downtown Seattle had become concerned over a series of phone calls by an unknown man over the past several months. The calls came from a blocked number, and often were made in the evenings or on weekends.
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Usually, according to a staffer identified by the initials "M.G.," the calls were merely vulgar and harassing. But on March 22, "the caller began to make overt threats to kill and/or injure Senator Murray," according to the complaint signed by FBI Agent Carolyn Woodbury. In that message, a man the FBI says it has identified as Wilson stated, "I hope you realize there's a target on your back now ... Kill the [expletive] senator! I'll donate the lead."
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In several other vulgar and profanity-laced messages left over the next week, the caller repeatedly threatened the Democratic senator's life and said he "hopes somebody kills" President Obama as well, according to portions of transcripts in the complaint.
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The complaint notes the timing of the threats against Murray corresponded to the passage of the health-care bill, and in several of the messages the caller "expressed his strong disapproval for the health-care reform legislation, and the fact that Senator Murray voted in support of the bill." The FBI said Wilson possesses a concealed-weapons permit and has a .38-caliber revolver registered to him.

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I cannot help but wonder how many of these violence prone right wingers meanwhile consider themselves to be "Godly Christians." I just do not understand the mindset.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

HRBOR April 2010 Third Thursday Networking Event

Any Time Witness will be sponsoring the Thursday, April 15, 2010, business networking event for Hampton Roads Business OutReach ("HRBOR") at its Chesapeake, Virginia, location. Perhaps as one of the original founders of HRBOR I'm biased, but HRBOR has made a significant impact on both my business and my social life. I have made great friends and also generated numerous client referrals. I urge local readers to visit the event if you haven't previously attended a HRBOR function. It is a wonderful way to make friends and discover service providers in the LGBT and LGBT friendly community. For those who do not own businesses, ask about HRBOR's associate memberships. Here are details on the event:

DATE: April 15, 2010, Thursday
TIME: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
HOST: Anytime Fitness
PLACE: 1437 Sams Drive, Suite 106
Chesapeake VA 23320
757-410-9205
www.anytimetidewater.com
(Off Battlefield, to the right of Sams Club)

BEVERAGE Sponsor:
Sherrise Powers, Attorney at Law
Don King, Judy Boone Realty

FEATURED NON-PROFIT:
The Norfolk SPCA (New Member)
www.norfolkspca.com

Oklahoma Hate-Rrimes Exclusion Bill Killed

In a refreshing move, the proposed bill in the Oklahoma legislature that seeks to exempt Oklahoma from compliance with the federal Matthew Shepard - James Byrd Hate Crimes Act has been killed in the Oklahoma House. While the bill passed the Oklahoma Senate, it is encouraging that some sanity remains in the legislature. Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, purposely became a sponsor of the bill that originated in the Senate for the express purpose of making sure that the bill did not secure passage. As previously mentioned, the bill also cited the incorrect federal statutory provision and even if passed would have failed to accomplish the goal of its wingnut backers. Here are some highlights from the Tulsa World:
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OKLAHOMA CITY — A controversial hate-crimes bill did not get a hearing Monday in a House committee. Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, became the House author of Senate Bill 1965, by Sen. Steven Russell, R-Oklahoma City. Shelton said he took control of the bill to kill it and asked that the bill not get heard in the House Judiciary Committee. Russell said he had substantially rewritten the bill from its original version.
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Russell said the law is needed to protect free speech after the passage of a federal law that added sexual orientation or gender identity to the categories protected under the federal hate-crimes law. President Barack Obama signed the law in October.
Oklahoma’s existing hate-crimes law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Shelton said SB 1965 would have prohibited Oklahoma law enforcement agencies from cooperating with any federal agency in the investigation of a federal hate crime.
But Russell said his bill had been misinterpreted. He said he was concerned that pastors who preached against homosexuality could be prosecuted if someone, as a result, took action against a gay person.
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Laura Belmonte, vice president and co-founder of The Equality Network, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, said the group will be monitoring the legislative session to ensure that Russell does not insert the bill’s language into another measure.“This is a bill that really denies Oklahomans equal protection under federal law,” Belmonte said. “It puts law enforcement in the position of breaking federal law, directing them to obstruct access to evidence.

Another Loon in the Military Brass

It looks like the teabaggers and birthers are looking for another self-made martyr. As Wingnut World Daily is reporting an Army Lt. Colonel, Terrence Lakin (pictured at left), is refusing to obey orders "until he knows that President Obama is in the Oval Office as a constitutionally eligible president." It is frightening that someone apparently so deranged and detached from reality is an officer in the U.S. Military. If this type of insanity is typical of for Lakin, one can only fear for the safety of men under his command. As I and many others have written previously, there is NO CREDIBLE evidence that Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen born in the United States. Every alleged birth certificate and document to the contrary has been shown to be fraudulent and forged. Yet this nutcase apparently cares noting for objective facts. Even if Lakin recants, in my opinion he needs to be retired. If he refuses to obey orders, then court martial his ass and count it a case of good riddance. It's ironic that honorable gay service members continue to be discharged under DADT while nut cases like Lakin remain in the ranks. Here are some highlights from the hyperventilating at Wing Nut Daily:
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The Army is threatening to dismiss and jail an active-duty lieutenant colonel who says he won't obey military orders until he knows that President Obama is in the Oval Office as a constitutionally eligible president, according to his supporters.
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A statement given to WND today by Margaret Hemenway, who is acting as a spokeswoman for the case involving the American Patriot Foundation and Army Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, said Lakin is "undaunted" and has not changed his position.
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Lakin announced his position with a video stating he would not follow orders because he was not sure of their legality under Obama, who has concealed personal information that could confirm he meets the constitutional requirement that a president be a "natural born citizen."
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Now, the Army has issued a "counseling form" warning Lakin his deployment orders are valid. . . . "On 30 March 2010, this command became aware of your intentions to refuse to follow deployment orders. Your stated reason for refusal was your belief that the election of the President of the United States is invalid because you believe he is not 'native born' [sic]. This counseling is to inform you that your deployment orders are presumed to be valid and lawful orders issued by competent military authority," said the document from the "counselor," Lt. Col. William D. Judd. The letter reminded Lakin of his April 12 due date at Fort Campbell, Ky. Failure to follow your reassignment and/or deployment orders may result in adverse action including court-martial," the officer was warned.
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He said he's refusing all orders until Obama releases his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate to prove his eligibility to serve as commander in chief.
"I feel I have no choice but the distasteful one of inviting my own court martial," Lakin said in a statement. "The Constitution matters. The truth matters."
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Lakin refuses to recognize Hawaii - now a state - yet John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone - now a part of Panama. What kind of Kool-Aid are these people drinking?

Tuesday Male Beauty

April 29th - Dining Out for Life at Brent's

Because of a scheduling conflict, the boyfriend and I will be hosting this Spring's Dining Out for Life fundraiser at Brent's, a relatively new restaurant in historic downtown Hampton, instead of the same location as last year.We have been to Brent's a number of times and the food is wonderful as is the atmosphere and attentive wait staff. I invite everyone on the Peninsula to come see us and support this worthwhile event that helps to fund much needed assistance to those living with HIV and their families. Twenty five percent (25%) of the evening's revenues will be donated to ACCESS AIDS Care, a local non-profit. Brent's is located at 9 E Queensway, Hampton, Virginia 23664 in beautiful downtown Hampton. For reservations' call 757-722-1185. We hope to see you on April 29th!!

Coming Out of "‘Situational Heterosexuality’

Joe Jervis has a quote at Joe By God from Former "ex-gay" evangelical minister Anthony Venn-Brown. Brown, now one of Australia's leading LGBT activists, where he says that gay men in heterosexual marriages engage in the opposite of the situational homosexuality found in prisons and other all same gender settings. Having been in a heterosexual marriage myself for 24 years , I think that Venn-Brown is on to something. Those of us gays who married and tried to do "what was expected" by family, society and/or our religious upbringings in effect engaged in straight relationships even thought that was not our true sexual orientation. We either did not know what else to do, wanted to have children, or simply could not admit to ourselves who we really were. Thus, you try to make it work even though in your heart you know its not complete and you continue to suffer from those pesky attractions to other males. You become the actor on the stage playing a role until the point comes where you simply no longer have the energy to keep up the performance either inwardly or outwardly. Here are some of Venn-Brown's comments on the phenomenon:
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"‘Situational heterosexuality’ is a term I’ve used for several years when people have asked how I could have been married for so many years and yet be gay. This term has also helped people gain a clearer understanding of what really happens when someone who is homosexual marries someone of the opposite sex and claims change. Confusion about what really happens in these situations still exists and often wrongly reinforces the ‘homosexuality is a choice’ and ‘homosexuals can change’ concept.
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"How often have you heard someone say something like this ‘They couldn’t be gay, they’re married’. When someone says that to me, I just remain silent for a while with a smile on my face (having been a gay man in a heterosexual marriage) and wait for what I’m actually thinking to sink into the consciousness of the person who made the naive statement."
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As much as "ex-gays" may seek to deny it - even to themselves - they have not changed their sexual orientation. Instead they have suppressed it at least for a time. That does not equate to permanent change.

More Monday Male Beauty

ENDA Next Target on Teabagger/Wingnut Radar

While still shrieking and wailing over the "socialist agenda" being furthered by the recently enacted health care reform bill, the loonies at World Net Daily are now seeking to enrage their reality untethered followers by depicting ENDA as a program to require "gay hires" or even enforce quotas. Never mind the actual language in the proposed legislation or the fact that most polls show a large majority of Americans support employment discrimination protections for LGBT employees. Even callers on a small TV talk show in Martinsville, Virginia, were supportive of Michael Moore's action to seek redress against the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Always seeking to spread hysteria, Wing Nut Daily also describes ENDA as an effort to target "Christian employers." Here's a sampling of the WND rant:
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Now that the health-care fight has proven House Democrats can muscle through legislation without a drop of bipartisan support, plans are underway to resurrect a bill that would make employers susceptible to lawsuits for refusing to hire "gay" or transsexual employees.
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The bill does make exceptions for the U.S. military, religious organizations and some businesses with non-profit 501(c) designations, but makes no provisions for business owners' consciences. A small construction company that wanted to maintain a Christian reputation, for example, could be sued if it refused to hire transvestites. Openly homosexual members of the House, enthused by the health-care victory, are now looking to return from the congressional recess to begin work on ENDA.
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"This bill would force Christian, Jewish or Muslim business owners to hire people who openly choose to engage in homosexual or cross-dressing behaviors," said Barber, "despite a sincerely held religious belief that those behaviors are dangerous, sinful and not in keeping with basic morality. "ENDA would essentially force employers to check their First Amendment protected rights to freedom of religion, speech and association at the workplace door," he said.
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The sad reality is that the Christianists want freedom of religion and anti-discrimination protections for themselves, but do not give a damn about the rights of other citizens who may hold differing beliefs and faiths. It is all about the Christianists and screw everyone else. As for the proposed H.R. 3017's actual provisions (these quotes are from Section 4), here are some highlights:
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(a) Employer Practices- It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer--
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(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment of the individual, because of such individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; or
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(2) to limit, segregate, or classify the employees or applicants for employment of the employer in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment or otherwise adversely affect the status of the individual as an employee, because of such individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
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(f) No Preferential Treatment or Quotas- Nothing in this Act shall be construed or interpreted to require or permit--

(1) any covered entity to grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of such individual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of any actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity employed by any employer, referred or classified for employment by any employment agency or labor organization, admitted to membership or classified by any labor organization, or admitted to, or employed in, any apprenticeship or other training program, in comparison with the total number or percentage of persons of such actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in any community, State, section, or other area, or in the available work force in any community, State, section, or other area; or
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(2) the adoption or implementation by a covered entity of a quota on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

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Once again, the "Godly Christian" set views itself as exempt from the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness. It's par for the course.

Purge Clerics Who Allowed Sexual Abuse

Each day seems to bring more evidence that Pope Benedict XVI is up to his eyeballs in cover ups and mishandling of sexual predator priests. Yet the Catholic Church hierarchy still is in denial and trying to play the victim card. Now, more have called for what I have believed was the only solution for a number of years now: all high clerics who enabled and/or covered up for the sexual abuse of children and youths need to be purged from the Church hierarchy. And that would seem to include Benedict XVI himself. Absent a mass purge of those who permitted the wanton abuse of children and youth, I see no way for the Catholic Church to regain moral credibility by not only many Catholics and also many others around the world. First, new evidence on Benedict XVI's dirty hands via the Huffington Post:
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The abuse cases of two priests in Arizona have cast further doubt on the Catholic church's insistence that Pope Benedict XVI played no role in shielding pedophiles before he became pope. Documents reviewed by The Associated Press show that as a Vatican cardinal, the future pope took over the abuse case of the Rev. Michael Teta of Tucson, Ariz., then let it languish at the Vatican for years despite repeated pleas from the bishop for the man to be removed from the priesthood.
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In another Tucson case, that of Msgr. Robert Trupia, the bishop wrote to then-Cardinal Ratzinger, who would become pope in 2005. Bishop Manuel Moreno called Trupia "a major risk factor to the children, adolescents and adults that he many have contact with." There is no indication in the case files that Ratzinger responded. The details of the two cases come as other allegations emerge that Benedict – as a Vatican cardinal – was part of a culture of cover-up and confidentiality.
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There's no doubt that Ratzinger delayed the defrocking process of dangerous priests who were deemed 'satanic' by their own bishop," Lynne Cadigan, an attorney who represented two of Teta's victims, said Friday. . . . It took 12 years from the time Ratzinger assumed control of the case in a signed letter until Teta was formally removed from ministry, a step only the Vatican can take.
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"The tragedy is that the bishops have only two choices: Follow the Vatican's code of secrecy and delay, or leave the church," Cadigan, the victims' lawyer, said Friday. "It's unfortunate that their faith demands that they sacrifice children to follow the Vatican's directions."
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Obviously, the more that Benedict XVI denies responsibility as more evidence of nonfeasance and/or malfeasance, the worse it will be when the evidence hits a critical mass and can no longer be controlled. Meanwhile, Roland Martin has a timely op-ed at CNN that goes to the heart of the matter and calls for a purge of clerics involved in the cover ups. Here are some highlights:
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And frankly, I'm sick of some officials of the Catholic Church playing the victim. We don't need to hear another priest, bishop, cardinal or even Vatican official decrying the constant news stories that reveal the depth of the sins committed against boys by these sexual predators masquerading as men of the cloth.
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The reality is that had these deplorable priests been prosecuted for their crimes (some were) other church officials would have been liable for obstruction of justice, for hiding the evidence, for shuffling priests from one parish to another, depositing them in homes for spiritual healing and renewal and doing everything to keep the sordid details under wraps.
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[T]he real issue is trust. When the church protects these priestly predators, they are aiding and abetting them. Instead, the Catholic Church should do like Jesus, who turned over the tables and threw out the money-changers. He needed to root evil out of the synagogues. The church must remove every priest, bishop or cardinal who turned a blind eye and allowed this to fester, even if it means cutting all ties with them.

FBI Issues Warning About Far Right Anti-Government Group

Elements of the radical far right that seem to be living in some bizarre fantasy world continue to show themselves to be potential sources of violence. Some of their rants sound like they are direct from World Net Daily and/or Fox News were being tethered to objective reality is not a requirement. The worry is that some of the crazed hyperventilating will lead to some of the more unhinged elements actually resorting to armed confrontation or other actual attacks against government personnel akin to the recently disclosed plot to kill a Michigan police officer and then attack the funeral procession. Think Progress looks at this phenomenon which has the FBI concerned. Here are some highlights:

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[T]he FBI has issued an intelligence note warning police that an anti-government group’s call to remove dozens of sitting governors may encourage others to act out violently. The group, “Guardians of the Free Republics,” wants to “restore America” by dismantling parts of the government, according to its website. Governors receiving the threats include Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Jim Doyle (D-WI), Chet Culver (D-IA), Jim Gibbons (R-NV), among others.
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While much of the rhetoric from the group resembles the style of patriot extremist organizations, their concerns seem to stem directly from economic anxiety. The group’s broadcasting affiliate, Republic Broadcasting Network, advertises survival kits, gold buying guides, and other hallmarks of a movement in America which believes that the country is heading towards economic collapse. The website also promotes tea party protests, calls for revolution, videos from Glenn Beck, and sympathetic articles about recent right-wing domestic terrorist activities, like the suicide attack on an IRS building in Austin earlier this year.
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Guardians of the Free Republics’ call to dismantle the government has gained traction on right-wing tea party websites. The groups’ proclamation is posted on ResistNet, the popular tea party forum, as well as Tree of Liberty, a tea party forum known to have been frequented by users which supported Hutaree, the Christian militia recently arrested in Michigan.
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A Department of Homeland Security report, ridiculed by Republican lawmakers last year, details that extended economic downturn with real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit could foster an environment for extremists to recruit new members who may not have been supportive of these causes in the past.
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Not surprisingly, these groups bear hate and suspicion towards those who are "other": gays, blacks, immigrants, etc., who they see as not "real Americans."

Monday Male Beauty

New Disclosures Against Faux Saint, John Paul II

Pope Benedict XVI is not the only head of the Roman Catholic Church being slammed as a result of the sexual abuse scandal exploding across Europe. Also implicated is the less than saintly John Paul II who seemingly protected a buddy who may have sexually assaulted up to 2.000 - yes, I said TWO THOUSAND - boys over a period of time. Obviously, covering up such sick and disgusting abuse is not the act of a supposed saint. There is much that is good about the Roman Catholic Church. However, until the foul cesspool that comprises the majority of the members of the Church hierarchy is removed, I do not know how anyone of good conscience can continue to support and fund the Church. In fact, some of my family members are not too happy with my criticism of the Church, but at some point if one does not refuse to remain in the Church until it cleans its own house, then one becomes part of the problem and a de facto enabler of the morally bankrupt hierarchy. Stopping all financial support and/or voting with one's feet are sadly the only messages that will get through to the bishops, cardinals and amoral Pope. Here are highlights on the latest revelations on John Paul II's misdeeds from the Times of London:

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Allegations that the late pontiff blocked an inquiry into a paedophile cardinal, promoted senior church figures despite accusations that they had molested boys and covered up innumerable cases of abuse during his 26-year papacy cast a cloud over his path to sainthood. The most serious claims related to Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, an Austrian friend of John Paul’s who abused an estimated 2,000 boys over decades but never faced any sanction from Rome.
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Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Groer’s successor, criticised the handling of that scandal and other abuse cases last week after holding a special service in St Stephen’s cathedral, Vienna, entitled “Admitting our guilt”. Schönborn condemned the “sinful structures” within the church and the patterns of “silencing” victims and “looking away”.
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The Groer affair became public in 1995 when former pupils of an elite Catholic school accused him of sexual abuse.
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After an outcry, Groer was replaced and made the prior of a convent. He was never punished and issued only a vague apology in 1998 before retreating to a nunnery where he lived until his death in 2003. Some of his victims were offered “hush money” from the church.
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Michael Tfirst, 54, one of Groer’s victims, claims to have reported the abuse to highranking church officials from the 1970s onwards. He says the church paid him £3,300 in 2004 under a contract that obliged him to keep quiet.
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“There is no question that Ratzinger knew all the details of reports on abuse within the church, as there is no doubt that John Paul, his superior, took part in a massive and systematic cover-up,” Tfirst said.
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John Paul also faced criticism last week from Poland for protecting Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, who was accused of abusing trainee priests. Letters detailing the charges were sent to John Paul’s office and to Ratzinger in 2000 but were ignored. Paetz resigned in 2002 when the allegations became public. Stanislaw Obirek, a Polish theologian and a former Jesuit priest, said: “I believe John Paul is the key person responsible for the cover-up of abuse cases because most of it occurred during his papacy. How can someone who is to blame for this be beatified?”
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Critics say John Paul II: Failed to encourage bishops to report accusations of paedophilia by priests to the police. Ignored accusations against senior members of the clergy, at times promoting them to higher office. Allowed many priests accused of paedophilia to be transferred to a new diocese without anyone being warned of their record. Decreed that “pontifical secrecy” must apply to cases of sexual abuse in church trials.
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In any other context, someone how engaged in such malfeasance would be forced to resign and retire in disgrace. They certainly would not be viewed as a candidate for sainthood. Not so the morally bankrupt bitter old queens in dresses at the Vatican

Main Stream Media Finally Mentions Michel Moore Case

Since I first became involved in LGBT activism, I have been disappointed time and time again in the main stream media's intentional failure to cover issues involving gay rights and/or exposing the lies and hypocrisy of our Christianist enemies. The problem is particularly acute in Virginia. My first exposure to this phenomenon was in 2003 when I worked with Wayne Besen to expose national ex-gay poster boy Michael Johnston as a fraud. Johnston was from the Hampton Roads area, had been a protege of Jerry Falwell, and was featured in a national ad campaign by a who's who of the Christian right, yet no newspaper in Virginia, including the local Virginian Pilot or the Daily Press chose to do any coverage of the fact that Johnston was a fraud and that he had been sleeping around with men in the Hampton Roads area using a false name and trying to infect his victims with HIV (Johnston has been HIV positive for years). Indeed, at times one would think our local news media is on the payroll of Pat Robertson given the selective treatment given to the lies and failings of Christianists. The Michael Moore v. Virginia Museum of Natural History has been in the works for over three (3) years, yet until now, only the gay media has mentioned the case. This log jam finally ended on Friday when the Washington Post looked at the case. Here are some highlights from the Post's coverage:

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Whenever Gov. Bob McDonnell discusses the issue of discrimination protections in the state workforce, one thing he is always quick to mention with pride is that there have been very few allegations of discrimination on any grounds in the state workforce in recent years. And he is probably right -- such allegations may be rare. But they are not unheard of.
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Take, for instance, the case of Michael Moore (not the filmmaker). This Moore contends he was forced to resign from his position as at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville in 2006 because he is gay. The Virginia Supreme Court heard an oral petition from his attorney to review his case just this week.
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the facts of Moore's experience, as well as some of the legal arguments that have been made in the case by the attorney general's office, first under McDonnell and then under Bill Mims, would be interesting to those who have been closely following the discrimination issue.
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For one thing, Virginia's Department of Human Resource Management found in January 2009 that Moore's sexual orientation was indeed a factor in the ending of his employment. But it found that other issues related to his job performance also played a role, and therefore he was not due back his job. You can read more about the department's finding on page 25 of this appendix to the suit.
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Interestingly, the attorney general's office has consistently argued that the Executive Order former Gov. Tim Kaine (D) signed in 2006, which barred discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, did not give Moore a "cause of action" to sue in court.
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That's intriguing, since the reason McDonnell gave for not reissuing Kaine's executive order was that it had indeed provided employees a "cause of action" to sue over discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He said that kind of legal protection could only be extended by the General Assembly. But McDonnell has argued that he could issue a nonbinding "executive directive" offering gays workplace protections because that course of action would not provide them access to courts.
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In the nonbinding executive directive McDonnell issued on the topic after controversy erupted when sitting Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told colleges and universities that they did not have the authority to include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, McDonnell indicated that he believed gays were federally protected against discrimination by the 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution. But in Belue's March filing, on behalf of the attorney general's office, he rejected exactly that argument from Moore, writing that the Equal Protection Clause is "irrelevant to the category of sexual orientation" and "overruled ... in public employment" by a 2008 Supreme Court case.
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The Virginian Pilot, Daily Press and Richmond Times Dispatch have the same information as the Washington Post but in typical Virginia practice have chosen to not report on the case. Obviously, without media coverage, Bob McDonnell can continue to tell Virginians that anti-gay discrimination is not a problem.

More Easter Male Beauty

Will the Pope's Immunity Be Challenged in Britain?

Frankly, I believe it would be a wonderful development if Pope Benedict XVI had to cancel his planned visit to Britain out of fear that he might be arrested and prosecuted under the principle of "universal jurisdiction" which arises from the belief that certain crimes — such as genocide, war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity — are so serious that they are an offense against humanity and must be addressed. With it increasingly appearing that the Vatican - and Benedict while head of the Inquisition for nearly 20 years - systematically covered up the rape and sexual abuse of literally tens of thousands of children and minors, some believe that Benedict is a worthy target of prosecution. Indeed, the thought of Benedict XVI confined to the Vatican for fear of arrest certainly has a sweet cache to it. Both the blog The Daily Beast and the Saturday edition of the British newspaper the Guardian look at the issue. Here are some highlights from Geoffrey Robertson's argument as to why the Pope needs to be criminally prosecuted:

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Well may the pope defy "the petty gossip of dominant opinion." But the Holy See can no longer ignore international law, which now counts the widespread or systematic sexual abuse of children as a crime against humanity. The anomalous claim of the Vatican to be a state – and of the pope to be a head of state and hence immune from legal action – cannot stand up to scrutiny.
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The truly shocking finding of Judge Murphy's commission in Ireland was not merely that sexual abuse was "endemic" in boys' institutions but that the church hierarchy protected the perpetrators and, despite knowledge of their propensity to reoffend, allowed them to take up new positions teaching other children after their victims had been sworn to secrecy.
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This conduct, of course, amounted to the criminal offence of aiding and abetting sex with minors. In legal actions against Catholic archdioceses in the US it has been alleged that the same conduct reflected Vatican policy as approved by Cardinal Ratzinger (as the pope then was) as late as November 2002.
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In 2005 a test case in Texas failed because the Vatican sought and obtained the intercession of President Bush, who agreed to claim sovereign (ie head of state) immunity on the pope's behalf. Bush lawyer John B Bellinger III certified that Pope Benedict the XVI was immune from suit "as the head of a foreign state".
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Bellinger is now notorious for his defence of Bush administration torture policies. His opinion on papal immunity is even more questionable. It hinges on the assumption that the Vatican, or its metaphysical emanation, the Holy See, is a state. But the papal states were extinguished by invasion in 1870 and the Vatican was created by fascist Italy in 1929 when Mussolini endowed this tiny enclave – 0.17 of a square mile containing 900 Catholic bureaucrats – with "sovereignty in the international field ... in conformity with its traditions and the exigencies of its mission in the world".
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The UN at its inception refused membership to the Vatican but has allowed it a unique "observer status", permitting it to become signatory to treaties such as the Law of the Sea and (ironically) the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to speak and vote at UN conferences where it promotes its controversial dogmas on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. This has involved the UN in blatant discrimination on grounds of religion: other faiths are unofficially represented, if at all, by NGOs. But it has encouraged the Vatican to claim statehood – and immunity from liability.
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This claim could be challenged successfully in the UK and in the European Court of Human Rights. But in any event, head of state immunity provides no protection for the pope in the international criminal court (see its current indictment of President Bashir). The ICC Statute definition of a crime against humanity includes rape and sexual slavery and other similarly inhumane acts causing harm to mental or physical health, committed against civilians on a widespread or systematic scale, if condoned by a government or a de facto authority. It has been held to cover the recruitment of children as soldiers or sex slaves. If acts of sexual abuse by priests are not isolated or sporadic, but part of a wide practice both known to and unpunished by their de facto authority then they fall within the temporal jurisdiction of the ICC – if that practice continued after July 2002, when the court was established.

Easter Reflections

Today turned out to be a very pleasant day in many ways. The boyfriend and I had a leisurely morning and then went to church with his parents at Hampton Baptist Church in the old downtown area of Hampton. The service was very nice and ended with a flawless rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus. The music brought back childhood memories of Easter and my mother's parents' home in upstate New York where we attended a magnificent Catholic Church (pictured at left) which was (and I assume still is) an amazing structure more akin to a small cathedral rather than what one would have expected in a relatively small town. The church was half a block from my grandparents' home and we typically had aunts, uncles and cousins staying at the house and we also would see other cousins who lived locally at church. As a child, the church seemed stupendous since our home parish was very small and anything but grandiose. The whole experience probably in retrospect helped draw me to religion early on even before I began my quest to "pray away the gay."

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The experience made me ponder whether I believe in God and, if so, in what form. The answer is that yes, I do believe in a God/Creator. Do I believe in all the details in the Bible? Probably not so much, especially the Old Testament which to me reflects a combination of the early Israelites' ignorant efforts to explain the unknown and their desire to be different and set themselves apart from other societies and ethnic groups. And the Resurrection story? Maybe yes, may be no. After all, the theme was well known before the Christians adopted the story line in the form of worship to Mithras and Isis among others. The basic message of Christ of charity and love of neighbor. Definitely, yes.

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After church, we took the in-laws and one of their elderly friends out to lunch and as always they proved a combination of entertaining and sincerely touching. I truly consider myself fortune to have such accepting and loving parents in-law if you will. Naturally, at the church service the boyfriend saw numerous clients who have likewise been most accepting of us as a gay couple whenever we attend church at that church.

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The rest of the day has been relaxing and I spoke with my mother, youngest daughter and left messages for other family members and friends. Weather wise, the day was exactly what one would want - clear, sunny and in the mid-70's. I even got to sit in the sun and read a book for a while overlooking the tidal creek behind the house.

Easter Male Beauty

Click to enlarge image.

University of Michigan Swears in Openly Gay Student Body President

The boyfriend has a slogan at the salon that reads "Time Overtakes the Woman who Doesn't Take the Time." The same can be said for political parties (and religious denominations) that refuse to embrace changing views of the upcoming generations and advances in levels of knowledge. As the GOP seems Hell bent to marginalize itself long term by pandering to the ignorant and reactionary forces of the tea bagger crowd, the voters of tomorrow are heading in a totally different direction. The recent election of a new student body president at the University of Michigan is a case in point. The new president, Chris Armstrong, is openly gay and he won the election by a landslide. Phyllis Schlafly must be beside herself. As the oldest and most reactionary generations die off and as conservative rural areas increasingly account for less of the voting public, it amazes me at times that the GOP seems to be engaged in a slow suicide in the hope of short term expediency. Here are highlights from The Michigan Daily:
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Elected in a landslide victory last Friday, LGBT Commission Chair Chris Armstrong of MForward is now the first openly gay MSA president — a fact he said he hopes will have large implications not only for the LGBT community on campus, but also for the greater University community. Armstrong said he hopes that being gay and holding a position as assembly president will demonstrate that any University student can represent the “spirit of Michigan.”
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In an interview with The Michigan Daily yesterday, Armstrong recalled how he did not expect to ever be elected MSA president, after hiding his identity throughout high school and staying out of the public eye. He admitted that he only came out to a few friends and his parents by the end of his senior year in high school.
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[T]he University isn’t the first university in the Big Ten to have an openly gay student government president. In 2006, Ohio State University elected an openly gay student to serve as the school’s student government president. Armstrong said his new position has been an amazing feat for the LGBT community. “I think that personally, it’s a big accomplishment for the LGBT community on campus,” Armstrong said, adding that his willingness to express his identity motivated him to run in the election.
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As the first openly gay MSA president, Armstrong calls his newly-elected position “symbolic” for the assembly. He said he hopes more people will feel welcome to be themselves at the University. He added that he encourages gay students to express their sexual orientation without fear of being discriminated against. “Hopefully individuals will feel comfortable coming out at U of M and know that it’s a comfortable environment despite fears and inhibitions,” he said.

A Preppy Primer Revisited

I still have my copy of “The Official Preppy Handbook," which was a great spoof on many of my friends and fraternity brothers at the University of Virginia, not to mention many of my law school class mates (e.g., my classmate Evan Thomas - now an author and bureau chief at Newsweek - was always the perfect preppie). Back in the 1970's, UVA was definitely a world of khaki pants, topsiders - I of course had some - and girls from women's colleges "down the road" dressed in their pink and green. The book was all too funny since it definitely was all too accurate on some of its points of satire. Now, a sequel if you will , called "True Prep" is coming out. I'll admit up front that I will likely buy a copy for laughs. The New York Times reviews the upcoming book and notes that the world of preppies has expanded and even includes gays. Here are some highlights:
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[E]ven for prepsters, it turns out, the world has changed.
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While the original book dwelled on such themes as the timelessness of preppy culture (“In a true democracy, everyone can be upper class and live in Connecticut”), the secret language of prepsters (“Summer is a verb”) and when it is proper to wear socks with Gucci loafers (Never!), the sequel will include segments on alcohol rehab and newfangled technology (no texting at the table, if you please). Edmund White contributes an essay on the gay preppy scene.
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And while “True Prep” dispenses a dollop of the upper-class frugality, many of its featured items are a bit more upmarket than the duck shoes and other L.L. Bean duds that dominated the first volume. Think Tory Burch, E. Goyard bags and the luxury jewelry brand Verdura.
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The new book also includes a section on black preppies, led by President Obama, noting that his wife, Michelle, often appears in J. Crew outfits.

"Conservatives" Continue to Try to Rewite/Dumb Down History

The loons of the far right offer many things that are upsetting, from their embrace of ignorance and out right lies to seemingly living in some warp alternate universe. I truly cannot understand the bizarre mindset where objective facts and data are viewed as meaningless. This insanity extends to trying to rewrite history to make it match their current insanity on various issues. Their approach? If history doesn't support your lies and theocratic agenda, just change it. This has occurred notably in Texas in the distortion of text book revisions, but the problem is much more pervasive. As the Soviets did for decades, the far right and extremist Christianist want to flat out say that historical facts are not true since they undermine their fantasy world view. McClatchy gives some examples of their dangerous efforts that seek to dumb down all to the far right's lobotomized view. The goal? To make the public more likely to fall for far right demagoguery. Here are some highlights (it's a bit long, but important to understand):

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Here are five recent examples of new conservative versions of history:
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JAMESTOWN
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Reaching for an example of how bad socialism can be, former House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said recently that the people who settled Jamestown, Va., in 1607 were socialists and that their ideology doomed them.
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"Jamestown colony, when it was first founded as a socialist venture, dang near failed with everybody dead and dying in the snow," he said in a speech March 15 at the National Press Club. *
It was a good, strong story, helping Armey, a former economics professor, illustrate the dangers of socialism, the same ideology that he and other conservatives say is at the core of Obama's agenda. It was not, however, true.
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The Jamestown settlement was a capitalist venture financed by the Virginia Company of London — a joint stock corporation — to make a profit. The colony nearly foundered owing to a harsh winter, brackish water and lack of food, but reinforcements enabled it to survive. It was never socialistic. In fact, in 1619, Jamestown planters imported the first African slaves to the 13 colonies that later formed the United States.
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ALEXANDER HAMILTON
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At the same event, Armey urged people to read the Federalist Papers as a guide to the sentiments of the tea party movement. "The small-government conservative movement, which includes people who call themselves the tea party patriots and so forth, is about the principles of liberty as embodied in the Constitution, the understanding of which is fleshed out if you read things like the Federalist Papers," Armey said.
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Others such as Democrats and the news media, "people here who do not cherish America the way we do," don't understand because "they did not read the Federalist Papers," he said. A member of the audience asked Armey how the Federalist Papers could be such a tea party manifesto when they were written largely by Alexander Hamilton, who the questioner said "was widely regarded then and now as an advocate of a strong central government."
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Armey ridiculed the very suggestion. "Widely regarded by whom?" he asked. "Today's modern, ill-informed political science professors? . . . I just doubt that was the case, in fact, about Hamilton."
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Hamilton, however, was an unapologetic advocate of a strong central government, one that plays an active role in the economy and is led by a president named for life and thus beyond the emotions of the people. Hamilton also pushed for excise taxes and customs duties to pay down federal debt. In fact, Ian Finseth said in a history written for the University of Virginia, others at the constitutional convention "thought his proposals went too far in strengthening the central government."
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THEODORE ROOSEVELT
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Theodore Roosevelt was long an icon of the Republican Party, a dynamic leader who ushered in the Progressive era, busting trusts, regulating robber barons, building the Panama Canal and sending the U.S. fleet around the world announcing ascendant American power.
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Fox TV commentator Glenn Beck, however, says that Roosevelt was a socialist whose legacy is destroying America. It started, Beck said, with Roosevelt's admonition to the wealthy of his day to spend their riches for the good of society. "We judge no man a fortune in civil life if it's honorably obtained and well spent," Roosevelt said, according to Beck. "It's not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it only to be gained so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community."
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Actually, Roosevelt said, "We GRUDGE no man a fortune ... if it's honorably obtained and well USED." But either way, Beck saw the threat. "Oh? Well, thank you," Beck said with scorn during his keynote speech to the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. The presidential suggestion that the wealthy of the Gilded Age should contribute to the good of society was a clear danger that must be condemned, Beck said.
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"Is this what the Republican Party stands for? Well, you should ask members of the Republican Party, because this is not our founders' idea of America. And this is the cancer that's eating at America. It is big government; it's a socialist utopia," Beck said. "And we need to address it as if it is a cancer. It must be cut out of the system because they cannot coexist. ... You must eradicate it. It cannot coexist."
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There's no doubt that Roosevelt was a domestic policy liberal by today's standards. In a 1910 speech in Kansas, he acknowledged that his "New Nationalism" meant "far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had." The 26th president insisted, however, that he wanted the government to guarantee opportunity, not a handout. "The fundamental thing to do for every man is to give him a chance to reach a place in which he will make the greatest possible contribution to the public welfare," he said. "Give him a chance, not push him up if he will not be pushed. ... Help any man who stumbles; if he lies down, it is a poor job to try to carry him; but if he is a worthy man, try your best to see that he gets a chance to show the worth that is in him."
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In his autobiography three years later, Roosevelt went on to dismiss the tenets of socialism as taught by Karl Marx as "an exploded theory." "Too many thoroughly well-meaning men and women in the America of today glibly repeat and accept," he wrote, "various assumptions and speculations by Marx and others which by the lapse of time and by actual experiment have been shown to possess not one shred of value." In addition, Roosevelt didn't advocate government ownership of the means of production, the definition of socialism.
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FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
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It's long been debated how well Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal government programs countered the Great Depression, but now a prominent conservative has introduced the idea that Roosevelt CAUSED the Depression. "FDR took office in the midst of a recession," Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. "He decided to choose massive government spending and the creation of monstrous bureaucracies. Do we detect a Democrat pattern here in all of this? He took what was a manageable recession and turned it into a 10-year depression."
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A year before, Bachmann went to the House floor to blame FDR and what she called the "Hoot-Smalley" tariffs for creating the Depression. "The recession that FDR had to deal with wasn't as bad as the recession (President Calvin) Coolidge had to deal with in the early '20s," she said.
Coolidge cut taxes and created the roaring '20s, Bachmann said. "FDR applied just the opposite formula: the Hoot-Smalley act, which was a tremendous burden on tariff restrictions. And of course trade barriers and the regulatory burden and of course tax barriers.
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"That's what we saw happen under FDR. That took a recession and blew it into a full-scale depression. The American people suffered for almost 10 years under that kind of thinking."
The truth? Historians agree that tariffs hurt trade and worsened the depression.
However, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act — not Hoot-Smalley — was proposed by two Republicans, Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon. A Republican House and a Republican Senate approved it. President Herbert Hoover, a Republican, signed it into law.
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The facts also show that the country was in something far worse than a "manageable recession" in March 1933 when Roosevelt took office. Stocks had lost 90 percent of their value since the crash of 1929. Thousands of banks had failed. Unemployment reached an all-time high of 24.9 percent just before Roosevelt was inaugurated.
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JOE MCCARTHY
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Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., burst onto the national stage in the early 1950s with accusations that he had a list of names of known Communists in the federal government. He didn't name them, was censured by the Senate eventually and his name became synonymous with witch hunts — McCarthyism.
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Now, the end of the Cold War has opened up spy files and identified many Communist spies who operated inside the government during the era. Some conservatives argue that this proves not only that McCarthy was right, but also that he was a hero and that he was smeared by liberals, the news media and historians. "Almost everything about McCarthy in current history books is a lie and will have to be revised," conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly said.
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"Liberals had to destroy McCarthy because he exposed the entire liberal establishment as having sheltered Soviet spies," conservative commentator Ann Coulter said in one interview.
"The myth of 'McCarthyism' is the greatest Orwellian fraud of our times," she said in another. "Liberals are fanatical liars, then as now. The portrayal of Senator Joe McCarthy as a wild-eyed demagogue destroying innocent lives is sheer liberal hobgoblinism. ... If the Internet, talk radio and Fox News had been around in McCarthy's day, my book wouldn't be the first time most people would be hearing the truth about 'McCarthyism.' "

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Yet even some prominent conservatives say that McCarthy's defenders go too far, and that even from a conservative perspective, McCarthy was no hero and damaged the country. "A dangerous movement has been growing among conservative writers to vindicate the late Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy and his campaign to expose Soviet spies in the U.S. government," Ronald Kessler wrote for the conservative Web site Newsmax.com. "The FBI agents who were actually chasing those spies have told me that McCarthy hurt their efforts because he trumped up charges, unfairly besmirched honorable Americans and gave hunting spies a bad name."
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Kessler said the release of secret Cold War files under the Venona Project confirmed that there were Soviet spies in the U.S. government. "The problem was that the people McCarthy tarnished as Communists or Communist sympathizers were not the real spies," Kessler wrote. "The cause of anti-communism, which united millions of Americans and which gained the support of Democrats, Republicans and independents, was undermined by Sen. Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin," wrote William Bennett, who was the conservative secretary of education under President Ronald Reagan.
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"McCarthy addressed a real problem: disloyal elements within the U.S. government. But his approach to this real problem was to cause untold grief to the country he claimed to love," Bennett wrote in his book "America: The Last Best Hope." "Worst of all, McCarthy besmirched the honorable cause of anti-communism. He discredited legitimate efforts to counter Soviet subversion of American institutions."

Happy Easter!

I want to extend Happy Easter greetings to readers who celebrate the holiday. Today we will go to church with the boyfriends parents and then take them out to lunch. I'd rather attend a Lutheran service, but we will go to Hampton Baptist - which thank God is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention - since his parents have been active in that church for years.

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Yesterday, we spent the better part of the day moving things out of the storage unit and back into the house. The painting is not yet complete, so everything is staged in the center of the great room and will be moved to rooms as they are completed. The marble floors that are now throughout the first floor look gorgeous and the PVC wainscoting when painted will look elegant and at the same time be waterproof. Indeed, everything from three feet above floor level is non-water absorbent, including the insulation, concrete board that was used instead of sheet rock, and all of the shoe moulding and trim that is likewise made of PVC. If the house ever floods again, we will truly be able to hose it out.

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Once everything is back in place, we are going to have a party for friends and neighbors how have been so kind and supportive over the last five months. The boyfriend, a/k/a Martha Stewart, can't wait to have a full kitchen again after so many months.

More Saturday Male Beauty

Click image to enlarge.

The Claim That Most Abusive Priests are Gay is "Unwarranted"

I have mentioned William Donohue previously and once again he is showing himself to be a total ass and liar. Donohue is again blaming the Catholic Church;s sexual abuse scandal that has swept across Europe, the USA, Australia and elsewhere on TEH Gays. Obviously, this excuse is easier for Kool-Aid drinking loons like Donohue rather than admit that the bishops, cardinals and Popes whose asses Donohue has so happily kissed over the years are morally bankrupt monsters who ought to be behind bars as accessories to crimes against children and youths. Sadly, Donohue is no more honest that the enablers of child abuse that he mindlessly worships. It is also interesting to observe how Donohue and those like him hold the corrupt Church hierarchy in an idolatrous awe. As Media Matters is reporting, Donohue's effort to blame the sex abuse scandal on gays is unfounded and at least one expert is calling him out on his lies. Here are some highlights:
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One of the researchers responsible for a landmark statistical study of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church says that Catholic League president William Donohue "drew an unwarranted conclusion" from her work when he claimed that "most" of the clergy who committed the abuse have been "gay."
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Explaining that it is an oversimplification to assume to that priests who abuse male victims are gay, Smith said: "The majority of the abusive acts were homosexual in nature. That participation in homosexual acts is not the same as sexual identity as a gay man."

As an example, Smith pointed to the case of Marcial Maciel Degollado, a prominent Mexican priest who allegedly abused male children and also allegedly carried on affairs with multiple women. Smith noted that while Maciel allegedly abused boys, most people would not think of him as a gay man.

In a November 18, 2009, Politics Daily column about Smith's research, David Gibson reported: "What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse," said Margaret Smith, a researcher from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, which is conducting an independent study of sexual abuse in the priesthood from 1950 up to 2002. "At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and an increased likelihood of sexual abuse."
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[F]actors such as greater access to boys is one reason for the skewed ratio. Smith also raised the analogy of prison populations where homosexual behavior is common even though the prisoners are not necessarily homosexuals, or cultures where men are rigidly segregated from women until adulthood, and homosexual activity is accepted and then ceases after marriage.
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"The empirical research does not show that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than heterosexual men to molest children. This is not to argue that homosexual and bisexual men never molest children. But there is no scientific basis for asserting that they are more likely than heterosexual men to do so."
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I continue to believe that the ease of access to boys by priests and the warped psycho-sexual development of many priest who entered seminary schools and high schools without ever experiencing normal sexuality of any kind are the real driving factors behind the problem in the Church.
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On a different note, one positive benefit of the latest round of sexual abuse revelations is that it may torpedo the effort to canonize the less than saintly John Paul II who worked to tak e the Church back to a 13th century mindset. Voice of America looks at this issue that involves increasing evidence that John Paul II protected sexual predators - often for many years. Here are some highlights:
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Five years ago Catholics around the world were mourning the death of Pope John Paul II, who headed the church for 27 years. Now questions have arisen over his record combating pedophile priests and it appears his fast track to sainthood may be slowing down.
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There is more than one reason for this. . . . . The other reasons have do with the child sex abuse scandal by priests currently engulfing the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II's record in combating pedophile priests is being questioned and a battle has erupted in the Vatican over how he should be remembered. New shadows on Pope John Paul II's image have been cast as revelations about new cases of child sex abuse by priests during his papacy emerge. Victims say he had to be aware and should have done more to stop what was happening.