More Monday Male Beauty

New York Times Calls for Lifting of Prop. 8 Ruling Stay

The list of major news outlets calling on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay of Judge Walker's ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger striking down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional continues to grow. Now, the New York Times is calling for the stay to be lifted so that marriages. Indeed, the Times goes even further and states that the stay should never have been granted in the first place - a point that I agree with completely. Particularly since under existing federal court decisions the Prop 8 proponents appear to lack any standing to appeal. Here are highlights from the Times editorial:
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Seven months have passed since Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in San Francisco following a much-publicized trial that turned up no evidence to justify the measure’s denial of equal protection and due process.
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Yet the 2008 initiative continues to inflict serious harm on same-sex couples and their families thanks to a court order that prevents gay men and lesbians from marrying in California while the case is being appealed. That stay should be lifted now. *
The stay should never have been granted in the first place. Applying traditional legal criteria, the extraordinary relief of a stay is only warranted when the applicant makes a strong showing of likely success on the merits and of irreparable injury in the absence of a stay — two arguments that cannot be satisfied here.
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As the trial judge’s ruling affirmed, the denial of marriage equality furthers no legitimate governmental aim. And defenders of Proposition 8 can point to no real injury they would suffer if gay men and lesbians are permitted to wed.
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Every day same-sex couples are denied their right to marry is another day of injustice for them and their families. Couples who wish to wed knowing that the appellate court could decide to uphold Proposition 8’s ban should be allowed to take that chance.

Scott Lively Warns of “Outbreak of Homosexuality” In Moldova

Speaking of the clinically insane, anti-gay douche bag and Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively - who not too long ago supposedly swore off anti-gay demagoguery in foreign countries - is at it again. This time the self-loathing homophobe is in Moldova - a portion of the former Soviet Union - ranting about an alleged secret plan by the homosexual powers of the EU to push an anti-discrimination law based on sexual orientation through the Moldovan government. Given the insane drivel found in Lively's "The Pink Swastika" which claimed that homosexuals were behind the Nazi Party, I guess it should be no surprise that Lively sees a conspiracy under every bush. The bigger question is why anyone remotely rational would even listen to the man. Here are highlights from Box Turtle Bulletin on Lively's latest effort to disseminate lies and hatred:
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A Moldovan news report: Public Association “Pentru Familie” / “For the family / states that a recently adopted Government bill threatens the institution of family and social morality as homosexuality is increasing in the Republic of Moldova. An international expert in the field of human rights, Lively Scott, warned of “an outbreak of homosexuality” in Moldova, if the parliament adopts the bill, reports Info-Prim Neo.
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Chairman of the association “Pentru Familie” Vasile Filat said at a news conference on Monday that if this law is passed in parliament, this would entail the legalization of same-sex marriages, adoption of children couples gay acceptance of homosexual practice as the norm in schools.
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Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively is up to his old tricks again, even though it was not even two months ago that he said he was through with anti-gay activism. Shocking, I know.
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Lively is adding a new twist to his vast worldwide homosexual conspiracy. Again, from the Moldovan web site: Lobbying for the legalization of homosexuality is made from outside the Republic of Moldova, by agents of millionaire George Soros, who is interested in the fact that homosexuals have become a force, said Lively, Scott.
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I wish I had just a tenth of the the imagination it takes to to make this up. The unfortunate thing however is that Moldova has a serious problem with severe anti-gay violence. In 2008, a gay pride march was in the Moldovan capital of Chisina was attacked and broken up by a mob of skinheads and Moldovan nationalists. Violence and calls to violence has a habit of following Lively around, which is just one of many reasons for his “ministry” being among the very few in the U.S. who is listed as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Supreme Court Rejects Another "Birther" Lawsuit

Given the far right elements on the U. S. Supreme Court - e.g., Justices Roberts, Thomas, Alito and Scalia - it will be interesting to see how the Fruit Loops/Kool-Aid drinker crowd tries to spin the latest rejection of a lunatic lawsuit brought by "birthers." Indeed, the Justices did not even deign to comment on the case as they turned it down. As I've noted before, anyone dealing with a full deck - a requirement that obviously disqualifies Mike Huckabee - ought not to clinging to the delusional myth that Barack Obama is not a native born American. CNN looks at the latest defeat for the irrational elements of the GOP base and Tea Party crowd. Here are some highlights:
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The Supreme Court has again rejected an appeal from a "birther" proponent questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama. The justices Monday turned aside without comment a request for a rehearing of various claims, after dismissing the original appeal in late January.
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The long-shot petition by Gregory Hollister had called on Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to withdraw from considering the constitutional claims, contending a conflict of interest by the president's two high court appointees.
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Lower federal claims had dismissed Hollister's claims. The justices had also dismissed earlier, unrelated lawsuits from individuals questioning Obama's citizenship. State birth certificate records show he was born August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His mother is a native of Kansas; his father was born in Kenya.
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The grass-roots legal issue has gained little legal or political footing, but continues to persist in the courts. . . . . The respondent in the case was labeled as "Barry Soetoro," the name Hollister said Obama used when he was a child living in Indonesia with his family. The case is Hollister v. Soetoro (10-678).
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A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll in July found that 71% of Americans believed Obama definitely or probably was born in the United States, while 27% said he definitely or probably was not. The sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points. The largest support for the idea he was definitely or probably not born in the United States was among Republicans, at 41%,
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As I have stated previously, to be a member of today's GOP one must be clinically insane, suffer from severe paranoia, or have had a lobotomy. Rational sentient individuals need not apply.

Bullycide Victims - A Photo Gallery

Some may wonder at my passion/anger when it comes to teen and youth suicide that arises from malicious bullying. Take a good look at this gallery of photos if you need a wake up call. NO ONE has the right to make someone else's life a living Hell. Yet that's the precise message that is disseminated daily by false Christians and whore like professional Christians who make a living spreading hatred towards LGBT individuals and perpetuating deliberate lies. And, yes, I mean folks like Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins, Scott Lively, and GOP elected officials who place pandering to Christianists ahead of saving young lives. They all literally have blood on their hands and the y continue to oppose effective anti-bullying laws and policies under the lie that suck laws and policies would promote homosexuality.

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Not all of these "bullyside" victims were LGBT, but a number of them were or were taunted for being perceived as gay by their tormentors. Conservative versions of Christianity and Islam are a truly toxic and deadly force in the world more often than not.

Monday Male Beauty

Anti-Gay Bullying - One Mother's Letter to Obama

As The Advocate and other news outlets have reported, President Obama - who I often refer to as out faux fierce advocate in the White House - will be holding an anti-bullying conference on March 10, 2011. The Advocate notes that Melody Barnes, the chief domestic policy adviser, announced the conference last week on a call with reporters. She said that participants would have the opportunity to speak with President Obama and high-level administration representatives about bullying and ways to prevent it in their communities. Not every parent who has lost a child to anti -gay bullying, however, will have an opportunity to speak with the President. One excluded parent is Alise Williams of Yorktown, Virginia, whose son Christian Taylor (pictured above) was driven to suicide by anti-gay bullying last Memorial Day weekend. The irony is that Alise's husband is in the U. S. military deployed overseas to protect the interests of American citizens - meanwhile his stepson was bullied to death because of religious based discrimination. She has shared her letter to the President Obama with me. Here are some highlights from Alise's letter to President Obama:
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I am not going to call in a favor because my husband is in the Army, or because my son was a DOD dependant, because quite frankly while my son is precious to me and he lived as a military child, EACH and EVERY child who has been the victim of bullying is of utmost importance to myself, my family, and their parents. When each parent who's child took their life due to bullying has a birthday or anniversary of their death - whether it is 1 month, 6 months, or 10 years later - we parents who belong to this club we DIDN'T sign up for but just HAPPEN to belong to, support each other. We check in and we get concerned if we don't hear from them. When you lose a child it throws you into another world, and if you have other children it is 10 times worse because then you worry every day about them and their safety.
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My husband was in Korea and asleep the day Christian took his life. He woke to me screaming into the answering machine at 4:30 AM Korea time,that Christian hung himself - you HAVE to come home, I cant do this alone.....
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More recently, when William, my 14 year old was shoved up against the wall and called gay, I followed the school procedure to report it. Nothing happened AGAIN! Even though in the school division's OWN student code of conduct handbook, the punishment mandated was 1 to 10 days non-discretionary suspension. . . . The Army is compassionately reassigning us to another state and school , . . .
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The only support the Government has given myself my kids and my husband is our unit in Korea who saw that we needed to be quickly reassigned away from here because the loss of even ONE child to bullycides is too much. I take a huge offense to your non-response when on last September FIVE kids died due to bullying, . . .
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This problem is going to continue to grow until you and your staff - and Congress - get real and realize that this is a very serious problem and it needs to be dealt with swiftly and in a timely manner. . . . . as I said before, I don't want special treatment because every child that we have lost is precious and the most special, loving caring souls we have lost.
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On the 15th of March, I will go to the Airport around 10:00 AM and go to the gate and meet my soldier and bring him home to a house that once again we are packing up and moving from due to bullying - to protect our kids.
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Respectfully Yours,
Alise Williams

Wife to SSG Andrew Juntti
US Army 1-38 Charlie Co
Camp Casey, Korea
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Unfortunately, the York County Schools seem utterly indifferent to bullying when the victims are attacked because of their perceived sexual orientation. Sadly, that mindset is in keeping with the demands of "godly Christians" who want to have the right to abuse and denigrate others merely because they don not subscribe to twisted Christianist religious beliefs. It makes me sick and ought to make Obama sick as well. Would that it would cause him to actually do something other than give lip service.

Conservative Ted Olson Has Become A Leading Voices For Equality

Perhaps I'm a tad biased because I always liked Barbara Olson, Ted Olson's late wife who die in the 9/11 attacks - she was on the plane that struck the Pentagon - despite some of her political views. But given Ted Olson's role in Perry v. Schwarzenegger and his outspokenness that the Constitution requires equal protection for ALL citizen's I find the man remarkable in his own right. He has shown the lie of the argument that conservatives should not support full legal equality for LGBT citizens and marriage equality in particular. Personally as an attorney who has read the case law, I believe Olson is 100% on target. As Olson has eloquently argued, the Constitution protects ALL citizens - not just those favored by a majority or those disliked by a vocal minority. And as for religious belief, it has no place in the application of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution whatsoever. Chris Geidner has a piece at MetroWeekly that looks at Olson's stellar work for marriage equality. Here are some highlights from the article:
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Calling it a matter of ''human dignity,'' lawyer Ted Olson addressed the board and other supporters of the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday, March 5, to discuss the challenge to Proposition 8 that he, along with David Boies, has been leading for nearly the past two years.
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The famed conservative lawyer who served as George W. Bush's lawyer in Bush v. Gore, told the crowd at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Woodley Park, ''We can't conquer discrimination in this country except if we're capable of dismantling things like Proposition 8 in California.''
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Saying that he expects the U.S. Supreme Court to agree with his arguments that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, Olson noted that the question of standing – whether there is an appropriate party appealing the case – may keep the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case from going forward. That won't stop him or AFER. ''If that doesn't happen in this case,'' he said, ''then the American Foundation for Equal Rights is prepared to do what it takes to bring a case in other jurisdictions that will go all the way to the Supreme Court.''
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On whether the March 4 action taken by Boehner toward beginning a House attempt to defend DOMA is a good thing, Olson said, ''I don't know. … It'll be interesting to see whether they have legal standing to do it. That's another tough question.'' The question of what action the lawmakers will be able to take – whether they will be able to intervene as a party to various DOMA challenges or be limited to filing briefs as an amicus curiae, or friend of the court – is not completely clear.
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Providing a stark contrast to Boehner's view that ''the Obama Administration has opened [a] divisive issue'' by refusing to defend Section 3 of DOMA in court, Olson argued on Saturday that, of the fight for marriage equality, ''It is a conservative value.'' Speaking about the Newsweek cover story that he wrote in January 2010 on the issue, he added, ''But I wanted to make the point that it isn't a conservative case for gay marriage, it isn't a liberal case for gay marriage, it's an American case.'' He told the crowd, ''I wanted to help open eyes.''
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[H]is response is: ''That's fine, and that's your religion … But your church or your religion can't put its principles into the constitution of California. That's a violation of the First Amendment. So, what do you say after that?''
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Olson says he is certain that his arguments – the arguments for marriage equality – are the correct ones. He adds, though, ''[O]ur job is not just to win this case in court. Our job is to win this case in court and in the arena of public opinion. We want to convince the people of America.''
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Of the public case being made for marriage equality, Olson pointed to the rapid movement over the past two years in public opinion polls. He also pointed out the two people who received HRC's Ally for Equality Award: Iowa resident Zach Wahls, who was ''raised by two women'' and spoke out against efforts to end marriage equality in Iowa, and Craig Stowell, who published a full-page ad in New Hampshire's Union Leader that contained a letter supporting his gay brother Calvin's right to marry.
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In a closing argument of sorts, he said, ''If people will listen to us, they will be persuaded. If they will hear what we have to say, they will start to believe. They will support the right of individuals in our society to have rights to marriage, irrespective of their sexual orientation.

The Coming 'Implosion' of Benedict's Vatican

I do not deny that I am extremely critical of the Catholic Church and its, in my view, utterly corrupt leadership. Why? Because the Church damages so many lives and causes so much emotional and spiritual pain as it clings to viewpoints centuries out of date with reality. In addition, the handling of the sex abuse scandal reveals that most of the Church leadership belongs in prison for criminal conspiracy and crimes against children and youths rather than trying to preach morality to others. Andrew Sullivan has a great analysis of the problem:
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The pattern is clear: homophobic doctrine, arrested emotional development of young Catholic gay boys and adolescents, a high proportion of priests either acting out sexually with boys whose age roughly approximates their own emotional maturity or coping with these pressures through drugs or alcohol. All of which is then compounded by a culture of hierarchy and silence and obedience that impedes airing this clearly, fails to protect children immediately and also allows these screwed up priests to stay in place.
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There has been some progress in accountability and openness. But the core elements that made the Catholic Church one of the biggest pedophile conspiracies in the world for decades if not centuries remain: incoherent, irrational and data-resistant doctrines on homosexual orientation and sex in general; a Western culture in which fewer and fewer straight men are prepared to give up sex and love and marriage to serve the church; and a hierarchical structure designed to instill control rather than openness, and perfectly set up to enable cover-ups.
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Since the church even now seems incapable of treating child abuse as seriously as the rest of society, it seems to me that increased police involvement is necessary.
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Harsh talk. But appropriate under the circumstances. Sullivan is not the only one who sees the need for a radical change. Massimo Franco, a veteran political writer for Corriere della Sera, Italy’s most prestigious daily newspaper, has a new book “Once Upon a Time, There was a Vatican” that looks at the impending end to business as usual whether the Vatican likes it or not. Here are highlights from a review in the National Catholic Reporter:
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“Implosion,” Franco suggests, is the word many Vatican-watchers apply to the current state of affairs. There’s a palpable sense of fin du régime in the Roman air, he says; Franco quotes diplomats accredited to the Holy See comparing themselves to the final ambassadors to the Republic of Venice just before its collapse in 1797.
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Yet Franco applies a different spin to this malaise. The meltdowns of the last five years are symptoms rather than causes, he says, of a much deeper crisis. They’re signs of the end of an epoch, in which the Vatican represented the religious and moral sentiments of Western civilization, and the dawn of a new era in which Catholicism has become a minority subculture. Neither the Vatican nor the hierarchy more generally has figured out how to respond to this new world, Franco argues, explaining the “profound confusion” one detects among all the pope’s men.
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The day of reckoning was held at bay for a half-century by the Cold War, and for a quarter-century by the towering charisma of Pope John Paul II, Franco says, but now the bill has come due.
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What’s now in decay, he argues, is instead a certain kind of Vatican – the Vatican as chaplain of the West, treated with deference by courts and governments, able to shape history by the exercise of its institutional power. Something new has to replace that Vatican, he says, and its outlines are still vague.
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In that complicated mix, C’era Una Volta un Vaticano is an important contribution, exposing a shift in the historical plates which lies beneath the occasional earthquakes in Rome. One hopes the book will eventually find an English publisher.
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Clearly, the days of deference toward the Vatican need to end immediately - or at least until the ranks of the Church hierarchy are thoroughly cleansed and the hierarchy no longer has the earmarks of a criminal enterprise geared at protecting sexual predators and pedophiles.

Walker Appears to be Leading the GOP to Disaster in Wisconsin

As the chart above indicates, GOP Governor Walker is alienating moderates and independents in Wisconsin in a major way. Will Walker and the GOP wake up? Probably not since extremists rarely recognize just how out of the mainstream they have become. Hopefully, they pay a price come the next election cycle.

A Catholic Case for Same-Sex Marriage

An 81 year old Catholic woman, Erma M. Durkin, Glen Arm , has written an amazing and heart felt letter to the Baltimore Sun wherein she argues why as Catholic she has to support same sex marriage. In doing so, she displays more wisdom, decency and charity towards other members of humanity than one will find among the ranks of the bankrupt Church leadership and the far to numerous sheeple in the pews who dread anything that would require thought and true moral analysis of issues. I reprint Ms. Durkin's letter to the editor in its entirety with my emphasis in bold face:
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For all of my 81 years I have absorbed, lived and taught the doctrines and spirituality of the Roman Catholic Church. My Church has directed me well to love what is right and just. Not only to stand up for the oppressed but to search my own soul lest it harbor prejudice or hatred toward anyone. Being true to one's conscience is an essential teaching of the Catholic faith.
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And so I must speak now as my conscience dictates. Having studied this question of same-gender marriage from every angle available to me, and having associated with broad range of members of the gay community, I conclude that same-gender couples have a right to petition the state to have their marriages lawfully recognized and protected. And the state, considering the right of all its citizens to live free from bullying, discrimination, physical and psychological violence, which is so carelessly heaped upon gay and lesbian persons, would do well to support same-gender marriage.
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To want to be married is not a frivolous request. If anyone wanted to live a dissolute and totally selfish life they would not want to tie themselves down with a marriage certificate! Marriage is a bond that is made public, it brings with it responsibilities and entails sacrifices.
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The truth is there are homosexual couples, living right now, in long-term relationships, and a significant number are raising children. But because their bond has never been considered "normal," they have not been afforded the dignity and respect their lives deserve by church or state. The state now has the opportunity to make a level playing field for all it's citizens. Churches have their own laws directing whom they will allow to be married, and their freedom to do so is protected in law.

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Is there any other group of human beings that has struggled so hard, so long to live within the law? Human beings that want to live as a family unit, within their extended families? Not, undeservedly, outlawed by state and church?
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Do not assume that all Catholics are against gay marriage. The number of Catholics within the church that offer education and understanding for gays and lesbians is significant. They, too, hold marriage in high esteem, but they want it to be available to their gay and lesbian children also.
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Erma M. Durkin, Glen Arm

Richmond Times-Dispatch Profiles LGBT activist Guy Kinman

Richmond, Virginia is not the most progressive of cities when it comes to LGBT rights and equality (although it now has a LGBT tourism page on its convention and visitors center web page unlike even more backwards Hampton Roads). Nor is the Richmond Times-Dispatch what one would exactly describe as a liberal news outlet. Actually, it often borders on the near reactionary. Hence my surprise to find a lengthy and positive piece in today's publication on Guy Kinman, now 93, a long time activist in the Richmond LGBT community. Like me, Kinman came out later in life - actually a decade later than I did - and had been married. As he describes it, he tried to live up to other people's expectations. Something that I suspect so many of us in the LGBT community have done for varying periods of time until we finally face the fact that it's not working and that we are lying to ourselves and those we love. Here are some profile highlights:
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More than a quarter-century later, Guy M. Kinman Jr. looks back on what he calls "the greatest moment in my life" and remains amazed that he was a part of it.
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It was December 1985, and Kinman, the new president of the Richmond-Virginia Gay Alliance, led a campaign in which billboards were placed across Richmond with gently provocative messages such as: Someone You Know Is Gay … Maybe Someone You Love. For Richmond at the time, it bordered on extraordinary.
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The billboards marked a remarkable personal awakening for Kinman after a lifetime of gradual self-discovery, largely spent trying to fulfill other people's expectations. The former Presbyterian minster and Air Force chaplain, who had been married for 10 years before divorcing, didn't come to terms with the fact he was gay until his 50s.
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In his 60s, he stepped forward in a very public way to spearhead the billboard campaign, bringing an innate confidence and hard-earned fearlessness, along with a can't-we-all-just-get-along nature to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement.
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"Guy is the institutional memory for the Richmond LGBT community," said Jay Squires, president of the Gay Community Center of Richmond. "I don't have any hesitation at all to call Guy one of the most committed activists that I know. He's really a deep thinker about our issues."
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An introspective sort, Kinman has thought a lot about the billboard project and his life in recent months, since the Virginia Historical Society and the Gay Community Center of Richmond created the Guy Kinman Research Award to promote historical scholarship on LGBT issues.
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[D]uring the Korean War he was accepted into the Air Force as a chaplain. He enjoyed the work better than preaching and earned commendations, but he still didn't feel at home with his job or himself. Near the end of his six years as a chaplain, he realized he was "not the authentic person that God had intended me to be."

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He left the ministry, took a sales job and moved to Richmond. He fell in love and in 1962 married a Richmond woman and became a stepfather to her three children. He remained married for a decade, but like the ministry, it was never a comfortable fit. The word "gay" never came up during the marriage, Kinman said, but he said it was clear he didn't belong in that sort of relationship.
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"It was best for both of us," he said. "I walked out with a great sense of freedom. Not freedom that she had been a burden, because she was a wonderful woman, but having to be a heterosexual man had been impossible."
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He was in a unique position compared with younger members of the LGBT community. He had no parents to disown him, and because he was retired, he didn't have to worry about an employer finding out. He didn't care if people knew he was gay. In fact, he was glad to tell them. He didn't mind going on television or presenting himself at newspaper editors' offices. He was happy to have his name associated with the project, even fielding the calls that came in on the phone number printed on the billboards.
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Something he's thought a lot about is the advancement of the LGBT movement in the past 25 years — the greater standing of gays and lesbians legally and in society in general, chief among them. He's thrilled and gratified at the recent repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that barred openly gay individuals from serving. He's also glad to be around to witness it.
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It's sad that so many - especially Christianists - are so afraid of living an authentic life as the person God made them to be. Instead, they hide behind religion as an excuse for self-hatred and the hatred on others. Kudos to Kinman for having the guts to be who he is. From my own experience, it is such a liberating feeling and hopefully sets an example for others.

More Sunday Male Beauty

Ireland's Dáil Now Has Two Openly Gay Members

In yet another sign that Irish society is advancing and modernizing rapidly - and leaving the bigotry and reactionary influence of the Roman Catholic Church further and further behind -Ireland's parliament, the Dáil, now has two openly gay members. This is something that would have been unthinkable not so very long ago - in fact, being gay was not decriminalized until 1993. I congratulate these political pioneers, Dominic Hannigan (pictured above) and John Lyons for making history and hopefully opening minds as they perform their parliamentary duties. As Lyons notes, he wants to be viewed based on his abilities and the power of his ideas rather than being defined by who he loves. Here are highlights from the Irish Times:
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“The last thing in the world that I want is to be stereotyped as a gay TD,” says Lyons, who stood in Dublin North West. “I hope people see me as a competent young person, with new ideas, who is energetic and capable. But the fact that homosexuality was still against the law in the early 1990s says a lot about things back then, and how Ireland has changed.
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The 33-year-old says he has received many congratulatory texts and e-mails “of encouragement and positivity” since being elected, specifically referring to the fact that he was open about his sexuality. “It’s great it can be said in public. The feedback I’ve been getting since being elected says it all.”
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Could he imagine an openly gay candidate canvassing at his door in Ballymun when he was a teenager? “No, I couldn’t. So it’s great that it can be said in public now. Growing up, I didn’t have a role model of someone who was gay and also in the public eye. But I hope the fact myself and Dominic have been elected will show people that you are more than your sexuality. We’re in the public eye in a positive way.”
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DOMINIC HANNIGAN , who also won a Dáil seat for the first time in this election, represents Meath East. A civil engineer by training, he first became involved in politics in 2004 when he was elected a councillor; in 2007 he was made a senator.
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“The fact I was gay would have been known for many years in my circle,” he says. “Then in 2005, when I stood in the Meath byelection, I decided that I’d be upfront about it. It was a worry that people might say I had something to hide if I didn’t, and use it against me.”
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Like Lyons, Hannigan says he could not imagine an openly gay candidate canvassing in his area when he was a teenager. “Some people have said to me that they admire my honesty. The biggest surprise is how understanding people have been.” When he was a teenager he had no gay role model who held the kind of position he now has, he says. “Maybe me being open about it will help other young gay people to know they can also succeed.”

No One Cared He Was Gay Except The Pentagon - A Soldier's Memoriam

In light of the bullshit taking place at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command near Charleston, South Carolina, a post done by my friend Lyndon Evans - one of the first LGBT bloggers I got to know when I started this blog nearly four years ago - is all the more poignant. It honors a gay soldier killed in Afghanistan. It also shows the toxic evil of allowing personal religious based bigotry to hold sway in the U. S. military such as is apparently the case of Capt. Thomas W. Bailey pictured in my prior post. Lyndon's post (which has been cross posted by Pam Spaulding as well) looks at the sacrifice made by Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt age 31 (pictured at right). Here is Lyndon's post from Focus on the Rainbow in its entirety (the bold faced emphasis is mine):
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There were days I hated being a reporter or news/sportscaster as that was when I had to report on tragedy or death. All these many years later I have come full circle because today I hate my vocation as a journalist blogger.
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I could have ignored this story, wrote something more palatable to ones senses or not posted at all today. But that would have been the easy way and going against the mission of this blog to focus on one person, issue or event in the Rainbow a day at a time.
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Back then I would report such stories often with a damp eye. Today will be no different as I write this except you won’t hear my voice crack as I once spoke into a microphone.
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It was a week ago today in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan that Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt age 31 was killed during an attack on his unit by insurgents with an IED. Wilfahrt was from Rosemount, Minnesota and this past Friday Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton ordered that yesterday all flags be lowered to half-staff to honor the state’s fallen son. A celebration of Cpl. Wilfahrt’s life was celebrated Friday at the Ft. Snelling Officers’ Club. He was a proud member of the 3rd platoon 552nd MP Battalion U.S. Army serving on patrol at the time of his death. But there is more to this story.
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Up until the time some two years ago when Wilfahrt decided to enlist he was an out and proud gay man. But with finding himself in the quandary of wanting to serve his Country and the policy of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, he decided for the sake of pursuing his wish to join the Army he would go back into the closet so he could protect the Constitution and all of us the American citizens. That is quite an irony. Protect the Constitution and a Nation which at best holds him as second class person and a military ready to kick him out.
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In a radio inteview the other day his mother Lori Wilfahrt spoke to reporter Cathy Wurzer of Minnesota Public Radio (you can hear the interview and read it here) and when Wurzer asked her if she was concerned about her son being gay and in the military she replied, It did a lot. I think it concerned him as well. He spent a lot of time thinking about it and he came to terms with it. He knew he would have to go back in the closet, that he would have to keep that to himself. And he did, for at least part of his stay in the Army. But when I talked to him (or when he wrote maybe) when he was in Afghanistan, he said nobody cares. He said, ‘Everybody knows, nobody cares.’ He said, ‘Even the really conservative, religious types, they didn’t care either.’

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Nobody cared that Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt was gay. Not the enemy, not his fellow soliders, only the Pentagon. Rest In Peace Corporal.
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It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. – General George S. Patton.
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More Bullshit Against Suspected Gays by the U. S. Navy

With all the problems facing the nation and the U.S. military, one would think that commanding officers would have better things to do than fabricate offenses in order to harass those that might be suspected of being gay. But not so at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, near Charleston, South Carolina. There what sounds like a purely innocent event has been used as a tool to force a young sailor out of the Navy. It has all the earmarks of the type of deceit and games used against two of my clients a few years back who were anonymously accused of being gay (they had the last laugh since they now work as civilian contractors making many times what they were paid in the Navy). I would venture that if anyone needs to be forced from the Navy it's the jackass officer, Capt. Thomas W. Bailey (pictured at left), that has pushed this matter to create an issue where there was none. It's the homophobes and Christianists who subvert the U.S. Constitution to their personal religious based bigotry, not the gays, who need to be discharged. Here are highlights on this batshitery from the Washington Post:
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To hear Navy Petty Officer Stephen C. Jones tell it, what happened in his bedroom one night last month was purely innocuous: Another male sailor came by to watch "The Vampire Diaries," and they both dozed off in the same bed. "That is the honest, entire story," Jones said.
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Navy officials, however, have a different view of his bedroom behavior at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, near Charleston, S.C. Even though there is no evidence the 21-year-old sailor took part in any hanky-panky or that his friend was not permitted to visit, Jones has been charged with dereliction of duty. The Navy is seeking to discharge him, a move that he is contesting.
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"The subterfuge is, they believe this kid is a homosexual, but they have no proof of it," said Gary Myers, Jones's civilian attorney. "So what they've done here is to trump this thing up as a crime. This is not a crime."
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Some gay rights advocates have questioned whether commanders opposed to the new law [DADT repeal] might try to subvert it by pressing other disciplinary charges against people they suspect of being gay.
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"It's been the case for years that commanders had at their disposal the means to chapter someone out of the military for something other than homosexual conduct," said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United
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The investigative summary and charging documents do not specify how Jones's actions constituted unprofessional conduct. Jones said his friend often stopped by his room to watch videos, and he noted that visiting hours lasted until 2 a.m. that Saturday night. He and his attorney said they have repeatedly asked the Navy for clarification.
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Dougan, the Navy spokesman, acknowledged that no regulation specifically prohibits sailors from falling asleep in the same bed. He said rules do require them to "behave professionally in the barracks" and that Capt. Thomas W. Bailey, the commanding officer, concluded that Jones and McGee had not done so,. "The determination was that two sailors sharing the same rack was unprofessional."
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McGee was also charged in the case. Unlike Jones, he agreed to accept disciplinary proceedings that resulted in docked pay but allowed him to stay in the Navy. Neither man was officially charged with being gay. But Jones said McGee told him that Bailey "asked him if being a homosexual was going to be an issue" if he stayed in the Navy.

Sunday Male Beauty

Protection of Abusive Priests Continues in Philadelphia

Speaking of protectiong child rapist priests, the proverbial shit continues to hit the fan - and rightfully so - in Philadelphia where dozens of priests involved in sexual abuse continue to be in ministry in unsuspecting parishes. The Philadelphia Inquirer has an editorial and the New York Times has more on the outrageous (and morally bankrupt) behavior of the Catholic Church leadership in that city. Of course, the problem is anything but unique to Philadelphia and seems the norm as opposed to the exception to the rule when the Catholic Church hierarchy is involved. Meanwhile, a Catholic college has fired a gay priest who has no history of sexual misconduct. Talk about ass backwards priorities. Yet again I find myself asking how can any moral person can continue to be a practicing Catholic when it is so obvious that the institutional Church is rotten to the core including at the heart of the Vatican? First these highlights from the Times story:
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Three weeks after a scathing grand jury report said the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had provided safe haven to as many as 37 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior toward minors, most of those priests remain active in the ministry.
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The possibility that even one predatory priest, not to mention three dozen, might still be serving in parishes — “on duty in the archdiocese today, with open access to new young prey,” as the grand jury put it — has unnerved many Roman Catholics here and sent the church reeling in the latest and one of the most damning episodes in the American church since it became engulfed in the sexual abuse scandal nearly a decade ago.
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The situation in Philadelphia is “Boston reborn,” said David J. O’Brien, who teaches Catholic history at the University of Dayton.
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The church has not explained directly why these priests, most of whom were not publicly identified, are still active, though it is under intense pressure to do so. Cardinal Justin Rigali initially said there were no active priests with substantiated allegations against them, but six days later, he placed three of the priests, whose activities had been described in detail by the grand jury, on administrative leave.
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“The thing that is significant about Philadelphia is the assumption that the authorities had made changes and the system had been fixed,” said Terence McKiernan, the president of BishopAccountability.org, which archives documents from the abuse scandal in dioceses across the country. “But the headline is that in Philadelphia, the system is still broke.”
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[A]t least a few people who have said, ‘I’m not going to be giving to the church’ ” and that some were not fulfilling their pledges to give to the church’s capital campaign.
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As I have stated many times before, only massive losses of Church members - and more importantly, massive drops in donations are the only things that will force the Church to change. Any claims of contrition are clearly disingenuous bullshit aimed at calming the sheeple in the pews. Here are highlights of what the Inquirer had to say on the scandal:
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If officials of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia want to prove they really meant their apology published last week over the clergy sexual-abuse scandal, they should get behind a two-part legislative effort in Harrisburg to speed justice for victims of priests or any other predators.
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The raw details of the felony charges against two priests, one defrocked priest, and a parochial-school teacher included the raping and sodomizing of two altar boys. Meanwhile, the top official overseeing parish priests was charged with child endangerment for his role in assigning priests.
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Yet, incredibly, there was no sign this week that the archdiocese or its lobbying arm - the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference - plans to do the right thing and support the legislative reform effort, which should cover all wrongdoers and not just priests.
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Two Democratic state lawmakers from the city, Reps. Michael P. McGeehan and Louise Williams Bishop, introduced bills that would redress past wrongs, as well as better assure that no future victim of sexual abuse would be denied a day in court.
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Once opposed to the civil-suit window, McGeehan's conversion came due to the appalling revelations about the accused clergy and the grand jury finding that the archdiocese had kept as many as 37 clergymen in parishes despite abuse accusations. "We are sorry," the official church apology read. But, as scripture says: Know them by their works.
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Will the Church do the right thing and support the legislation? Of course not. Here in Virginia the Church rabidly opposed legislation that fortunately passed and extended the statute of limitations to 20 years.

Will "MERS" Create Another Blow to Residential Real Estate?

As homeowners, realtors and others continue to struggle with the the consequences of the residential real estate market meltdown (my firm's real estate related revenues are down over $100,000 and many realtors are facing bankruptcy) another possible issue of earth quake like proportions lurks over the horizon which could deal another huge blow to the industry and the economy. What is it? It's called MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, and typifies the chaos in the mortgage industry where far too much documentation is missing and the actual owners of loans - i.e., those with the real legal right to foreclose on defaulted loans - may be unascertainable. It's a mess and is particularly ominous for those trying to effect loan restructures since servicers of loans are not the real noteholders who are the only ones who can agree to loan modifications. The result is that struggling homeowners cannot get answers or approval of restructures and find themselves with two options: bankruptcy and/or foreclosure - even though many of the foreclosures may in fact be invalid. Here are highlights from a New York Times article that looks at the looming debacle:
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[T]he MERS Corporation, claims to hold title to roughly half of all the home mortgages in the nation — an astonishing 60 million loans. Never heard of MERS? That’s fine with the mortgage banking industry—as MERS is starting to overheat and sputter. If its many detractors are correct, this private corporation, with a full-time staff of fewer than 50 employees, could turn out to be a very public problem for the mortgage industry.
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Judges, lawmakers, lawyers and housing experts are raising piercing questions about MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, whose private mortgage registry has all but replaced the nation’s public land ownership records. Most questions boil down to this:
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How can MERS claim title to those mortgages, and foreclose on homeowners, when it has not invested a dollar in a single loan? And, more fundamentally: Given the evidence that many banks have cut corners and made colossal foreclosure mistakes, does anyone know who owns what or owes what to whom anymore?
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[T]he legal challenges to MERS, its practices and its records are mounting. The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled last year that MERS could no longer file foreclosure proceedings there, because it does not actually make or service any loans. Last month in Utah, a local judge made the no-less-striking decision to let a homeowner rip up his mortgage and walk away debt-free. MERS had claimed ownership of the mortgage, but the judge did not recognize its legal standing.
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“The state court is attracted like a moth to the flame to the legal owner, and that isn’t MERS,” says Walter T. Keane, the Salt Lake City lawyer who represented the homeowner in that case.
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And, on Long Island, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled in February that MERS could no longer act as an “agent” for the owners of mortgage notes. He acknowledged that his decision could erode the foundation of the mortgage business.
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[B]y the 1990s, the centuries-old system of land records was showing its age. Many county clerk’s offices looked like something out of Dickens, with mortgage papers stacked high. Some clerks had fallen two years behind in recording mortgages. For a mortgage banking industry in a hurry, this represented money lost. Most banks no longer hold onto mortgages until loans are paid off. Instead, they sell the loans to Wall Street, which bundles them into investments through a process known as securitization.
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MERS’s legal troubles, however, aren’t going away. In August, the Ohio secretary of state referred to federal prosecutors in Cleveland accusations that notaries deputized by MERS were signing hundreds of documents without any personal knowledge of them. The attorney general of Massachusetts is examining a complaint by a county registrar that MERS owes the state tens of millions of dollars in unpaid fees.
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Federal bankruptcy courts and state courts have found that MERS and its member banks often confused and misrepresented who owned mortgage notes. In thousands of cases, they apparently lost or mistakenly destroyed loan documents. The problems, at MERS and elsewhere, became so severe last fall that many banks temporarily suspended foreclosures.
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Alan M. White, a law professor at the Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana, last year matched MERS’s ownership records against those in the public domain. The results were not encouraging. “Fewer than 30 percent of the mortgages had an accurate record in MERS,” Mr. White says. “I kind of assumed that MERS at least kept an accurate list of current ownership. They don’t. MERS is going to make solving the foreclosure problem vastly more expensive.”
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MERS is a legal fiction. If MERS owned nothing, how could it bounce mortgages around for more than a decade? And how could it file millions of foreclosure motions?
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The situation is a disaster. We are routinely asked to provide copies of documents from closings that occurred 4 0r 5 years ago - I suspect because entire loan files have been lost. In Virginia and many other states, to foreclose, one technically needs to be the holder of the ORIGINAL signed note - a standard that cannot be met when the loan file no longer exists or has been irretrievably lost.

Are Republicans Playing the Christianists on DOMA Defense?

In today's GOP giving political fellatio to the Christian Right is de riguer since the religious Kool-Aid drinking crowd makes up such a large portion of the GOP base. But, in announcing his plan to defend DOMA, it seems that John Boehner may be trying to have things both ways: take steps to keep the Kool-Aid drinkers quiet, while perhaps not putting a full blown effort into the effort since in truth, outside the Christo-fascist set, same sex marriage is not a high priority item. The New York Time's review of the Boehner/GOP defense plan seems to be a watered down approach to avoid the possibility that the issue be shown to be more smoke than fire except among professional Christians, self-enriching whores like Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown, and child rapist protecting members of the Catholic Church hierarchy. As noted in previous posts, defending DOMA in court is a far different matter than shouting out sound bites to untethered from reality political audiences. Should the GOP move forward in defending DOMA in court, I hope they find out that they have merely set themselves up for ridicule and defeat. Here are some story highlights:
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House Republicans quietly moved Friday to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages, saying they would step in to argue for the measure’s constitutionality after the Obama administration’s decision to stop defending it.
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Republican leaders had the option of inserting themselves in the case by introducing a resolution on the House floor and allowing members to speak out on the issue. Instead they released a statement of their intent on a Friday afternoon when the House was out of session.
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By choosing that route, Republican leaders illuminated a central problem they face in the 112th Congress: how to reflect the priorities of traditional social conservatives when much of the party’s energy is focused on the federal budget and the national debt, the animating passions of the freshman class of lawmakers.
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Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana set off a debate within the party last month when he warned fellow Republicans not to get bogged down in the cultural wars of yore and to “agree to get along for a little while” on social issues.
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Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio took to the political tightrope with an arabesque on Friday, when he announced in a news release that he would convene the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, made up of the three top Republicans and two most senior Democrats in the House, “for the purpose of initiating action by the House to defend this law of the United States.”
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The advisory group can now decide to ask courts to appoint it as a party in cases involving the marriage act or it can simply file a brief or make an argument as an interested observer.
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Support for action by the House to defend the marriage statute came from some conservative groups and lawmakers. But many freshmen in the Republican caucus were silent on the matter.
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Mr. Boehner said. “The constitutionality of this law should be determined by the courts, not by the president unilaterally, and this action by the House will ensure the matter is addressed in a manner consistent with our Constitution.”

The move drew rebukes from gay rights groups and some Democrats. “I think it’s sad that the speaker of the House wants to spend taxpayer funds to discriminate against people,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and the lead sponsor of a bill to repeal the marriage act. “It is his right to do this. But it is totally wrong.”

More Saturday Male Beauty

Delusional GOP Nutcases and the Run Up to 2012

George Will and I agree on very few things nowadays. But we do agree on one thing - that the lunatics and tawdry prostitute like panderers in the GOP are destroying that once respectable political party and driving more and more sane and even half-way thinking people running away from the GOP screaming. Will is especially harsh with Mike Huckabee - who Rachel Maddow suggested should stick to shilling for weight loss products - and serial adulterer Newt Gingrich. These two men - along with Rick Santorum and others of similar ilk who would prostitute their mothers if they thought it would endear them to ignorant, Bible thumping Christianist - are making the prospects of a viable GOP presidential candidate ever more difficult. Here are highlights from Will's Washington Post slam of the delusional loons who are increasingly the face of the GOP:
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If pessimism is not creeping on little cat's feet into Republicans' thinking about their 2012 presidential prospects, that is another reason for pessimism. This is because it indicates they do not understand that sensible Americans, who pay scant attention to presidential politics at this point in the electoral cycle, must nevertheless be detecting vibrations of weirdness emanating from people associated with the party.
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The most recent vibrator is Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who won the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa and reached that year's national convention with more delegates than Mitt Romney, and who might run again.
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Republicans should understand that when self-described conservatives such as Malzberg voice question-rants like the one above and Republicans do not recoil from them, the conservative party is indirectly injured. As it is directly when Newt Gingrich, who seems to be theatrically tiptoeing toward a presidential candidacy, speculates about Obama having a "Kenyan, anti-colonial" mentality.
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Let us not mince words. There are at most five plausible Republican presidents on the horizon - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Utah governor and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts governor Romney and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.

So the Republican winnowing process is far advanced. But the nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons.
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Will the rank and file of the GOP get Will's message? Probably not for the simple reason that most of the GOP base is a least as crazy and untethered from reality as are Huckabee and Gingrich. Today's GOP base embraces ignorance, wild conspiracy theories, and a rejection of objective fact and reality.

A Snap Shot View of Why Same Sex Marriage is Required under the U.S. Constitution

As the debate over same sex marriage continues to rage around the nation with Christianists and their whore like sycophants in the Republican Party doing all in their power to engender anti-gay haired. one member of Congress has expressed why these theocrats and political whores are wrong. He in a relatively short op-ed describes more or less precisely why I believe that the U.S. Constitution requires same sex marriage both as a matter of equal protection under the law and as a matter of freedom of religion. For too long the nation's laws have been skewed to support only one particular set of religious beliefs. This needs to stop NOW. Congressman Jim Langevin's op-ed is in the Providence Journal. Here are some highlights:
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For many years, I supported civil unions as a reasonable way to achieve consensus on a divisive issue, providing rights and protections to same-sex couples while respecting the deeply held beliefs of those not comfortable with the idea of marriage rights.
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Then, three years ago, I attended the commitment ceremony of a longtime staff member and his partner of nine years. Before their friends and family, they professed their love, commitment and respect for each other. Their sentiments were just as moving, heartfelt and sincere as any of the vows I had heard at other weddings, yet I realized that their union would not be treated the same under the law. That difference struck me as fundamentally unjust.
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Based on my own experiences and my firm belief that all Americans should be treated equally under the law, I am now convinced that affording full marriage equality rights to same-sex couples is the only fair and responsible approach for both Rhode Island and the nation. If our nation expects to provide equal protection to all, then our civic institutions must reflect that noble goal.
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As a U.S. representative, I take seriously my constitutional responsibility to protect the rights and liberties of our citizens. Marriage equality is consistent with that view because it safeguards basic civil rights and provides appropriate legal protections so that all loving and committed couples may care for each other. At the same time, our nation’s fundamental freedom of religion dictates that religious institutions should be allowed to define marriage as they deem appropriate.
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[I]n the same way racial discrimination became a shameful part of our history, one day our nation would look back in disbelief at a time when we denied our fellow citizens basic civil rights based on their sexual orientation. I now believe that day is within our reach.

The Unconscionable Brutalization Of Bradley Manning

I have written several times about the horrible brutalization being inflicted on Bradley Manning (pictured at left) who allegedly downloaded classified documentation which among other things exposes atrocities committed by U. S. military personnel. As more and more details leak out, the treatment can only be described as sadistic - something that once might have expected under the misrule of Chimperator Bush. But something one would have ceased under our leader in the White House who continues to show many of his campaign promises to have been nothing but lies. Andrew Sullivan looks at the mistreatment and calls it as he sees it. here are some highlights:
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I find the military's explanation of why they strip Manning naked each night and then require him to stand naked outside his cell every morning ... er, unpersuasive. They've made his bedding suicide proof - why not find some clothing that could do the same - even though there's no evidence he's a real threat to himself. From his lawyer:
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The decision to strip PFC Manning of his clothing every night for an indefinite period of time is clearly punitive in nature. There is no mental health justification for the decision. There is no basis in logic for this decision. PFC Manning is under 24 hour surveillance, with guards never being more than a few feet away from his cell.
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There is only one word to describe the treatment of this model prisoner: sadism. Glenn Greenwald has been following the case closely and has two disturbing must-reads here and here. We all hoped that under Obama, brutal treatment of military prisoners and lies about it would end. In this case, they haven't.

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The likelihood of a rational challenger to Obama next year is remote. If I vote again for Obama, it will be while holding my nose and gagging. I continue to believe he is a slick, disingenuous liar. His only saving factor is that he's not insane and/or a Christo-fascist like most of the GOP front runners.

Saturday Male Beauty

Creator of USS Enterprise Gay Disparaging Videos and Others Face Punishment

In a fairly surprising move (I had expected some small slaps on the wrist), it appears that the U.S. Navy will inflict some serious punishment on Owen Honors and other superior offices after investigating the production of anti-gay and sexually sleazy video aboard the carrier USS Enterprises. The investigation thankfully has also targeted admirals among the 40 sailors and officers who knew of the inappropriate videos and either turned a blind eye or encouraged them. The admirals are Rear Adm. Larry Rice, now at the Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command, and Rear Adm. Ron Horton (pictured at left), until Thursday commander of a Navy logistics group in Singapore. With all the blather about gays harming the "good order" of the military by supporters of DADT, it's sweet to see these folks getting bit in the ass by their tasteless and sometimes homophobic behavior. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:
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After reviewing findings from the two-month inquiry, Harvey faulted 40 sailors and officers, recommending serious penalties for six of them, including punitive letters of censure - which Carroll called "a career killer" - for four. In addition to Honors, one other officer facing censure has now been removed from command.
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Besides interviewing dozens of sailors and officers, investigators went to great lengths to collect roughly 55 separate videos, transfer them to one format, and catalogue their air dates as well as detailed descriptions of any objectionable content.

The four officers recommended for punitive letters of censure are Honors; Capt. John Dixon, who succeeded Honors as executive officer and recently returned from a solo overseas assignment; and the two officers who served as the carrier's skipper during Honors' tenure: Rear Adm. Larry Rice, now at the Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command, and Rear Adm. Ron Horton, who was fired Thursday from his position as commander of a Navy logistics group in Singapore.
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In his endorsement of the investigation's findings, Harvey said he recommended them for censure because their actions were the most egregious.
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Honors masterminded and starred in the videos and failed to tone down their content despite complaints from crew members and counseling from his superiors. Dixon continued to make videos with objectionable content, though they were notably tamer than Honors' movies. Rice and Horton were aware of the videos, and while they counseled Honors about them, they failed in their duties as his direct superior to see that the movies stopped, the investigation concluded.
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Harvey has recommended lesser punishment for two flag officers who served as strike group commanders when the videos were being shown, Rear Adm. Ray Spicer and Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway. Besides issuing nonpunitive letters of caution to each, he also has requested that a copy of the investigation be put into their records, which could prevent Holloway from advancing.
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Included in the investigation's recommendations is the suggestion that "a command climate survey" be carried out to ensure that the culture that existed on the Enterprise under Honors isn't present on other carriers.

Sleazy Opportunists Jump on the Anti-Gay Band Wagon

It seems that several of the would be GOP presidential candidates who have demonstrated their own contempt for the "sanctity of marriage" by their own serial marriages and/or adulteries believe that by jumping on the anti-gay bandwagon they can become acceptable to the Christianist cretins of the GOP base. Newt Gingrich is one such sleazoid and now Donald Trump - an egotistical blow hard if there ever was one - has followed suit. Both obviously believe that GOP simpletons will overlook their own poor marital track records if they beat up on gays sufficiently. If their ploy works, then it will underscore that one needs to either have had a lobotomy or have a trainable retard IQ to belong to today's GOP. Frankly, I find Trumps feigned support of heterosexual marriage about as convincing as his lousy comb over. First these highlight from Showbiz on the Donald's disgusting behavior:
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After indicating to the Des Moines Register that he will compete in next year's Iowa caucus should he decide to seek office, Trump was questioned on his stance concerning same sex marriages. "They should not be able to marry," the Celebrity Apprentice star asserted.
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Trump also admitted that he hasn't developed a "fully formed" opinion on extending medical and civil benefits to gay couples, but he added: "As of this moment, I would say no and no."
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As for Gingrich, the Los Angeles Times takes a look at his disingenuous efforts to act like a champion of "traditional marriage" despite his three marriage and history of adulterous affairs (Lord knows what women see in him since he strikes me as a nasty pig). Suffice it to say, if Gingrich is truly sincere about any of the bullshit he is ladling out, then I'm the Virgin Mary. Here are higlights of Gingrich's efforts to play the simple minded and ignorant Christianists:
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Newt Gingrich — the twice-divorced former House speaker and recent convert to Roman Catholicism — is courting evangelical Christians as he lays the groundwork for a possible presidential campaign, hoping to find favor among a group that will play a pivotal role in picking the 2012 Republican nominee.
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In recent years, Gingrich has met privately with pastors best known nationally for their campaigns against same-sex marriage, sharing deeply personal details about his marital history as he expresses contrition for his past actions.
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Gingrich has also provided financial and strategic support for their causes. Last fall, he played a key behind-the-scenes role in an unprecedented — and successful — campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court judges who approved same-sex marriage in the state, helping secure $200,000 in seed money for the effort.
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Gingrich's moves are meant to allay concerns among influential religious conservatives that his personal history is at odds with their views. . . . his wooing of the evangelical community appears to be paying off. "I think he's just excellent," said Pastor Brad Sherman, who leads Solid Rock Christian Church in Coralville, Iowa. "Everybody brings up his past, but he's very open about that, and God is forgiving," said Sherman, who had lunch with Gingrich last fall.
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None of Gingrich's meetings with religious leaders is more important or occurs with greater frequency than those in Iowa, the first state to choose delegates to the presidential nominating conventions. Gingrich is expected to travel to Iowa at least twice this month to address religious groups. About 60% of Iowa caucus voters describe themselves as evangelical Christians. Their prominence helped former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, win the GOP caucuses there in 2008.
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In October, more than 40 prominent pastors came to Virginia for a private lunch with Gingrich at Liberty University, the Christian college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. Last month, Gingrich met with 10 prominent clerics at a gathering organized by Richard G. Lee, founding pastor of First Redeemer Church in the Atlanta area. Lee said Gingrich impressed the group with his leadership proposals and his repentance.
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Conservative Christians are going to be the downfall of the USA as ignorance and stupidity increasingly drive the GOP. When will the rest of Americans realize the clear and present danger this group of society poses to constitutional government?

More Friday Male Beauty

Banton Fans Continue to Whine and Close Their Etes to Reality

Personally, I thinks it's wonderful that Buju Banton was convicted on drug charges in Florida and may well find himself in prison for many years. Like too many celebrities - many of whom are legends in their own minds - Banton got too arrogant for his own good. His hatred and ridicule of gays in his murder reggae are but a symptom of Banton's over sized ego. Meanwhile, Banton's delusional fans rant and whine that their false idol was framed and/or a victim of some kind of gay conspiracy. Anything rather than face the truth that Banton is anything but a victim. Voice Online has coverage of the ongoing whine fest. Here are some highlights:
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[M]any thought Buju had it all. Fame, fans and the freedom to make the music he loved. But all of those privileges now hang in the balance as the beloved deejay, devout Rasta and father of several children faces up to 15 years in prison after being convicted on three counts of drugs and weapon charges.
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Buju, along with two others, was initially arrested in 2009 for an alleged cocaine trafficking deal, after video recordings, reportedly showing the star tasting cocaine, were taken by an informant and by Drug Enforcement Administration personnel.
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[I]n the second trial, held last week, the 37-year-old – who, last month, won the Grammy award for best reggae album – was convicted of conspiracy to possess five or more kilogrammes of cocaine with the intent to distribute. He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm, and of another drug trafficking offence.
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[T]here have also been many – particularly in Jamaica – who have condemned the deejay, insisting that he simply got what he deserved. One comment on The Gleaner website read: “This whole idolizing of Buju just shows how our society glorifies wrong doers. So what if he is a said to be a good musician? He did wrong and has embarrassed honest Jamaicans and fellow hard-working musicians, as well as his religion.”
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[T]here has also been a considerable amount of suspicion. Many believe that Buju was set up and even suspect that it’s the star’s history of homophobia that has landed him in this predicament. Ever since the release of his 1992 hit Boom Bye Bye, Buju has famously been lobbied by gay rights campaigners, who have protested against the deejay’s homophobic lyrics. Many believe that it is Buju’s negative reputation within the gay community that has influenced the outcome of the trial.
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However, gay rights organisation OutRage!, which has long campaigned against homophobia in reggae music, rubbishes the idea that the gay community has somehow influenced the guilty verdicts in Buju’s case.
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Let's face it. Banton acted like a thug and exalted violence in some of his music. Gays did not need to do anything to create a bad image for Banton - he did it all by himself.