Saturday Male Beauty

Is Daddy Dobson's Political Clout Fading?

As a gay man who also happens to believe in freedom of religion for ALL citizens, I can only hope that James Dobson's poisonous political influence is waining. In Virginia, his affiliate organization, The Family Foundation, still wields far too much power and its frigid ice maiden spokeswoman, Victoria Cobb, can always be counted upon to be doing her utmost to harm the interests of LGBT citizens. Nothing would please me more than to see Dobson's empire collapse. Here are highlights from what Yahoo News is reporting on Dobson's influence (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080125/us_time/isdobsonspoliticalcloutfading;_ylt=AlBc33hYio6FbTVL.kXx.sms0NUE):

As Focus on the Family weighs in on the presidential race, however, an examination of the group's records shows that its influence may not be all that it once was, and that its actual base may have become smaller. Dobson has only endorsed one presidential candidate in the past - George W. Bush in 2004, who ran unopposed for the G.O.P. nomination. And the Christian right's most powerful leader may not want to back a candidate so early in the game. Backing a losing horse could devalue the worth of any future Dobson anointment, especially when America is seeing the rise of a younger generation of less combative preachers like Rick Warren, Joel Osteen and Bill Hybels.

The founder of the Colorado Springs-based organization may have reason to be concerned about his influence. At the age of 71 and semi-retired from the day-to-day operations of his organization, Dobson is seeing Focus on the Family's fortunes wane - CEO Jim Daly describes them as "flat" - perhaps an inevitability for a ministry pegged to one towering figure. The ministry's expenses have exceeded its revenues for two years - what Daly calls a "drawdown from reserves" - by $4.1 million in fiscal year 2006 and by $9.9 million in 2005. (Figures for 2007 have not yet been released.)

The ministry apparently has been "flat" for some time. For example, in 1994 Dobson's monthly newsletter had a circulation of 2.4 million copies. Today, that circulation is about 1.1 million. Also, in the 1990s, Dobson was drawing audiences of 15,000 or more to his speeches; but in the lead-up to the 2006 mid-term election, only about 1,000 people heard his anti-abortion speech at the 2,500-seat Mt. Rushmore National Monument amphitheatre. Daly explains that the event was a last-minute invitation and that Dobson rarely accepts speaking engagements.

According to news accounts and audited financial reports posted online for potential donors, the organization's staffing is down (30 layoffs last September). Total donations and number of donors are down as well. Focus orders and resells copies of Dobson's tapes and books, which are the evangelist's personal business; but those purchases have declined from $678,000 in 2004 to $269,000 in 2006. His last book was published in 2001; another is not anticipated until 2009. The whole Dobson family, including wife Shirley, daughter Danae and son Ryan, produce books and tapes, but revenue from all Dobson-family materials are down, from $781,000 in 2004 to $307,000 in 2006.

Even Focus on the Family Action - Dobson's most recent project, founded in 2004 to help steer public policy - seems stalled. Daly says Action's fortunes are tied to "hot issues in the public square"; in his letter to potential donors, Dobson offers "occasional specific voting recommendations on ballot measures in your area and on a national level." But contributions declined from $8.8 million in 2004, its start-up year, to $6.8 million in 2006, while website hits fell from 18,000 monthly in 2005 to 8,700 monthly in 2006. A Focus spokesperson says Focus Action is not the main public policy website and that CitizenLink.com, where the candidate assessments were announced, is doing much better.

Are Homophobes Actually Latent Gays??

Direct Democracy asks a very pertinent question(http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/1/25/123018/740): why doesn't the MSM do more to look at the the large number of closeted Republicans who try to hide their homosexual desires by viciously attacking gays via anti-gay legislation? That is to say, why aren't latent homosexuals exposed more by the media? Here's the precise question:

Why is it that more people (members of the media, bloggers, talk show hosts, people I overhear chatting on the subway) aren't talking about the plain fact that, in a conservative movement and a Republican Party in which anything other than Leave It to Beaver-style heterosexuality and family structures are frowned upon, to say the least, there is a very significant chunk of members who are gay? Really gay. Totally gay. And doing everything they can to hide it. And that the more vocally anti-gay one is, the more likely, it appears, that person is conflicted about their own sexual orientation?

To back up the point, Direct Democracy cites(1) the case of former Congressman Ed Schrock, who I knew for nearly 10 years during my GOP days, and (2) the concept of "latent homosexuality." Here's the comments on Schrock:

This brings us to the ironic tale of former Congressman Ed Schrock. Schrock was a conservative legislator for Virginia, and was especially conservative on the gays. He co-sponsored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage; and, this Navy veteran firmly, oh so firmly, believed that the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy regarding "homosexual conduct" in the military should have been replaced by an outright ban on gay people from serving in the military. This guy was very anti-gay. Ipso facto, he must have been very heterosexual. Heck, he must have been the heterosexualest! Then why was it that Schrock, amid his second term in Congress in 2004, all of a sudden announced that he was dropping his effort to seek re-election to a third term? It probably had a lot to do with Schrock's very explicit audio-profile on a gay sex personals website. Schrock's veneer of . . . an umblemished record of staunch heterosexuality was mortally compromised.

Before his exposure as a hypocrite and his subsequent political downfall, I spoke with Schrock personally by telephone and e-mailed others in the Virginia Beach Republican Party [including current Virginia Attorney General, Bob McDonnell - who I would note is in many ways as extreme toward gays as Schrock was] and challenged the down right excessive anti-gay efforts of Schrock and others in the local party. I warned them that the continued anti-gay hysteria was going to bear some unwanted results to Schrock because members of the local gay community had just about had enough of the gay bashing and sooner or later someone was going to talk and secrets would be revealed. My comments were blown off - in some cases with extremely nasty statements directed toward me - and, of course, the rest is history and I was proven right (only Thelam Drake, the Republican who succeeded Schrock has ever had the class to apologize to me).

As for the correlation between homophobia and latent homosexuality, there actually is research that supports the theory:

A theory that homophobia is a result of latent homosexuality was put forth in the late 20th century. A 1996 study conducted at the University of Georgia by Henry Adams, Lester Wright Jr., and Bethany Lohr indicates that a number of "homophobic" males exhibit latent homosexuality. The research was done on 64 heterosexual men, 35 of whom exhibited "homophobic" traits and 29 who did not. Three tests were conducted using penile plethysmography. While there was no difference in response when the men were exposed to heterosexual and lesbian pornography, there was a major difference in response when the men were exposed to male homosexual pornography.

The researchers reported that 24% of the non-"homophobic" men showed some degree of tumescence [i.e., errection] in response to the male homosexual video, compared to 54% of the subjects who scored high on the "homophobia scale". In addition, 66% of the nonhomophobic group showed no significant increases in tumescence after this video, but only 20% of the "homophobic" men failed to display any arousal. Additionally, when the participants rated their degree of sexual arousal later, the "homophobic" men significantly underestimated their degree of arousal by the male homosexual video.

This situation surely makes sense in the case of major league homophobes like Robert Knight, formerly with Concerned Women for America, and Peter LaBarbera who are both irrationally hysterical over gays and gay rights - hysterical to a point that something more than mere religious belief would seem to be at play. From e-mail exchanges with Knight in particular, I sense he is an extreme case of a closeted, self-loathing gay. Oh sure, he will cite his happy marriage, etc., which, as my own life has shown, means absolutely nothing.

Just imagine how being immediately considered a closet case would perhaps lessen the outspokenness and anti-gay efforts of our most vocal enemies. :)

Final Friday Male Beauty

Canadian Catholic Schools Reject Participation in Homophobia Survey

One has to wonder what the Catholic schools are afraid of. Could it be that the participation in the survey might reveal the vile anti-gay mentality propagated by the Catholic Church? Or is it merely that the Catholic schools are trying to pretend that gays and anti-gay bullying do not exist? As a former Catholic, I unfortunately know all too well personally how badly the Catholic Church's anti-gay indoctrination screws one up emotionally and menatally if one happens to be gay. Here are some highlights from CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/01/25/egale-survey.html):

The survey is sponsored by Egale Canada, a national organization that promotes the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. When the survey was launched in December, Egale approached school boards across the country to help distribute the survey to students from Grade 8 to Grade 12. Egale executive director Helen Kennedy said trustees from three Catholic boards in Toronto, Guelph, Ont., and Alberta, have all said no.

"The study is not about sexual behaviour, it is about social behaviour," said Kennedy. "It's about bullying, harassment and taunting in our schools." Egale has had some success with its campaign. Public boards in Thunder Bay and Vancouver are participating and Egale said other public boards are negotiating how they can take part. Social agencies are also helping to distribute the survey to students.

Arkansas Voter Drive Kicked Off To Bar Gays From Adopting

With children being shuffled from foster home to foster home like some piece of used furniture (not to mention the children living in poverty and starving around the world) one would think the true Christians would direct their efforts to addressing such needs. But not the Christianists in this country. They far prefer to spend time and resources demonizing gays and seeking to marginalize their rights as equal citizens. This Arkansas group of gay haters is merely the latest example. No doubt these people are Mike Huckabee's religious brethren. I wonder whether Mr. Jerry Cox has a real job or if he is another sad individual who has to come up with anti-gay causes so that he can shake down the sheeple to support himself? I also have to wonder whether he's another repressed closet case who is taking out his own self-loathing on other gays. Here are highlights from 365gay.com ( http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/01/012508arad.htm):

(Little Rock, Arkansas) A conservative social policy group launched its campaign Thursday to collect enough signatures to force a ballot measure in November to bar same-sex or unmarried opposite-sex couples from adopting or becoming foster parents in Arkansas. "What we are doing is, we are protecting the welfare of children,” Jerry Cox, president of the Family Council Action Committee, said at a news conference at the state Capitol. The same organization was largely responsible for the passage of an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution banning gay marriage.

The present measure would prevent a child from being adopted or placed in a foster home "if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state." The Council must collect nearly 92,000 signatures by July to put the measure on the ballot. Cox said he expects to submit more than 100,000 names.

Arkansas’s Child Welfare Agency Review Board had established a policy in 1999 that banned gay people from serving as foster parents, and the Arkansas Supreme Court struck it down after a seven-year legal battle between the state and the ACLU.

Several state and national child welfare groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the court to strike down the exclusion because it worked against the best interests of foster children. In its unanimous ruling, the court said testimony in the state's appeal demonstrated that "the driving force behind adoption of the regulations was not to promote the health, safety and welfare of foster children but rather based upon the board's views of morality and its bias against homosexuals."

Pet Sounds Returns for a Five Week Run

I previously posted about the play, Pet Sounds, being performed to support a local non-profit organization. In turns out that the play is pack for a longer run with showings on January 25, 26; February 1,2,8,9,22,23,29, and March 1 each at 8: PM. In additions, there will be matinee shows on January 27, February 3,10,24, and March 2 each at 2:00 PM. I gave the play a rave review back in June, 2007 (http://michael-in-norfolk.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-pet-sounds.html). I strongly encourage locals who did not see the play last summer to make a point of seeing the play this time around. You will NOT be disappointed.

More Friday Male Beauty

The GOP Recognizes the Opportunity Hillary is Creating

Peggy Noonan has a column in the Wall Street Journal that gives the GOP vision of what Bill and Hillary are accomplishing and none of it is good for the Democrats (http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html). Like many, she sees the Clinton's splintering what might otherwise have been a unified party into a fractious mess that may well allow the GOP to somehow pull off victory in November. Here are some highlights:

Bill Clinton, with his trembly, red faced rage, makes John McCain look young. His divisive and destructive daily comportment—this is a former president of the United States—is a civic embarrassment. It is also an education, and there is something heartening in this.

There are many serious and thoughtful liberals and Democrats who support Mr. Obama and John Edwards, and who are seeing Mr. Clinton in a new way and saying so. Here is William Greider in The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=274075), the venerable left-liberal magazine. The Clintons are "high minded" on the surface but "smarmily duplicitous underneath, meanwhile jabbing hard at the groin area. They are a slippery pair and come as a package. The nation is at fair risk of getting them back in the White House for four years." That, again, is from one of the premier liberal journals in the United States. It is exactly what conservatives have been saying for a decade. This may mark a certain coming together of the thoughtful on both sides. The Clintons, uniters at last.

But the Clintons are tearing the party apart. It will not be the same after this. It will not be the same after its most famous leader, and probable ultimate victor, treated a proud and accomplished black man who is a U.S. senator as if he were nothing, a mere impediment to their plans. And to do it in a way that signals, to his supporters, How dare you have the temerity, the ingratitude, after all we've done for you? Watch for the GOP to attempt to swoop in after the November elections and make profit of the wreckage.

Outdated Virginia Law Prevents Company from Providing Partner Coverage

The less than wonderful aspects of living in Virginia just never cease - the state has in the past and continues at this time to go out of its way to penalize gay couples. Yet another example is illustrated by this Washington Blade story that looks at Virginia laws that bar partners from being named beneficiaries on employer paid life insurance. It is a near endless task to drag Virginia kicking and screaming into the 20th century, much less the 21st century. Here are some highlights (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2008/1-25/news/localnews/11921.cfm):

The inability of a Virginia resident to take out a life insurance policy on his same-sex partner has inspired a piece of legislation that is before the state’s legislature.

Arlington resident Kelly Young last summer started his job as an attorney for H5 Technologies, a California-based legal consulting company. When he tried to take advantage of his company’s insurance benefits and take out a life insurance policy on his partner of almost 10 years, Bill Reinsmith, H5’s insurance company informed Young that Virginia law prohibited the company from providing such benefits. “The insurance company rejected the application because I’m a Virginia resident,” Young said. “They came back to me with the explanation that ... even if they wanted to, they couldn’t do anything about it without a change in the legislation.”

Virginia law restricts supplemental life insurance coverage to legal spouses and dependent children under 19 or 25 if the child is a full-time student.“Modern gay couples are caught up in an old, outdated insurance scheme,” he said. “This really is an old, outdated policy that when it was written, didn’t even contemplate [the existence] of gay couples, I suspect, but we now find ourselves caught up in it.”

Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), after hearing about Young and Reinsmith’s situation in the fall, filed a bill earlier this month with the state legislature that would address the issue. The legislation, House Bill 685, would allow private companies that have an employee life insurance program to extend coverage to any person agreed upon by the business and the policyholder.

When asked about the likelihood of the bill making it into law, Ebbin noted that the Legislature approved a similar bill in 2005 that expanded opportunities for employers to provide medical benefits for same-sex partners.“The bill shouldn’t be controversial ... but I’m committed to do what I need to do to get the bill passed,” Ebbin said.

Friday Male Beauty

Former Insiders And Others Growing Tired of Billary's Sleazy Tactics

I have commented a number of times now on my growing disgust with the Clinton campaign's resort to lies and dirty tactics in its efforts to thwart the challenge posed by Barack Obama. With every passing day, Bill and Hillary Clinton - or Billary if you will - are giving a preview of what another Clinton term in the White House would look like and it is NOT pretty.

Now former insiders from Bill Clinton's administration and others are joining the chorus of those being driven away and potentially made more reluctant to vote for Hillary if she ends up as the Democrat nominee. These tactics ultimately will only help the GOP and serve to remind independents of the high sleaze factor that has always surrounded Bill Clinton. It is precisely this factor that caused me to vote against Clinton when he was running for his second term. Hillary likewise seems Hell bent to force me to hold my nose and vote for the GOP if it is a rational Republican or her. The following is from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich's personal blog (http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/01/bill-clintons-old-politics.html) and it sums up well the problem with another Clinton term in the White House:

I write this more out of sadness than anger. Bill Clinton’s ill-tempered and ill-founded attacks on Barack Obama are doing no credit to the former President, his legacy, or his wife’s campaign. Nor are they helping the Democratic party. While it may be that all is fair in love, war, and politics, it’s not fair – indeed, it’s demeaning – for a former President to say things that are patently untrue (such as Obama’s anti-war position is a “fairy tale”) or to insinuate that Obama is injecting race into the race when the former President is himself doing it. Meanwhile, the attack ads being run in South Carolina by the Clinton camp which quote Obama as saying Republicans had all the ideas under Reagan, is disingenuous. For years, Bill Clinton and many other leading Democrats have made precisely the same point – that starting in the Reagan administration, Republicans put forth a range of new ideas while the Democrats sat on their hands. Many of these ideas were wrong-headed and dangerous, such as supply-side economics. But for too long Democrats failed counter with new ideas of their own; they wrongly assumed that the old Democratic positions and visions would be enough. Clinton’s 1992 campaign – indeed, the entire “New Democratic” message of the 1990s – was premised on the importance of taking back the initiative from the Republicans and offering Americans a new set of ideas and principles. Now, sadly, we’re witnessing a smear campaign against Obama that employs some of the worst aspects of the old politics.

Joe Klein at Time magazine had this to say about the Clintons (http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/01/are_you_kidding_me.html):

In a desperate move--unprecedented for an ex-President in American politics--Bill Clinton decides to impede Obama's momentum by inserting himself into the campaign. He attacks Obama on an almost daily basis, sometimes falsely. He makes a spectacle of himself. And then he blames the press for not covering the substance of the campaign?

I can't believe that Hillary Clinton wants the world to think that whenever she gets into political trouble, she's going to have her husband come roaring about, breaking furniture, sucking up oxygen, spewing carbon dioxide. My impression is that she's strong enough to defend herself--she certainly showed that in the recent Democratic debate. But apparently she's not strong enough to control Mr. Bill...and if that's the case, any sane voter would have to think twice before enabling this sort of circus act in the White House.

John Gibson Issues Faux Apology

As noted over at at Pam's House Blend this morning (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=32BAE2E4B385883DF2F1C8E33F8C6684?diaryId=4276), Fox News' John Gibson has issued a supposed apology for his crude, tasteless and boorish remarks about Heath Ledger. It is obvious that the man is only sorry that his remarks have apparently landed his wide ass in very hot water with higher ups at Fox News. I hope readers will continue to contact Fox News and make it clear that Gibson's crocodile tears are too little, too late, and that he needs to go. Calls and online complaints to Fox News advertisers will no doubt be the most effective tool in pushing Fox to take the needed action.

The GOP/Christianist Approach to Women

I saw this at Magic Bellybutton and could not resist posting it myself - it so well sums up the GOP's view of women, particularly here in Virginia.

Final Thursday Male Beauty

In Virginia, Serving Sangria Could Land You in Jail

There are days that I think Virginia goes out of its way to make the entire state look stupid and idiotic. Of course when alcohol is involved, the ABC Board imposes all kinds of ridiculous requirements, most of which are aimed at (1) raking in money through the state's monopoly on hard liquor sales and/or (2) making life difficult for those the Southern Baptist minded ABC folks don't like - like gays and clubs that cater to them. This article from Raw Story highlights one of the ABC Boards more ridiculous rules. As I have said before, find me a job elsewhere and I'm out of this backward ninny state. Here are a few highlights (http://rawstory.com/news/afp/In_Virginia_serving_sangria_could_l_01242008.html):

Serving the traditional Spanish beverage of sangria could land you in hot water in the southern state of Virginia, but lawmakers were debating Thursday whether to legalize the tapas bar favorite. "We have a code in Virginia that says no distilled spirit may be added to wine or beer prior to a customer's order," Kristy Marshall, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control agency, told AFP.

"A lot of restaurants like to pre-mix a drink in the morning and have one big batch to serve throughout the day. It's the pre-mixing that makes it illegal, a "class one misdemeanor, punishable by a 2,500 dollars fine and/or 12 months in jail," Marshall said.

Sangria, which is usually a blend of red wine, brandy and cut fruit, is often served in jugs or punch bowls, and more often than not pre-mixed to allow the flavors to flow together. Early Thursday, lawmakers at the state legislature began debating whether to legalize sangria in Virginia, an official said.

Hillary Clinton's Lack of Truthfulness

It appears more and more people are catching on to the rampant use of lies and dishonesty being utilized by Hillary Clinton's campaign against Barack Obama. Personally, I am tired of a president who borders on being a pathological liar on many subjects, not just Iraq and, therefore, the last thing I want is to see someone who will lie to be elected put into office. Today's Washington Post has an editorial that looks at Clinton's lack of honesty and truthfulness. Here are some highlights ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303325.html):

The second matter is the Clinton campaign's repeated distortion of Mr. Obama's remarks. In the debate, Ms. Clinton accused Mr. Obama of saying "that he really liked the ideas of the Republicans over the last 10 to 15 years," adding, "Now, I personally think they had ideas, but they were bad ideas. . . . They were ideas like privatizing Social Security, like moving back from a balanced budget and a surplus to deficit and debt." In fact, there is nothing in the record that suggests that Mr. Obama supports any of those positions. As Mr. Obama explained, "What I said had nothing to do with their policies . . . what I did say is that we have to be thinking in the same transformative way about our Democratic agenda."

That didn't stop the Clinton campaign, which went up with a new radio ad yesterday quoting Mr. Obama out of context. "Aren't those the ideas that got us into the economic mess we're in today? Ideas like special tax breaks for Wall Street. Running up a $9 trillion debt. Refusing to raise the minimum wage or deal with the housing crisis. Are those the ideas Barack Obama's talking about?" Ms. Clinton knows they're not. In fact, on policy grounds, the two candidates are extremely close, which makes the nomination fight in part about character and judgment. This episode does not speak well for Ms. Clinton's.

More Thursday Male Beauty

How to contact Fox News with Complaints

Please contact:
Mr. Mitch Davis
Vice President
Fox News Radio Network
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
18th FloorNew York, NY 10036-8701
Direct Phone: *212-301-5800
Outlet Fax: *212-301-5455
Outlet Phone: 212-301-3000
Email: mitch.davis@foxnews.com

Mr. Robert Finnerty
Senior Vice President
Fox News Radio Network
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
18th FloorNew York, NY 10036-8701
Direct Phone: *212-301-5800
Outlet Fax: *212-301-5455
Outlet Phone: 212-301-3000
Email: robert.finnerty@foxnews.com

Ms. Irena Briganti
Vice President of Public Relations
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036
Direct Phone : *212-301-3608
Outlet Fax : *212-382-1411
Outlet Phone : 212-301-3000
Email: irena.briganti@foxnews.com

Contact by: E-mail
Ms. Suzanne Scott
Vice President, Programming
FOX News Channel
1211 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036
Direct Phone : *212-301-8558
Outlet Fax : *212-382-1411
Outlet Phone : 212-301-3000
Email: suzanne.scott@foxnews.com

foxnewsradio@foxnews.com
gibsonradio@foxnews.com
JOHN GIBSON
john.gibson@foxnews.com
212-301-3000

Homophobe Bigot John Gibson - Part Two

My first post of the day concerned the inexcusable comments by Fox's John Gibson concerning Heath Ledger's death. Gibson remained unapologetic and has made additional crude remarks. Think Progress (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/24/gibson-defends-brokeback/) has the following links that will allow readers to voice their disgust and outrage:

Don’t let Gibson “get away” with his “callous and harsh” remarks. Contact Fox News and John Gibson. Or give his radio show a call at 1-866-868-6861.

UPDATE: GLAAD has started a petition asking Fox News “why they continue to provide a platform for John Gibson’s cruel and tasteless comments.”

UPDATE II: Perez Hilton identifies a list of Fox News’ current advertisers. Here they are:

Current Fox News Sponsors :
• ADOBE
Adobe Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Avenue San Jose, California 95110-2704 contact online

• AMERICAN EXPRESS
World Financial Center
200 Vesey Street New York, NY 10285 contact online

• ASTRA ZENECA
ASRA ZENECA LOS ANGELES BUSINESS CENTER
21700 Oxnard Street, Suite
300Woodland Hills, CA 91367 contact online

• AVAYA
Avaya Inc. Headquarters
211 Mt. Airy Road Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 email avaya

• AMERIQUEST MORTGAGE
1100 Town and Country Rd
Orange, CA 92868 contact online

• AT & TATT:
Bob Nersesian AT & T
32 Avenue of the Americans New York, NY 10013-2412 contact online

• BMW
THE BMW GROUP
Munich, GERMANYcontact online

• BAYER
THE BAYER GROUP
100 Bayer RoadPittsburgh, PA 15205-9741contact online

• BLACK & DECKER
CONSUMER SERVICE CENTER - BLACK & DECKER
626 Hanover Pike Hampstead, MD 21074 USA contact online

• BOEING
BOEING WORLD HEADQUARTERS
100 North RiversideChicago, IL 60606email boeing

• BRISTOL-MEYERS
BRISTOL MEYERS HEADQUARTERS
345 Park Ave.New York, NY 10154-0037email bristol-mayers

• Burlington Coat Factory
BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY
1830 Route 130 Burlington,NJ 08016contact online

• CDW [previously known as Mac Warehouse]
200 North Milwaukee AvenueVernon Hills, IL 60061contact online

• Celebrity Cruises
CELEBRITY-CRUISES
1080 Caribbean Way Miami, FL 33132contact online

• CheapTickets.com
CHEAP TICKETS7 Sylvan Way Parsippany, NJ 07054 contact online

• CINGULAR
CINGULAR WIRELESS
Glenridge Highlands Two
5565 Glenridge Connector
Atlanta, GA 30342email cingular

• Circuit City
CIRCUIT CITY STORES, INC.
9950 Maryland DriveRichmond, VA 23233contact online

• Dannon
DANNON CONSUMER RESPONSE CENTER
P.O. Box 90296 Allentown, PA 18109-0296 contact online

• Direct TV
DIRECT TV, INC.
P.O. Box 92600 Los Angeles, CA 90009contact online

• Ditech.com
DITECH.COM
3200 Park Center Drive, Suite 150 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 contact online

• Dodge
DODGE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER
P.O. Box 21-8004 Auburn Hills, MI 48321-8004 contact online

• Earthlink
EARTHLINK, INC.
1375 Peachtree St., Level AAtlanta, GA 30309email earthlink

• Edward Jones Investments
EDWARD JONESP.O. Box 66906St. Louis, MO 63166-6909contact online

• Eloan.com
6230 Steonehenge Mall Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588contact online

• Fidelity Investments
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
82 Devonshire Street Boston, MA 02109-3614 contact online

• Hula Networks
HULA NETWORKS
340 East Middlefield Rd. Mountain View, CA 94043 contact online

• Hyatt Gold
HYATT CORPORATION
200 W Madison St, 30th Fl. Chicago, IL 60606-3413 contact online

• Infiniti
INFINITI CONSUMER AFFAIRS
P.O. Box 191Gardena, CA 90248contact online

• Jeep
JEEP DAIMLER CHRYSLER CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER
P.O. Box 21-8004 Auburn Hills, MI 48321-8004 contact online

• Lending Tree
LENDING TREE INC. PMB 008 15105-D
John J Delaney Drive Charlotte, NC 28277 contact online

• Lexus
LEXUSP.O. Box 2991 ‹ Mail Drop L202
Torrance, CA 90509-2991

• Lincoln-Mercury
[Ford]LINCOLN-MERCURY
P.O. Box 1304 Dearborn, MI 48121 contact online

• Mercedes-Benz
MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC
Customer Assistance Center 3 Paragon Drive Montvale, N.J. 07645

• Morgan Stanley
MORGAN STANLEY HQ
1585 Broadway, Floor 39 New York, NY 10036 contact online

• Napster.com
NAPSTER.COMc/o ROXIO, INC.
455 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95050contact online

• Northwestern Mutual
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
720 East Wisconsin Avenue N08WCMilwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 contact online

• Office Depot
OFFICE DEPOT, INC.
2200 Old Germantown Road Delray Beach, FL 33445contact online

• Progressive Insurance
THE PROGRESSIVE CORPORATION
6300 Wilson Mills Road Mayfield Village, Ohio 44143 contact online

• Splenda
SPLENDAc/o JOHNSON & JOHNSON
One Johnson & Johnson Plaza New Brunswick, NJ 08933 contact online

• Target
TARGET CORPORATION
1000 Nicollet MallMineapolis, MN 55403contact online

• Travelocity
TRAVELOCITY
3150 Sabre Dr. Southlake, TX 76092email travelocity

• Walmart
WAL-MART STORES, INC.
Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611contact online

A number of these companies have gay friendly policies and need to be put on notice that their dealings with nasty bigots like Fox/Gibson are not going unnoticed. A sample complaint letter can be found here: http://skinthefox.com/letter_001.htm

Thursday Male Beauty

Why the Army's Best and Brightest Young Officers Are Leaving

Washington Monthly has a good story on why young officers are leaving today's U. S. military (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0712.tilghman.html) and the long term damage it will cause the military. It's a long article, but can be summed up basically by citing a few principal causes: (1) an ill conceived war, (2) an equally ill conceived execution of the war , and (3) an unsustainable numbers of deployments that exhausts officers and destroys their family lives. Thank you Chimperator!!! Here are some brief highlights:

For several years now, we've been hearing alarming warnings about the strain that the Iraq War has placed on the military. Since the conflict began, around 40 percent of the Army and Marine Corps' large-scale equipment has been used, worn out, or destroyed. Last year, the Army had to grant waivers to nearly one in five recruits because they had criminal records. There are no more combat-ready brigades left on standby should a new conflict flare.

These problems are of vital concern, and are reasonably well understood in newsrooms and on Capitol Hill. But the top uniformed and civilian leaders at the Pentagon who think hardest about the future of the military have a more fundamental fear: young officers—people like Matt Kapinos—are leaving the Army at nearly their highest rates in decades. This is not a short-term problem, nor is it one that can simply be fixed with money.

A decline in officer retention, in other words, threatens both the Army's current missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its long-term institutional future. And though many senior Pentagon leaders are quite aware of the problem, there's only so much they can do to reverse the decline while the United States maintains large numbers of troops in Iraq.

But the problem isn't one of numbers alone: the Army also appears to be losing its most gifted young officers. In 2005, internal Army memos started to warn of the "disproportionate loss of high-potential, high-performance junior leaders." West Point graduates are leaving at their highest rates since the 1970s (except for a few years in the early 1990s when the Army's goal was to reduce its size). Of the nearly 1,000 cadets from the class of 2002, 58 percent are no longer on active duty.

raq, in one way or another, is a driving force behind many officers' decision to leave. For some, there's a nagging bitterness that the war's burden is falling overwhelmingly on men and women in uniform while the rest of the country largely ignores it. While many officers don't oppose the war itself, returning repeatedly to serve in Iraq is a grueling way to live. One of the many reasons for this is that it corrodes their families; the divorce rate among Army officers has tripled since 2003. Internal surveys show that the percentage of officers who cite "amount of time separated from family" as a primary factor for leaving the Army has at least doubled since 2002, to more than 30 percent.

Over the past three months, I talked to numerous former officers around the country. What struck me most was their dissatisfaction with the way the Army leadership is managing the war, and the part that played in their decision to leave.

But the greatest concern is how the exodus of the best and brightest will affect the Army's long-term capacity to win wars, counter threats, and keep the peace. Today's lieutenants and captains are the pool from which three- and four-star generals will be chosen twenty years from now. If the sharpest minds aren't in that pool, we could wind up—to put it bluntly—with a senior leadership of dimwits.

Among the thousands of their peers who left the Army after the war ended, were there a small handful of exceptional leaders who might have helped the military better prepare for a post-9/11 world? "The senior leadership of the Army and Marine Corps were slow to understand the nature of the Iraq War," said Andrew Bacevich, a professor at Boston University and a retired Army colonel who served in Vietnam as a junior officer and who lost a son in Iraq.

Moral Bankruptcy of Fox News and "Christian" Conservatives

Imagine the whining and bogus tears that would flow if a news anchor mocked and ridiculed a recently deceased prominent Christian. After all, the Christianists love to further the myth that they are abused and persecuted by society and the news media. Where is the out cry from these same people over what fat blowhard John Gibson’s [pictured at left] despicable statements about Heath Ledger? As Think Progress reports (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/23/gibson-mocks-ledger/), Gibson of Fox News made disgusting and horrible remarks about Heath Ledger on his show. Sadly, Gibson is merely showing the true face and mindset of these alleged Christians. I wish more people would take a good look at who and what these folks truly are in reality. Gibson and those like him utterly sicken me. Here are highlights from Think Progress:

Opening his radio show with funeral music yesterday, Fox News host John Gibson callously mocked the death of actor Heath Ledger, calling him a “weirdo” with a “serious drug problem.” Playing an audio clip of the iconic quote, “I wish I knew how to quit you” from Ledger’s gay romance movie Brokeback Mountain, Gibson disdainfully quipped, “Well, he found out how to quit you.” Laughing, Gibson then played another clip from Brokeback Mountain in which Ledger said, “We’re dead,” followed by his own, mocking “We’re dead” before playing the clip again.

Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger’s death while discussing current events, jokingly claiming that current events may have caused him to commit suicide:

GIBSON: He was depressed about yesterday’s downturn in the world stock markets.
GIBSON: Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant.

UPDATE II: Newshounds is encouraging readers to complain to Fox News about Gibson’s comments. Readers should take the time to let Fox News - and its advertisers - know what they think of Gibson's foul conduct.

Final Wednesday Male Beauty

Gay Relationships: Verbal Abusive

Several close blogger friends have recommended this article about gay relationships (http://gaytwogether.typepad.com/gaytwogether/2008/01/gay-relations-7.html) that touched on issues that are very relevant and important. I felt certain portions of the article were worth repeating. The reality is that sometimes as hard as it may seem, being alone is better than being in an abusive relationship. Here are some highlights:

So often in a new relationship we learn the dynamic of the new relationship. This includes how you react together as a couple, with each other, and in group settings. Backgrounds are very different and as our techniques in dealing and interacting with other people. One thing you need to be on the look out for is verbal abuse. Verbal abuse always takes place before physical abuse does. Knowing what the signs of verbal abuse are as well as being able to stop that treatment early on is key in a relationship.

Tell your partner that behavior like that is unacceptable, and you will walk away, or leave when they choose to act like that. If your partner does not respond and change in a positive way, you need to keep in mind that if you are just dating, that future treatment can be worse. Verbal abuse can and does often get worse. Verbal abuse is always a precursor to physical abuse.

The key is recognizing when verbal abuse happens, talking honestly with your partner about the actions that have occurred, and then noting the changes. You may have to cease contact with the partner by walking away, not seeing your partner for awhile to help get your point across. If the behavior does not change, it is time for serious reflection regarding that relationship. You deserve a relationship free of verbal abuse, and it is up to you to recognize it, and see that it stops, either by helping to change that behavior or leaving the relationship.

Afghan Puppert Regime Court Sentences Journalist to Death

I don't know about you, but it sickens me that the USA has spent blood and countless treasure in Afghanistan and the end result is a puppet regime that allows the same kind of depraved Islamic fundamentalism as was imposed by the Taliban. What the Hell are we spending out money and the lives of our young soldiers for?? This mockery of a trial described in this Washington Post story published today (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/22/AR2008012201745.html?hpid=sec-religion) appears little better than what on would expect in Iran. When is Congress going to stand up and DEMAND compliance with basic human rights standards by regimes getting US funding? I hope someone makes it clear to the Chimperator's puppet, Karzai, that a pardon had best be forthcoming. This case is yet another example of why religion and the civil laws and civil government should never intermix. Here are some story highlights:

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan court on Tuesday sentenced a 23-year-old journalism student to death for distributing a paper he printed off the Internet that three judges said violated the tenets of Islam, an official said. The three-judge panel sentenced Sayad Parwez Kambaksh to death for distributing a paper that humiliated Islam, said Fazel Wahab, the chief judge in the northern province of Balkh, where the trial took place. Wahab did not preside over the trial.

Kambaksh's brother, Yacoubi Brahimi, described Tuesday's proceeding as a "secret trial," saying the family did not know it had been scheduled. Some have accused Kambaksh of writing the paper in question, but Brahimi said that his brother printed it off the Internet. "He told them he didn't write this article," said Brahimi. "It was written by an Iranian."

Wahab said that only President Hamid Karzai can forgive Kambaksh because he had confessed to violating the tenets of Islam. "We completely condemn this trial," Samandar [the head of the Kabul-based National Journalists Union of Afghanistan] said. "It goes against the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press."

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Al Gore on Gay Rights

What is ironic about Al Gore's clip on Current TV (http://current.com/items/88817757_gay_men_and_women_should_have_the_same_rights) is that the statements he makes in it sounds like very much like what Andrew Sullivan said in support of gay marriage over a decade ago, particularly the stabilizing effect marriage would have on same sex relationships (which seemed to be confirmed in the article I discussed yesterday). Here are highlights of Gore's comments:

I think it's wrong for the government to discriminate against people because of a person's sexual orientation. I think that gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women to make contracts, have hospital visiting rights, and join together in marriage. I don't understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage to allow it for gays and lesbians.

Shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to one partner regardless of sexual orientation? Because if we don't do that, then to that extent you are promoting promiscuity and promoting all the problems that can result from promiscuity. And the loyalty and love that people feel for one another when they fall in love ought to be celebrated and encouraged and shouldn't be prevented by any form of discrimination in the law.

South Carolina's Largest Newspaper Endorses Obama

What I find most interesting about The State's endorsement of Obama in South Carolina's primary this coming Saturday (http://www.thestate.com/opinion/story/293153.html) is that much of it's reasoning for the endorsement parallels my own thinking - which I have explained previously - as to why he is the better candidate. Much of the reasoning is based on a realistic assessment. Hillary supporters need to look at the larger picture and how critical that the Democrat nominee win in November. Here are some column highlights:

On positions from Iraq to health care, the policy differences between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are minute. Much of the debate between them has involved making these molehills look mountainous or clashing over who-shifted-when. The one most significant difference between them can be found in how they would approach the presidency - and how the nation might respond.

Hillary Clinton has been a policy wonk most of her life, a trait she has carried into the U.S. Senate. As her debate performances have shown, she has intelligence and a deep understanding of many issues. Her efforts in New York focused first on learning her adopted state’s issues in detail, and pursuing legislation that would not necessarily grab headlines. But we also have a good idea what a Clinton presidency would look like. The restoration of the Clintons to the White House would trigger a new wave of all-out political warfare. That is not all Bill and Hillary’s fault - but it exists, whomever you blame, and cannot be ignored. Hillary Clinton doesn’t pretend that it won’t happen; she simply vows to persevere, in the hope that her side can win. Indeed, the Clintons’ joint career in public life seems oriented toward securing victory and personal vindication.

Sen. Obama’s campaign is an argument for a more unifying style of leadership. In a time of great partisanship, he is careful to talk about winning over independents and even Republicans. He is harsh on the failures of the current administration - and most of that critique well-deserved. But he doesn’t use his considerable rhetorical gifts to demonize Republicans. He’s not neglecting his core values; he defends his progressive vision with vigorous integrity. But for him, American unity - transcending party - is a core value in itself.

Can such unity be restored, in this poisonous political culture? Not unless that is a nominee’s goal from the outset. It will be a difficult challenge for any candidate; but we wait in the hope that someone really will try. There is no other hope for rescuing our republic from the mire.

Sen. Obama would also have the best chance to repair the damage to America’s global reputation. A leader with his biography - including his roots in Africa and his years spent growing up overseas - could transform the world’s view of America. He would seize that opportunity. He would close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, which has damaged America’s moral standing, and strive to rebuild many diplomatic relationships.

Despite America’s bitter partisan divide, all sides should agree on this: In such an environment, little gets done. Congress has been largely useless under both Republican and Democratic leadership. Setting aside the ideological conflict for conflict’s sake to get anything worthwhile done has fallen severely out of fashion. And America certainly has things to get done. . . . We see Sen. Barack Obama as the best choice in Saturday’s Democratic primary.

Wednesday Male Beauty

As Always, Fred Phelps Shows Himself to Be a Nasty Bastard

Heath Ledger's body is barely cold and yet Fred Phelps has already announced that he and his band of false Christians intend to try to protest at his funeral. Phelps is a complete maggot. The only good thing about him is that he shows the world the true unvarnished face of Christianist lunatics.

People should take a good look at Phelps - in the final analysis, he is no different from James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson, et al. They merely act less hateful when speaking in public and/or to the media. The underlying hate is the same.

Study: False Statements Preceded Iraq War

This new study does not tell us anything that most of us have not already figured out by long before now. However, it is interesting to seem the number of times that lies were told by the Chimperator and his minions documented and also to see who is the biggest liar of them all - the Chimperator, of course. Personally, I am not sure how he reconciles 259 deliberate lies with his alleged Christian faith, although Christianists seem to be particularly challenged when it comes to matters of truth and veracity. Here are some highlights (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23097132-1702,00.html):

US President George W Bush and other top officials issued almost one thousand false statements about the national security threat from Iraq following the September 11 attacks, according to a study by two not-for-profit organisations.

The Associated Press reports the study, published on the website of the Centre for Public Integrity, concluded the statements “were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanised public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretences”. According to the study, 935 false statements were issued by the White House in the two years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In speeches, briefings and interviews, President Bush and other officials stated “unequivocally” on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had links to al-Qaeda, or had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to get them. “It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaeda,” wrote the study’s authors Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith. “In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003.”

The study found that President Bush alone made 259 false statements – 231 about weapons of mass destruction and 28 about Iraq’s links to al-Qaeda. The other officials named in the study are vice president Dick Cheney, then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, then-defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, then-secretary of state Colin Powell, deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House spokesmen Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Final Tuesday Male Beauty

Tuesday Thoughts

It may seem crazy, but learning of Heath Ledger’s possible suicide has left me feeling rather shaken. I’m not sure why exactly – perhaps because it has brought thoughts of my own near successful deliberate drug over dose flooding back over me. The thoughts of futility, hopelessness and the feeling of mental, spiritual and physical exhaustion that I experienced at that time have been put behind me, at least for the most part, so that I am in a much different place than I was on that afternoon. Yet, I still can feel the comforting sense of drifting off into a black weightlessness of sorts, with no awareness of what was going on around me as the ER personnel worked on me to bring me back. Thinking about it scares me now. Really scares me. But I cannot help but imagine what Ledger might have felt as he drifted off, if indeed he deliberately over dosed. It is so very sad that no one was there to save him in time. I was lucky.

My sense of sadness perhaps also arises from thoughts of three former friends who committed suicide, plus my former b/f, RH’s, brother who took his own life. The two friends from my teen years took this route I believe because they never seemed to overcome the horror of their experiences in Vietnam. I guess they just wanted the horrors to stop and did not know what else to do. Another friend killed himself because he could not accept being gay or reconcile it with his religious background. All of them were overcome with a sense of hopelessness and, no doubt loneliness.

I know that at least a couple of my readers have felt themselves close to this level of hopelessness at times (you know who you are). I sincerely hope that they will fight the urge to just surrender. As my therapist stressed over and over to me, what appears bleak and beyond bearable can change overnight. Also, none of us knows what role we may have yet to play in the world or the lives of others – how tragic if one were to exit before their time. Clearly, at the time of my suicide attempt I was not thinking this. But in retrospect, it makes me think of the lyrics from one of Jackson Browne’s 1974 songs: “And somewhere between the time you arrive and the time you go may lie a reason you were alive, but you’ll never know.” Please hang in there my friends.