More Friday Male Beauty

In France, a Senior Politician Dares to Question the 9/11 Tale

Today, nearly six years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, does anyone doubt the Bush administration and the mass media's grand narrative about just who was responsible for those shocking, sudden, well-coordinated and super-destructive events? Well, yes.

. . . [T]oday, still, there are some observers who doubt the established, now-familiar media story about the historic attacks that Team Bush seized upon to launch an aimless "war on terror." Apparently, one of them has landed a high-ranking government job in the cabinet of France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. That Doubting Thomas is Christine Boutin, France's new minister of housing and urban affairs.

ReOpen911, a France-based Web site devoted to investigating what took place in New York, Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania on that fateful day in 2001, and whatever events might have led up to it, is now featuring a video clip shot in November of last year in which Boutin - at that time still not a cabinet minister - is asked: "Do you think that Bush could [have been] behind these attacks?" Boutin responds: "I think that it's possible."

What do readers think given Chimperator Bush's documented difficulty in ever telling the truth? The full story is found here: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=15archive/

New Poll: Majority Favor Impeaching Cheney

New polls by American Research Group of 1,100 respondents taken from July 3-5, found that 54% of Americans favored impeachment of Vice President Cheney. Only 17% of Republicans in the poll favored the impeachment of Cheney, while 76% of Democrats supported the move in the House of Representatives. However, of independents polled, a slight majority of 51%, also supported impeaching the Vice President. The numbers for impeachment of Bush show an almost event split for those other than those in the undecided category.

The poll also reflected deep disapproval of President George W. Bush's commutation of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" 84% oppose a full pardon for Libby.

The full results can be viewed here: http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/

More Friday Male Beauty

Microsoft expands in Canada amid U.S. visa crunch

Yahoo News is reporting that Microsoft said it plans to open a Vancouver, British Columbia, facility by the end of the year. It will initially have about 200 workers, and employ about 900 within a couple years. Businesses, particularly technology firms, say they need to recruit foreign nationals, many of whom have received their graduate degrees in the United States, to compensate for a shortage of qualified programmers, engineers and scientists. Microsoft said in a statement that the Vancouver center will "allow the company to continue to recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by the immigration issues in the United States." But company spokesman Lou Gellos said Microsoft's frustration with the U.S. government's visa policy wasn't the only reason for the expansion in Canada.

Having visited Canada and Vancouver (pictured above) in particular, I suspect there is another reason for the move by Microsoft beside those named in the story: namely the intolerant image of the USA growing abroad. Canada is a far more tolerant country and Vancouver has a very diverse population where a cosmopolitan population seems to get along. Moreover, the policies of the Christo-fascists tied to Chimperator Bush's regime and which continue to dominate the GOP hold little sway in Canada. To be candid, when I crossed the border back into the USA, I felt like I was leaving true freedom behind in Canada.

Long term, the damage this administration has done to the nation is huge, with the Iraq disaster being only a small part of the overall damage. For the whole story, see: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070705/wl_canada_nm/canada_microsoft_canada_immigration_col;_ylt=At7N9_6A1t1SrDF_QEhaPzJvaA8F.

Friday Male Beauty

Hurricane Katrina Evacuee Adventure

Since we are in the midst of hurricane season (June 1 through November 30), I wanted to recount an adventure Raymond and I had Labor Day weekend of 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Having lived on the Gulf Coast and loving the City of New Orleans, in the aftermath of Katrina, Raymond and I were so so sick of watching the television images of Hurricane Katrina victims that Raymond felt we had to do something. Perhaps it was craziness in some ways, but what followed is a trip I will never forget.

Raymond began calling the Red Cross and various telephone numbers shown on TV seeking to find a way to bring some evacuees to live in our house and/or assist in getting back on their feet. Finally, he made contact with a woman in an office in Baton Rouge assisting evacuees. Through her, we had a contact and arranged to go to Baton Rouge to pick up people to come back to Norfolk. Thinking that we had firm plan in place, we rented a van and drove south, carrying extra tanks of gasoline (some given to us near the Alabama border by a Baptist Church team head back to Georgia) and slept in rest areas during the trip. We got as far as Jackson, Mississippi and hit a wall. Our contact who was supposed to meet us in Baton Rouge disappeared in the confusion generated by Chimperator Bush's PR visit to Baton Rouge the day we were to arrive.

Unable to confirm any arrangement, we were reluctant to drive another 120 miles each way to Baton Rouge where chaos was in full reign. Hence, we went to the Jackson Mississippi Coliseum where the Red Cross was warehousing evacuees like animals. Our volunteered assistance was turned down by the Red Cross because of "liability concerns." Next we headed northward to Meridian, Mississippi where a large Methodist Church had several hundred evacuees. We nearly had a family decide to go with us, but the father - who was a basket case - in the last resort wanted to stay in the false hope of being able to return to New Orleans.

Leaving Meridian, we finally stopped at a cute little restaurant called the Santa Fe Cafe in the tiny town Forrest, Mississippi, since we had not had a normal meal in several days. Upon being seated, the waitress immediately says to us "You boys aren't from around here, are you?" Thinking we were probably about to be beaten up or killed, we explained the basis for our quest. When the waitress told other employees, we soon had them all talking to us and we ended up with food - a fabulous southern style buffet - on the house. They refused to let us pay for anything. Anyone traveling from Meridian to Tuscaloosa should look up this restaurant, which is just off the interstate.

Finally, we wound up visiting a Red Cross relief event at the Talladega Speedway in Alabama. There, we met some evacuees who gave us the phone numbers of several evacuees stranded in Atlanta who were about to run out of hotel vouchers. We finally picked up seven evacuees in Atlanta - by chance all seven were gay - and drove back to Norfolk. Some of the members of our church, First Lutheran of Norfolk, began helping the evacuees with funds and support. One older couple took in three of the evacuees since nine people in our house was madness.

We and our evacuees were very frustrated—having faced adversity at every turn as they try to find jobs and housing in the area. It was a maze of bureaucratic red tape since day one. People have been very critical of New Orleans officials and they way they handled things, but from what I saw, the Norfolk area would be just as bad if it happened here this year at some point.

An account of our adventure was printed in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly which can be found here:http://www.virginialaw.com/subscriber/archives_FTS.cfm?page=VA/05/9260548.htm&recID=350101&QueryText=hamar. Without a doubt, I have to be one of the most out attorneys in the Commonwealth of Virginia after that September 2006 article.

King James Bible

My friend Don over at Dondon009 has a great post on the real history of James I of England who oversaw the re-editing of the Bible in 1611 or so. This revised version came to be referred to as the "King James Version." Any true student of British history knows that while he did his dynastic duty and produced an heir, James I was as gay as they come. In fact, he had a series of lovers/boyfriends on whom he spent lavishly and doled out titles. Accounts of James' loves are even recorded in the Privy Council records. Two of them are entombed near James' own tomb.

Meanwhile the favorite version of the Bible among many Christianist crazies is guess what: the King James Version! I guess their anti-knowledge agenda and expertise at denial is the underlying cause. Naturally, I find it all too, too funny!!!!! For the full story, see:http://dondon009.blogspot.com/2007/07/christian-hypocrisy-thru-ages.html#comments

Final Thursday Male Beauty

Obama tells teachers he supports merit pay

From my experience running for local school board in 1994, this type of statement is generally a heresy with the National Education Association that merits burning at the stake. I salute Obama for having the guts to say what needed to be said. I hope he watches his back - the NEA is very good at sticking a stilleto in your ribs. Here's a part of the story as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama today endorsed the idea of merit pay for teachers before an audience hostile to the idea, the giant National Education Association, but he softened the blow by telling the union's national assembly that he would not use "arbitrary tests" to link pay to performance.

"I think there should be ways for us to work with the NEA, with teachers' unions, to figure out a way to measure success," Obama told a crowd of about 9,000 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. "I want to work with teachers. I'm not going to do it too you, I'm going to do it with you."

He promised more pay "across the board" for teachers and extra incentives for those willing to work in lower-performing schools in urban and rural areas, though he noted that he would release the details of those goals and other education policies at a later date.

The full sorty is here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/8335627.html

Gay Pastor Officially Struck From Lutheran Church

Since I am a Lutheran, having left the Catholic Church in 2001, I find this story upsetting (See: http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/07/070507pastor.htm). Admittedly, I have been lax on my church attendance of late, but with this type of stuff happening, it makes attending an ECLA parish much less attractive. It would be wonderful if at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly on August 6-11, 2007, the majority would vote to do away with this ban. Personally, I know so many LGBT individuals who long for a church home, yet feel unwelcome. Saying that all are accepted, yet banning members of the supposedly welcomed group from the clergy ends a message that the talk of being welcoming is just that: talk.

I have always been of a mindset that I'd rather be right and in the minority as opposed to being wrong and shamefully following the majority. If doing the right thing should drive some bigots from the ECLA, the church is better off without them, in my opinion.

Romney Caught In Porn Flap

It's not enough for the fundies that Mitt Romney is Mormon and, therefore, not a real Christian. Now Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, a gay hating and anti-pornography group based on Ohio, is after Romney for issues during his tenure on the Marriott board of directors. I've done some reading up on Burress and he is a total wack job. Tony "I work with the Klan" Perkins is not much better. Here's part of the 365gay article:

Two anti-pornography crusaders, as well as two conservative activists of the type Romney is courting, say the distribution of such graphic adult movies runs counter to the family image cultivated by Romney, the Marriotts and their shared Mormon faith.

"Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading conservative group in Washington, said: "They have to assume some responsibility. It's their hotels, it's their television sets."

For the full article see: http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/07/070507romney.htm

More Thursday Male Beauty

Doctor Accused in Glasgow Attack Described as Loner Angry About the Iraq War

As the New York Times reports, more pigeons may be coming home to roost in countries involved with Chimperator Bush's quest for oil and religious crusade in Iraq.

GLASGOW, July 4 — In some ways, he was the unexceptional product of a privileged upbringing in an educated Baghdad family: an intelligent, pious young man who enjoyed swimming, hiking and socializing at the Iraqi capital’s exclusive Hunting Club. But associates of Bilal Abdulla, a doctor who is accused of riding a flaming Jeep into Glasgow’s international airport on Saturday, say he was a religious zealot and a lone wolf whose anger about political developments in Iraq may have driven him to an act of terrorism.

But Dr. Abdulla was different when he returned to the mosque about a year ago, Mr. Kwieder said. He had grown angry about the situation in Iraq and worried about his parents, friends and family, who he believed should flee the country. “When he was living in Cambridge, I think he was a sensible person, a normal person,” said Mr. Kwieder, who added that he was shocked when he saw Dr. Abdulla’s photograph on the front page of a newspaper.

Shiraz Maher, a former member of the radical group Hizb ut-Tahrir who knew Dr. Abdulla in Cambridge, painted a different picture. In an interview on BBC television broadcast Tuesday, he said: “He actively cheered the death of British and American troops. One of his best friends had been killed by Shias.”

The complete Times story can be seen here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/world/europe/05abdullah.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. This circumstance should underscore the dangers faced by the USA in its continued occupation of Iraq while a religious based civil war is raging. Saddam for all his cruelty and horror was the lid that kept this genie in the bottle. Now, Bush and regime have taken off the lid and the genie is spreading mayhem, mostly in Iraq, but the cloud is spreading.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Lesbian Gangs Gone Wild

Here's an insane story mentioned by QueerSighted (http://www.queersighted.com/2007/07/05/oreillys-lesbian-gangs-part-ii/) and being put out by Bill O'Reillyand the unhinged Christian news services:

LifeSiteNews, North America's largest online Christian fundamentalist news service has taken Bill O'Reilly's insane Lesbian Terrorist Gang story to the next level and then some (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07070303.html). On July 3, these charming folks pushed out a press release with the equally charming headline:

"Lesbian Gangs Raping Young Girls, Some Attacked in School Washrooms". The press release also highlights the "fact" that these gangs are recruiting children as "young as 10-years-old" to the homosexual lifestyle. I can't recall "racist" propoganda this outrageous since the Nazis sold Germans on the notion that Jews were kidnapping Christian babies and drinking their blood during the Passover service.

Lucky for us, this means that the original O'Reilly story now has very long legs and will be delivered via Christian fundamentalist media outlets, electronic and print, to millions of our friends and families. For example, LifeSiteNews feeds its propoganda to over 16 million Southern Baptists via newsletters, newspapers, radio shows and cable TV. Lesbian terror gang discussions will soon be coming to a dinner table, family reunion or church pulpit near you.

Accoding to the reporter, John-Henry Westen: "Last week, the Fox News' O'Reilly Factor exposed the increasing trend of lesbian gang violence terrorizing neighbourhoods and schools, especially in large cities across the United States. According to FOX News crime analyst Rod Wheeler there are some 150 such gangs in the DC area alone, including Washington, Maryland, and Virginia.

I guess the moral is that no lie is too outrageous for our enemies to disseminate while showing their "Christian" love for others.

The Sky Isn't Falling- Experience may be trumping hysteria over gay marriage.

Today's Washington Post has a gay-supportive editorial on gay marriage (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401384.html) that largely points out the obvious. Full marriage rights for sam-sex couples has not resulted in any of the dire consequences predicted by the lunatic Christianist fringe. In fact, Massachusetts continues to have the lowest divorce rate in the country versus the far high rates in Bible belt gay bashing states. Here are some higlights from the editorial:

WHEN THE high court of Massachusetts ruled in 2003 that the commonwealth's constitution gave same-sex couples the right to marry, detractors railed against "activist judges" who were "imposing" their will on the people. Only the people, through their elected representatives, should decide something so fundamental, they said. Thus began an effort to amend Massachusetts's constitution by referendum to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Four years and about 10,000 same-sex marriages later, here's what the people have said: never mind.

Despite dire predictions, the institution of marriage didn't crumble under the weight of homosexuals seeking the rights and responsibility that come with it. The sky didn't fall in Massachusetts. Nor has it buckled in the District of Columbia and the five states that offer civil unions or domestic partnerships to gay couples. Washington state's domestic partnership law goes into effect next month. Oregon's domestic partnership law and New Hampshire's civil unions take effect in January 2008. Acceptance of gay marriage is by no means widespread. Marriage is restricted to one man and one woman by constitutional amendment in 26 states and by state law in 19 others. But the tide is slowly changing. Opinion polls show growing acceptance of gay rights.

As an interesting aside to the editorial, check out John Arivosis on AmericaBlaob as to why the term "homosexual," consistently used by the anti-gay Christo-facists, is out dated (and derrogatory) See: http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/dear-washington-post-please-stop.html

Thursday Male Beauty

Bill Gates invests in $26m PlanetOut fundraising

I guess the fundies are now going to have to boycott all companies with ownership interests held by Bill Gates or his affiliated entities based on this story from the UK's Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2737151.ece):

SEC Filings reveal that Cascade Investment, the trust set up to invest Bill and Melinda Gates's billions, is among a group of investors that has bought a $26.2m (£13m) stake in PlanetOut, the gay lifestyle and publishing group behind Out magazine and Gay.com. Lifestyle and networking websites have exploded in the last few years, so it should not come as a surprise to see Mr Gates investing his money in similar ventures.

The San Francisco-based PlanetOut, which provides a range of media and entertainment services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, has been a public company since October 2004, but it has not performed well. Its shares listed at $9 and closed on Tuesday at $1.59, 15 per cent better on the back of the new investment.

PlanetOut will rank as one of Mr Gates's riskier investments. Last year, the company reported a $3.7m loss on revenue of $68.6m - a drop in the ocean in comparison to Mr Gates's wealth but a 93 per cent improvement on 2005 revenues. May's first quarter results made dismal reading - year-on-year revenue was lower and first quarter losses were $6.9m.

4th of July Male Beauty

Founding Documents - Declaration of Independence

These documents written by Jefferson speak for themselves. Contrast the ideals with where the USA is under Chiperator Bush. What has happened to this country is a travesty.

The Declaration of Independence: By Thomas Jefferson A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offencesFor abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Founding Documents - Religious Freedom

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Draft for a Bill to Establish Religious Freedom in Virginia (1779).
by Thomas Jefferson

S e c t i o n I.

Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time: That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness; and is withdrawing from the ministry those temporary rewards, which proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends also to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed theseare criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude hispowers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is adangerous falacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency will make hisopinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them.

S e c t i o n II.
We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

S e c t i o n III.
And though we well know that this Assembly, elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right.

Three A.M. and Cannot Sleep

Finding The Perfect Lover

Sometimes, I day dream about what it would be like to find the perfect lover. Someone who will truly love me, trust me, not seek to control me, and always be there for me when I need him, without jealousy, or looking for constant offense in what I say and do. I long to find someone who would willingly subordinate his own ego’s gratification - as I subordinate my own - for the benefit of both of us.

There are some who say that we waste time” looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.” Since one can only control their own conduct, I do not grasp how you can create a perfect love. I am beginning to think it will never happen for me. I ask myself if I am unlucky at love, or am I doing something wrong. I do not know the answer. I only know that the present circumstance leaves me saddened and heartbroken.

Final Tuesday Male Beauty

Terror experts are confounded by the unusual profiles of those arrested in the British plots. Is there an Iraqi connection?

I believe most of us are waiting to get concrete answers to this question. Here is some of Newsweek's most recent coverage:

U.S. and British authorities are looking into the possibility that one or more of the medical workers arrested in the failed attacks may have had contact with Al Qaeda in Iraq, formed after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and loosely affiliated with Al Qaeda’s high command. An official familiar with the investigation said that no firm connection had yet been established between any of the suspects and the Iraq group, and there certainly is no evidence yet that it might have orchestrated the U.K. plot. But, said the official, there may be reason to suspect that those detained have been in touch with known associates of the ultra-violent insurgent group set up by Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.

However, because the Iraq connection is so tentative at this stage, officials on both sides of the Atlantic remain skeptical that the U.K. plot was orchestrated by Al Qaeda’s top leaders. For a start, the bombings themselves were so thoroughly bungled that it’s seen as unlikely that Osama bin Laden or his main associates had any direct role. U.S. and British officials said it was still a possibility that the attacks were largely planned on British soil, even though it appears that few, if any of the plotters, fit the profile of the native-born, alienated British Muslims who have been implicated in other recent U.K. terror plots.

British and U.S. officials contacted by NEWSWEEK said investigators were still trying to figure out how the suspects in the plot—eight have now been arrested in the U.K. and Australia, and seven are believed to be doctors or medical students—got together to plan and carry out the failed bombings. A British official said it was possible all had somehow cooked up the plot before coming to Britain. But it is also possible they did not meet up until after all were in the country, where they appear to have had easy entrée to Britain’s medical education and nationalized health-care systems.

I again can only wonder how those in training to heal the sick and bring comfort to those suffering from disease can be set on a track to dispense death and destruction. If the motivation is in fact religious fanaticism, it will be most disturbing.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Call the White House - Make Your Displeasure Heard

Those who would like to vent their unhappiness with the White House may have a new method for doing so. TheCorrente Wire ( http://www.correntewire.com/) has the following post. From my own radom sampling, the second number appears to be the phone, while the other is the fax number. Here's portions of the post:

See The White House Phone Directory (May 18, 2007). Because I figure the regular switchboard might be busy tomorrow, but if you’ve got the White House phone directory, you can just work your way down until somebody picks up. (Actually, in the spirit of CD interviewing people, it might be more interesting and fun to say “Hi! I write for ______________. Do you think that Libby’s commuted sentence involved obstruction of justice? Why or why not?”)

Most of the numbers in the Directory match what I’ve been able to glean from open sources, so it looks authentic. The offices are taken from the White House site, and the numbers are formatted like so: 1-202-555-1212 / 1-202-555-1212, where the first number is via internet search, and the second, italic number is from the Directory:

The offices included in the Executive Office of the President.

Council of Economic Advisers: (202) 456-1414 / (202) 395-5084
Council on Environmental Quality: (202) 395-5750 / (202) 456-6224
Office of Administration: (202)456-7921 / (202) 456-2861
Office of Management and Budget: (202) 395-4840 / (202) 395-4840
Office of National Drug Control Policy: (202) 395-6738
Office of Science & Technology Policy: (202) 456-6021 / (202) 456-7116
President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board: (202) 456-2352
United States Trade Representative: (202) 395-7360 / (202) 395-3230

The offices included in the White House Office:

Domestic Policy Council: (202) 456-1111 / (202) 456-5594
Homeland Security Council: (202) 456-1700
National Economic Council: (202) 456-1414 / (202) 456-2800
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: (202) 456-6708 / (202) 456-6708
Office of the First Lady: (202) 456-7074 / (202) 456-7064
Office of National AIDS Policy : (202) 456-7320 / (202) 456-7320
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board: (202) 456-1066
USA Freedom Corps: 1-877-872-2677 / 1-877-USA-CORPS
White House Fellows Office: (202) 395-4522 / (202) 395-4522
White House Military Office: / (202) 757-2151

And the Vice Presidential Entity, whatever branch he ends up in:

Shooter: (202) 456-9000 / (202) 456-1414
Shooter’s Moll, Lynne: (202) 456-7489

Naturally, if you call the White House to express your disapprobation in the matter of I. Lewis Libby, you will be courteous, and remember that our public servants have important work to do.

Bush and Cronies Above the Law

It is hard for me to find words to fully convey the contempt that I hold for Chimperator Bush and his Christo-fascist regime which touts its religiosity while acting as lawless hooligans. The American public needs to seriously wake up and retake this nation. Andrew Sullivan has several great statements on his blog concerning the Libby commutation. Here's one I fully endorse:

We now have a clear and simple illustration of the arrogance of this president. Tell the American people the core narrative of this monarchical presidency: this president believes he is above the law in wiretapping citizens with no court oversight; he has innovated an explosive use of signing statements to declare himself above the law on a bewildering array of other matters, large and small; he has unilaterally declared himself above American law, international law, and U.N. Treaty obligations in secretly authorizing torture; he has claimed the right to seize anyone in the United States, detain them indefinitely without trial and torture them; his vice-president refuses to abide by the law that mandates securing classified documents; and when a court of law finds a friend of the president's guilty, he commutes the sentence.

Most Americans find this blatant abuse of power repugnant - war or no war. Many find the way in which the commentariat has been coopted in defending this lawlessness to be equally repugnant. When a governing class declares itself collectively above the rule of law, and does so with open contempt for the judicial system, it's time that elite was brought down a peg or two. I think Bush just gave the country a simple reason to rid Washington of him and all he stands for. We will now see exactly what character Americans are made of: supplicants of a feather-bedded aristocracy or self-governing citizens under the rule of law?

This regime and those in the GOP who have given it a blank check over and over again truly must be stopped and totally discredited at the ballot box come 2008.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Anglican and Episcopal Pharisees

The newest issue of The Advocate has an informative article on Peter Akinola, the Anglican archbishop of Nigeria (pictured at left), and one of the leading homophobes in the Anglican Communion. The article (http://www.advocate.com/currentstory1_w.asp?id=46836) also focuses on the manner in which delusional element parishes within the Episcopal Church in the United States are breaking away and aligning themselves under Akinola's poisonous heirarchy.

Not surprisingly, the article also discloses that the good archbishop's homophobic agenda appears more about money and power than preaching and living in accordance with the Gospels of Christ. Meanwhile, conditions in his own diocese are going to Hell in a hand basket, but like the Christianists in the USA, caring for the sick and the poor is never part of the Gospel teachings as perverted by the santimonious and greedy. Here are some highlights form the article. Judge for yourselves whether Akinola is a follwer of Christ or not:

With antigay rhetoric as his tool, a Nigerian archbishop has made himself a central player in the fight over America’s Episcopal Church. But in chasing his ambitions, has he failed his own country?

Akinola must have felt a strong calling to make such a move. It put him in defiance of a church tradition, dating back to the fourth century, that limits the activity of a bishop to that bishop’s jurisdiction.

It would be wrong to call Akinola unprincipled. No doubt he, like most Nigerians, grew up believing that homosexuality is a sin. But this pastor has let his flock at home suffer while he networks in America, accumulating power, publicity, and—according to informed observers—money.

Nigeria, with about 120 million people, is the most populous country in Africa and among the poorest in the world. Life expectancy is 47 years, roughly 3 million people are infected with HIV, and between 1996 and 2005, nearly 30% of children under age 5 were malnourished. It is a land of dichotomies, where oil flows at about 2.5 million barrels a day—making Nigeria the largest oil producer in Africa—and yet anywhere from 60% to 75% of Nigerians, according to various sources, live on less than a dollar a day.

Akinola issued an essay that proclaimed, “Homosexuality and lesbianism, like divorce, breed a society of single parents which gives rise to a generation of bastards.” While Akinola passes such judgments, his fellow Africans struggle with poverty and disease. “We debate these things whilst people are dying,” says Bishop Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba of Botswana.

Mwamba sees the real issues of the African people—poverty, the lack of clean drinking water, nutrition, HIV and AIDS, education, women’s rights—being neglected by the small cadre of bishops led by Akinola. “Thousands of kids are dying every day,” Mwamba says. “Now, those are the issues the church should be addressing.” For Akinola, though, rejecting gays takes priority. After he cut off ties with the Episcopal Church, he refused to take its relief and assistance money, not only for Nigeria but also for the entire 13 provinces that form the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA), of which he is chairman.

Akinola may get joy from preaching his beliefs. But he gets earthly rewards as well. Both Mwamba and Sserwadda say that Akinola and other bishops have been lured away from addressing key African issues by the promise of power and money.

The “influence” Sserwadda describes comes in the form of all-expenses-paid trips to the United States, envelopes that contain several hundred to several thousand dollars—gifts big enough to be meaningful for one person but too small to have serious impact on an entire ministry. The money is nearly impossible to track because it isn’t linked to any specific organization. “If an American gives an envelope like that, it is not given for the use of the church, it is given to the individual,” says Sserwadda. “Or if not that, someone is flown into the States, and all his bills are paid…. He goes back after doing shopping, and sometimes that person comes with his wife or with his child.…” In other words, it’s a cushy family trip for free.

Reach your own conclusions, but to me, the dear archbishop sounds like he belongs more properly among the chief priests and Pharisees of the Bible than among true followers of Jesus.

On the local level one Episcopal parish has split, with the break away element led by one of my former law partners, Eric A. Hauser of the Virginia Beach office of Williams Mullen (pictured above at right). The irony of course is that Mr. Hauser is himself divorced and remarried, thereby utterly ignoring the condemnation of divorce attributed to Jesus himself in the Bible. Obviously, Mr. Hauser's own actions are not consistant with his alleged insistance that the Bible be construed literally. Funny how he can lecture me and condemn me for being gay, but is fine with his own ongoing adultery under a strict application of the Bible.

Former Royal Family Selling ‘Dracula’s Castle’

The price is $135,000,000. Perhaps Dick Cheney can use his Haliburton war profits to buy it. He and Count Vlad, the inspiration for Dracula, certainly seem to have some similar personality traits. Here's highlights of the MSNBC report:

The Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, “Dracula.”

Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948.

After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as “Dracula’s Castle.”

In May 2006, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana’s son, Archduke Dominic Habsburg.
Habsburg, a 69-year-old New York architect, pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009 and offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for $80 million, but the offer was rejected. Monday, he put the castle up for sale “to the right purchaser under the right circumstances,” said Michael Gardner, chief executive of Baytree Capital, the company representing Habsburg. “The Habsburgs are not in the business of managing a museum.”

More Monday Male Beauty

Floods are Judgment on Society, say Bishops

Apparently some bishops in the Church of England have borrowed some of the Kool-Aid so widely consumed in Evangelical Christian circles in this country:

The floods that have devastated swathes of the country are God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society, according to senior Church of England bishops. One diocesan bishop has even claimed that laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation, have provoked God to act by sending the storms that have left thousands of people homeless. While those who have been affected by the storms are innocent victims, the bishops argue controversially that the flooding is a result of Western civilisation's decision to ignore biblical teaching.

"In the Bible, institutional power is referred to as 'the beast', which sets itself up to control people and their morals. Our government has been playing the role of God in saying that people are free to act as they want," he said, adding that the introduction of recent pro-gay laws highlighted its determination to undermine marriage.

Increasingly, when I see suspect "institutional power," the imminent danger is the institutional church that has set itself up to control people and their morals. The civil laws of a nation should be seeking to govern only civil legal rights, not the morals and/or religious beliefs of the citizens. These bishops are obviously falling into the theocratic mind set of the Christianists in the USA.

My Readers - Part 8

I would like to introduce another of my readers: Marc from Raleigh, North Carolina. Marc describes himself as I'm an exercise enthusiast, particularly in respect to Ashtanga yoga. He has started keeping his own blog at http://wrapyourworriesindreams.blogspot.com/, which he says grew out of his Myspace blog, since he has such a fun time writing that he thought he should expand his blogging out of Myspace. Marc has a Master's in English and specialized in Latin and folktales and says he is an accomplished visual artist, and hope to sell some drawings for supplementary income.

More Monday Male Beauty

Four Years since "Bring'em On"

The national Security Network (http://www.nsnetwork.org/node/165) has a report on the state of affairs four (4) years after Chimperator Bush stupidly told the anti-American elements in the Middle East to "Bring'em on." Here's a summary and some highlights:

It has been four years since the President declared “bring’em on” in response to the budding insurgency in Iraq. Since that statement, more than 3,300 American troops have been killed and 25,000 have been wounded. Iraqi civilians have suffered tremendously, with four million fleeing their homes and an estimated 35,000 killed. The security situation has only deteriorated further, with the initial insurgency morphing into multiple civil wars and sectarian violence. Incredibly, there are more American troops in Iraq today than were there four years ago when the President made his reckless declaration.

The Middle East is facing its largest refugee crisis in a generation. More than 2 million Iraqis have fled Iraq and another 2 million are internally displaced.

America has been in Iraq longer than it was in World War II. It has been 52 months since military operations in Iraq began. As of July 1, 2007, American troops have been in Iraq for 1,565, days the equivalent of 222 weeks.

Four years later, oil production is 21% below prewar levels. Despite the assertion that Iraqi oil production would pay for the war, production is down to 1.97 million barrels/day from 2.5 before the war.

Baghdad is still averaging only 5.6 hours of electricity per day. This number represents only 20% of prewar production levels. Unemployment remains between 25-40%. For the last two years, the unemployment rate hasUnemployment remains between 25-40%.

And our Chimperator and Darth Vadar Cheney think democracy will prevail in such an environment? Both are either utterly insane or complete delusional idiots.

Monday Male Beauty

Two More Held Over UK attacks

While information is still not complete, it appears that at least some of the bombers in the UK bomb plot were in fact foreign born Muslims. As with the 9-11 terrorist, at least some appear to be educated, making such action all the more disconcerting. The BBC is reporting in part, in fact, that two are believed to be doctors:

Two of those being held by police are believed to be doctors. Dr Mohammed Asha, 26, who worked as a junior doctor at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, was arrested on the M6 in Cheshire on Saturday night along with a 27-year-old woman thought to be his wife.

And one of the men suspected of the attack on Glasgow Airport worked as a doctor in Paisley, BBC Scotland understands. It is believed the man was employed as a locum doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, just two miles from the airport building attacked on Saturday.

One has to wonder how educated individuals succumb to religious fanaticism. Although given the tens of thousands needless civilian deaths that have occurred in Iraq as a result of the hubris and crusade mentality of George W. Bush and his poodle, Tony Blair, it is equally likely that perhaps these individuals merely sought revenge for the deaths of their countrymen and fellow Muslims. As time goes by, it will be interesting to see what actually motivated these individuals.

Final Sunday Male Beauty

The Supreme Court is divided not merely over how to interpret the Constitution. It’s divided over the meaning of American history.

As an attorney and as one who believes in equal rights for ALL citizens, I was appaled by the Supreme Court decision last week that struck a blow to allow creeping resegregation of the nation's schools to occur. Having read countless Supreme Court opinions in law school and in private practice since, this decision underscores how important a single justice can be and that their opinions can have huge consequences. Fortunately, Justice Kennedy , while agreeing with some of the majority, stopped the worse of the decision's potential fall out:

Kennedy typically swings more conservative than O’Connor; and, as was expected, he agreed with the conservative majority this time. But he could not accept some of the assumptions in the decision authored by Chief Justice John G. Roberts.

As Kennedy made clear in his own opinion, he was uncomfortable with his conservative colleagues’ acceptance of “de facto resegregation,” as he was with the idea that the state was barred from making racial distinctions in the pursuit of educational equality. Nor was he happy with their approach to the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which was passed after the Civil War to protect the rights of emancipated slaves. “This Nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity for all of its children,” argued Kennedy. “A compelling interest exists in avoiding racial isolation, an interest that a school district, in its discretion and expertise, may choose to pursue.”

Gary Orfield, codirector of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, tells NEWSWEEK that the result of resegregation is far from race-neutral. “Blacks and Latinos end up in neighborhood schools that are inferior, with fewer curriculum choices, lower graduation rates and less experienced teachers,” he says. Based on his research, Orfield has no doubt that Louisville’s school system will end up more segregated—and that black students will pay a price—when the desegregation program ends.

The other lesson from the Court's decision is that the far right of the GOP, including the self-proclaimed "Christian" element care little about the rights of minorities. While the GOP has always had an element within it that wanted to preserve the status quo and white privilege and preference, never during the period I was involved in the Party did the dominant element in the party clearly oppose equality under the law and equal rights for all citizens. For more on this issue, see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19511718/site/newsweek/

More Sunday Male Beauty

More Potentially Bad News for the GOP and Christianists

Andrew Sullivan has a column that dove tails in with the Economist story I referenced earlier. A shortened version of Andrew's London Times column appears here: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/07/the-kids-are-al.html#more. What it finds is good news overall for gays and not such good news for the GOP and the anti-gay Christianists. Here are a few highlights:

Does this make the next generation more conservative? On some issues, the answer seems to be yes. Take abortion. The underthirties are marginally more opposed to abortion than their parents: One in four want it made illegal altogether. Thirty-seven per cent of the underthirties are pro-choice, compared with 39% of the population; 38% of the underthirties want more restrictions.

The young are also slightly less likely to support gun control than their elders, even in the wake of the college shootings at Virginia Tech. A solid 43% of the underthirties, moreover, believe being gay is a choice, compared with only 34% of the general population.

So are they a more Republican generation than Democrat? Here’s where the surprise is. Despite their marginally more conservative views on the war and Iraq, the underthirties are strikingly more committed to the Democratic party than at any time since the high-water mark of young Republicanism in the Reagan Eighties. Bush has turned out to be a reverse-Reagan.

Hopefully, the Democrats can capitalize on this and totally rout the GOP in 2008. As I have said many times now, I believe that a 2008 election disaster is key to any chance of the GOP returning to its historic principles. Time seems on the side of those wishing to undo the damage of the last seven years.