Saturday Male Beauty

Wake County, North Carolina Drops Sodomy Cases

Last week I did a post on the arrest of two Raleigh, North Carolina men who were charged with sodomy under the North Carolina "crimes against nature" statute which North Carolina has failed to repeal (as has Virginia) in the wake of the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas which invalidated the sodomy statues. Now, Wake County is dropped the charges. I hope that all records of the arrest charges are expunged from the record. I also hope that the police are reprimanded for this outrageous conduct in charging the men in the first place. Here are highlights from the News & Observer:

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RALEIGH - Citing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Wake County prosecutors dropped charges Friday against a pair of Raleigh men. 

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Assistant District Attorney Adam Moyers concluded that any acts between the men were consensual and private.

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In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that made homosexual acts a crime. Sodomy laws remain on the books in North Carolina, Moyers said. "But so does cohabitation," he added, referring to another rarely enforced rule that outlaws unmarried couples living together.

Sex and the City: The Movie - Premiere

A group of us - about 12 in fact - went to see the opening of the movie Sex in the City last night. The movie was entertaining and certainly had some very funny scenes. No doubt critics will have all kinds of commentary, but I go to the movies to be entertained and to escape hum drum reality. By that standard, the movie did the trick. Since the audience seemed to be mostly women and gay guys, perhaps the hotest scene was that of Samantha watching her Malibu neighbor "Dante," played by Gilles Marini (pictured above), in the outdoor shower. To say that he's hot in it is an understatement. :) Watch the trailer below which only hints at the full shower scene.

Final Friday Male Beauty

Dedicated to the New York Catholic Conference

New York Catholic Conference Hypocrisy

As 365gay.com is reporting, the New York Catholic Conference is having vapors and coniption fits over Governor David Paterson's directive requiring state agencies to recognize gay marriages performed legally elsewhere. The official position of the Conference is to oppose all efforts to legalize the union of same-sex couples, whether called marriage or civil unions, thereby demonstrating that its alleged mission to uphold "the innate dignity of every human person made in the image and likeness of God" and to "seek justice, fairness and charity for all" is a crock of bullshit if one happens to be gay or the victim of sexual abuse by a preist. Like all of the Roman Catholic Church bureacracy, the Conference has been utterly silent when it comes to demanding the disciplining of bishops and cardinals who enabled/covered up sexual abuse of minors, e.g., New York's Cardinal Eagan. In short, the Conference behaves much like the Biblical Pharisees: fauning conduct towards clerics and concern over form and rules rather than the substantive message of the Gospels. Here are highlights from 365gay.com:

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Religious and social conservatives vowed Thursday to fight Gov. David Paterson's directive requiring state agencies to recognize gay marriages performed legally elsewhere, saying it flouts traditional values and is a big step toward legalizing same-sex unions in New York. "The definition of marriage predates recorded history," said New York State Catholic Conference Executive Director Richard E. Barnes [pictured above]. "No single politician or court or legislature should attempt to redefine the very building block of our society in a way that alters its entire meaning and purpose."

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At a Manhattan news conference on Thursday, Paterson, a Roman Catholic, defended the directive, saying failure to issue it would have left the state open to lawsuits claiming the state deprived gay couples of civil rights enjoyed in other states."We have a time-held and time-tested tradition honoring those marital rights," Paterson said. "I am taking the same approach that this state always has with respect to out-of-state or marriages conducted in foreign governments being recognized here in the state of New York. I am following the law as it has always existed."

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Homophobe bigot Barnes went on to also state: "Just as the state cannot declare a man to be a 'mother' or a woman to be a 'father,' it can not declare a same-sex union to be a 'marriage.' To use a distinctly New York expression, 'It is what it is.' "

More Friday Male Beauty

Predator Ex-Priest Seeks New Trial

It is always good to keep new stories out in view that will serve remind the public - and perhaps a few Catholics - of the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal so that they will hopefully think about the Vatican's and hierarchy's culpibility in the entire sad affair. Thus, I suspect that the hypocritical frauds in the leadership ranks of the Archdiocese of Boston will not be happy about convicted sex predator Paul Shanley's efforts to secure a new trial which would bring the Church's dirty laundry back into center view. Here are some highlights from the Boston Globe:

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Advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse said yesterday that they were outraged that a priest at the center of the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal is seeking a new trial, based on a challenge to the theory of repressed memories. Former priest Paul Shanley, 77, is serving a 12-to-15-year sentence for repeatedly raping and fondling a boy at a Newton parish in the 1980s. The victim testified that his repressed memories of the event surfaced in 2002.

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Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston lawyer who represented more than 100 clergy abuse victims who reached civil settlements with the Boston archdiocese, said he has been flooded with calls about Shanley's motion for a new trial. "The victims [are] outraged that Father Shanley might have any possibility of having a new trial," Garabedian said. "The victims desperately want closure."

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Shanley became a central figure in the abuse scandal after at least two dozen men asserted that he had molested them.

State urges California Supreme Court Not to Delay Same-Sex Marriages

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the State of California Attorney General's office is urging the justices on the California Supreme Court to turn down the petition filed by anti-gay groups seeking to stay the Court's May 15, 2008, decision pending a vote on the initiative to amend the state's constitution. No doubt there must be wailing and shrieking not to mention spittle flying at the Christianist organizations (now they'll be whining about "activist attorney generals"). I can only wonder when we'll find out that homophobe extraordinaire, Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, is another Ted Haggard. He's a wee bit too hysterical in his anti-gay efforts. But I digress. The California AG's office correctly states that staying the Court's ruling is an improper mixing of politics with judicial matters. Here are some story highlights:

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SAN FRANCISCO -- After fighting same-sex marriage for four years, the state Thursday urged the California Supreme Court to reject petitions that would delay enforcement of the court's landmark ruling permitting gays to wed. "This historic litigation is now concluded," wrote Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Christopher E. Krueger in a brief filed with the high court. "It is time for these proceedings to end."

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California's change of heart came as 10 other states, including Florida and Utah, filed a brief in support of a request by gay marriage opponents to delay the effective date of the court ruling. The offices of attorneys general of Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah protested that their states, which restrict marriage to unions of a man and a woman, would be inundated by litigation seeking to have them recognize same-sex nuptials in California.

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The state said the group's request was improperly asking the court "to enjoin the exercise of a newly recognized fundamental constitutional right based on speculation that voters will abolish that right in the future." The delay "would have the effect of mingling judicial processes with political processes, and would be tantamount to anticipatory implementation of the proposed initiative even before it is submitted to voters," Krueger argued."To the extent that the law may hereafter be changed by the political process, that process should proceed independently and separately," he wrote.

Friday Male Beauty

The Abandonment of "Candor and Honesty"

While like many, I wish that Scott McCellan had seen the light earlier and had come clean on the ramapnt lies and dishonesty that are the hallmark of the Chimperator's regime, particularly in the dishonest selling of the Iraq War to the nation. I still recall watching TV the night the Chimperator ordered the attack to begin and the sick feeling I had as to what are we getting the country into. I even said at the time that Bush's hubris would lead us to disaster. It is a shame that someone in the White House staff did not ask more serious questions. At least McCellan's book may help to set the historical record straight sooner as opposed to later. In my view, both the Chimperator and Emperor Cheney deserve not only impeachment but also to stand trial for war crimes. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

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The book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," is a scathing critique of the Bush presidency that vaulted this week to the top of the bestseller lists. It has also prompted many of McClellan's oldest friends and colleagues to brand him, among other things, a turncoat and a fraud.

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McClellan, 40, portrayed himself as "increasingly dismayed and disillusioned" during the end of his three-year tenure as Bush's press secretary. He also strongly defended some of the most incendiary allegations in the book, including that Bush was intent on confronting Saddam Hussein from the beginning of the debate on Iraq and that the White House's "permanent campaign" mode crippled its ability to cope with Hurricane Katrina and other crises.

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In his interviews yesterday, McClellan repeatedly highlighted two incidents that he said helped sharpen his criticism of the administration: when White House officials Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby inaccurately told him they were not involved in the leaking of a CIA officer's name, and a conversation in 2006 when Bush admitted that he had authorized the selective release of classified information about Iran.

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McClellan acknowledged his own role in what he called the "spin and political manipulation" during his time as press secretary, from 2003 to 2006, including attacks on other former Bush administration officials who penned critical books or articles. "I was caught up in the Washington game, just like everybody else," he said.

Spending On California Gay Marriage Initiative to Top $30 Million

Capital Weekly, a newspaper on governement affairs in California, is predicting that spending by the two sides in the battle over the California inititive to amend the California constitution to ban gay marriage may top $30,000,000.00. Even though nationwide the Christianist organizations have vastly more money that all the gay rights organizations combined, I'm sure the disingenuous blowhards at Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Alliance Defense Fund, et al, who live off the teet of gulible donors, will be having vapors claiming those rich gay rights extremists will out spend them as a way to shake more funds from the sheeple, to use Pam Spaulding's term. Here are some story highlights:

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California likely will play host this fall to an unprecedented political battle over gay marriage, as a looming ballot-initiative contest appears likely to force more than $30 million in total spending from the rival factions. Even though a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage has not yet made it onto the November ballot, both sides are already taking in big checks from familiar donors.

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Adding fuel to the fire are a pair of dueling polls. Last week, a Los Angeles Times/KTLA poll found a majority of voters opposed same-sex marriage. But a Field Poll released Wednesday appeared to show a sea change in public opinion on the issue, with roughly half of those surveyed in support of gay marriage. The poll suggests that a constitutional amendment could face a hard road this fall. Steve Smith, campaign consultant for Equality for All, the main group on the "no" side of the proposed Protect Marriage initiative, said his group could raise as much as $20 million. "We will have to at least match them dollar for dollar," Smith said.

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On the anti-same-sex marriage side, the donors are led by a pair of wealthy Southern California businessmen who are also evangelical Christians. Fieldstead & Co., the company owned by billionaire financier Howard Ahmanson, gave $400,000 in February and March to the committee behind The California Marriage Protection Act. Christian radio magnate Ed Atsinger has donated $12,500. Both live in Southern California. Meanwhile, the Santa Ana-based National Organization for Marriage has packaged up $921,000 to pass the amendment. Colorado-based Focus on the Family has contributed $133,000. That group's founder and leader, James Dobson, is one of the leading voices in the anti-gay movement.

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The Gill Action fund gave $150,000 to the Equality California Issues PAC in February and March. The Fund is controlled by Tim Gill, the gay founder of Quark Express and a former member of the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. The Colorado-based Gill gave a quarter million dollars to fight Prop. 22 in 2000, and is widely seen as a kind of pied piper for gay political donations. Another openly-gay tech entrepreneur, GeoCities founder David Bohnett, gave $200,000 to the PAC in March. The group Equality for All has put in $815,000, which the Human Rights Campaign has donated $125,000. The National Center for Lesbian Rights added $50,000 in April.

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More worrisome for Pugno's cause [Protect Marriage] is a Field Poll released Thursday morning. It found that likely California voters approved of allowing same sex couples to marry by a 51 percent to 42 percent margin. Depending on how the question is asked, between 51 percent and 54 percent oppose adding a ban on same sex marriage to the state constitution. But over 30 years of polling on the subject, all segments of voters have become more accepting of the idea, he said. Younger voters, meanwhile, make the biggest difference. Among those 18 to 29, 68 percent approve of same sex marriage. Among those 65 and older, it's just 38 percent.

Final Thursday Male Beauty

New York Democrats Say Clinton Should Drop Out

A new Rasmussen poll of New York voters indicates that more Democrats believe that Hillary Clinton, a/ka/ Akasha, Queen of the Damned, should drop out of the race to be the Democrat nominee. Equally bad for Akasha is that more see Obama as the stronger candidate for the general election in November. A higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats want her to stay in the race - obviously because they want her to distract attention from McCain and hopefully damage Obama somehow. Will Akasha get the message? I doubt it since her ego and ruthless lust for power literally know no limits. One would think the superdelegates would figure it out, however. Here are some highlights from the poll results:

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Fifty percent (50%) of New York Democrats say it’s time for Senator Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race for the White House. Just 43% believe she should keep going. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey also found that most New York Republicans—52%--want Clinton to keep striving for the nomination. Just 16% of New York Democrats think Obama should drop out of the race. Forty-seven percent (47%) of New York voters believe Obama is the stronger general election candidate. Forty-three percent (43%) believe Clinton would be better.

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The survey also found that Obama is now viewed more favorably than Clinton in New York. Sixty-two percent (62%) of New York voters have a favorable opinion of Barack Obama while 55% give Hillary Clinton such positive reviews. For Obama, those ratings are up four points from a month ago while Clinton’s are down three points. Sixty-five percent (65%) of New York voters believe that it is more important to get the troops home from Iraq than it is to win the war. Just 30% disagree and say winning the war is more important.

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Just 22% of New York voters say that George W. Bush is doing a good or excellent job as President. Sixty-four percent (64%) say he is doing a poor job.

Vatican Will Excommunicate Female Priests

The Nazi Pope and the geriatric geezers at the Vatican not only hate gays, but women too as evidenced by the new decree released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a/k/a in times past as The Inquisition. Interestingly, the decree came little more than a month after Benedict XVI's visit to the USA where many Catholics support female priests - particularly in the ever increasing number of parishes where there is no full time priest. I guess it matters little to this old fossils that Mary Magdalen, Martha and her sister Mary were deemed worthy by Jesus. I am truly thankful at times that I have escaped the non-stop bigotry and intolerance (not to mention hypocrisy) that are the hallmarks of the Catholic hierarchy from the Nazi Pope on down. They sure make the ELCA look good - same service and beliefs for the most part and pastors who generally are much more in touch with the real world. What a concept!! Here are some highlights from MSNBC:

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VATICAN CITY - The Vatican issued its most explicit decree so far against the ordination of female priests on Thursday, punishing them and the bishops who try to ordain them with automatic excommunication. The decree was written by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and published in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, giving it immediate effect.

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Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, said he thought the decree was meant to send a warning to the growing number of Catholics who favor admitting women to the priesthood. "I think the reason they're doing this is that they've realized there is more and more support among Catholics for ordaining women, and they want to make clear that this is a no-no," Reese said.

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Proponents of women's ordination said Christ was only acting according to the social norms of his time. They cite the letters of Saint Paul, some of the earliest texts of Christianity, to show that women played important roles in the early church.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Ominous Trends From the Perspective of Christianists

Today's news stories certainly must be causing angst among the nation's Christianists. In addition to the New York Times story on New York State's decision to recognize same sex marriages that are valid in other states and countries, MSNBC is reporting on the surging growth in the number of multi-racial Americans. Since the leading Christianist organizations not only despise gays but also non-whites (brown skinned citizens in particular lately: think Hispanic), the increasing numbers of what I'm sure these "Godly Christians" consider "half-breeds" or worse must have them confused as to which is the greater menance to the nation the Christianists true to claim as exclusively theirs: the gays or the half-breeds. Some readers will likely say that I am being too harsh in chiding the Christianists for disliking non-whites, yet it was the predecessors of today's Christianists - especially in the South - who supported bans on inter-racial marriage right up until the Supreme Court's ruling in Loving v. Virginia, often using the Bible to justify their bigotry. First, her are some highlights from MSNBC:

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With interracial marriage illegal in 16 states until 1967 and racist sentiments against it remaining to this day in some places, the number of biracial and multiracial Americans is relatively small . . . . The headline, though, is growth. Up from 4,711,932 the previous year, the tally indicates a 3 percent gain, which is 10 times the 0.3 percent growth of the white population in the same period and three times the overall U.S. population growth of about 1 percent. It’s about the same as the growth rates of the Hispanic and Asian populations. America’s mixed-race population is up 25 percent since it was first calculated in 2000, while the nation’s overall population has grown 7 percent in that time.

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But Americans from multiracial backgrounds and families (some 5 million Americans are married across racial lines and millions more are members of racially blended families) seem universally happy and proud that a biracial man is the front-runner for a major party’s presidential nomination. Over and over again, in e-mail and interviews, regardless of whether they agree with his politics or intend to vote for him, “Gut Check” respondents said they were heartened by Obama’s candidacy.

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As for those of us who represent members of the gay menace, the New York Times story is heartening and hopefully will help more moderate states find a way to recognize gay unions, particularly if the California gay marriage ruling survives the Christianist effort to amend the California constitution as a recent poll suggests might be the case. I believe that as more states give varying degrees of recognition to gay marriages without the end of civilization occurring as predicted by the Christianists, the road will be made easier for additional states to re-think their positions on gay marriage - if for no other reason than to remain competitive in attracting businesses and sharing in expenditures made from the ever increasing gay purchasing power. Here are higlights from the NYT piece:

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ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada. In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.” The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.

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“Very shortly, there will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and probably thousands and thousands and thousands of gay people who have their marriages recognized by the state,” said Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, a Democrat who represents the Upper West Side and has pushed for legalization of gay unions.

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The directive is the strongest signal yet that Mr. Paterson, who developed strong ties to the gay community as a legislator, plans to push aggressively to legalize same-sex unions as governor. His predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, introduced a bill last year that would have legalized gay marriage, but even as he submitted it, doubted that it would pass. The Democratic-dominated Assembly passed the measure, but the Republican-led Senate has refused to call a vote on it.

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Gay marriage proponents said they expected that ruling, which will take effect in mid-June unless the court grants a stay, will lead some gay couples in New York to marry in California so they can take advantage of the protections under New York law. Of course, many gay New Yorkers might find Canada to be a more convenient option, some gay rights supporters pointed out. Mr. Nocenti also said that marriages performed in Massachusetts should be recognized in New York

Thursday Male Beauty

Macy's Ad - Marraige for All

Does this mean that Don Wildmon at American Family Association will be now calling for a Christianist boycott of Macy's - after he gets done having a coniption fit and wetting himself? Macy's obviously knows a potentially lucrative market when it sees one.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Linda Harvey - Mission America Eruption

Both Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin and Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend have posts about Linda Harvey's latest anti-gay spasm. I had a run-in with Ms. Harvey back in 2004 when she was pontificating similar BS and chastising me for attacking falsehoods being put out by Peter LaBarbera and Robert Knight (both closet cases in my opinion). For those who don't know, Linda Harvey is founder of and self-styled anti-gay expert over at Mission America. Mission America's mission is as follows: Mission America supports the time-honored tradition of marriage as a commitment between one man and one woman. We oppose coercive, deceptive messages communicated to children, as well as same sex "marriage. In a recent rant Linda Harvey claims that homosexuals can be created by the following factors (not sure what happened to me since none of the factors apply):

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People, especially the young, can be seduced into homosexual behavior and have their identity molded around the homosexual lifestyle, through a combination of persuasion and circumstances which may include the following:

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• Being convinced homosexuality is acceptable;

• Reading or viewing explicit homosexual pornography;

• A close relationship with a peer who is practicing homosexuality;

• Admiring an older teacher or mentor who is homosexual;

• Attending homosexual social venues (a “gay” club, bar, church youth group);

• Being homosexually molested;

• Having parents who espouse liberal values;

• No strong ties to a conservative church, and hostility toward traditional views.

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Like almost all of the professional anti-gay mouth pieces, Linda Harvey's views are based on her far right, intolerant religious beliefs and a desire to merge her version of fundamentalist Christianity with the civil laws. She lacks any credentials that would actually qualify her to be disemminating legitimate information that is based on anything other than religious dogma. Unfortunately, the main stream media NEVER asks these folks about their credentials or lack thereof. Treating Ms. Harvey and those like her as experts on homosexuality is like interviewing me on brain surgery. I could talk about it, but it'd be just talk with no legitimate basis. Here's an e-mail Linda Harvey sent to me me when I questioned her on her credentials:

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From: Linda Harvey (lpharvey@columbus.rr.com)
Sent: Wed 8/25/04 4:55 PM
To: Michael_Hamar@hotmail.com

My bio is at the link below.

Sure hope you begin to be able to listen to people's messages and evaluate them yourself, rather than waiting until you determine whether the person is "expert" enough for you. Lots of valuable information comes from unlikely places. There's more in a pertinent Bible verse: 1Corinthians 1:20-31.

www.missionamerica.com/wholinda.php

Sincerely,

Linda Harvey

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When I went to the link in question, once all of her boasting and chatter about her articles and speaking engagements, etc., were deleted, Ms. Harvey's credentials came down to the following (Note: ZERO mental health or medical background whatsoever):

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As a former advertising executive, Mrs. Harvey has specialized in creating new communications' vehicles. She has started more than twenty-five publications and overseen multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, primarily in the health care industry. Linda Harvey holds a B.A. in English from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and has done graduate work at both Miami and Ohio State University. She is the wife of Tom Harvey and the mother of two children. They live in Columbus, Ohio.

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As for my comments on Messrs. LaBarbera and Knight, who continually disseminate lies and untruths about the LGBT community and fraudulently hold themselves out as legitimate, qualified experts, she stated the following (she shares their obsession with anal sex):

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I''ve worked over the years with both Robert Knight and Peter LaBarbera and there are not two finer guys on the planet. They both have true, true kindness in their hearts, even for their opponents. I've heard both of themtalk with great distress about the likes of guys like Rev. Fred Phelps ( ablowhard who must be financed by the gay lobby--my opinion). They are also great fathers and husbands, fun and loyal friends, andintelligent, dedicated former liberals who are trying to make a difference. Homosexual sex is just so obviously wrong. I don't know what else to say to you. You don't accept much as evidence but I dont' think it needs any. Anal sex is damaging, and the person with sense can see that. But we all--me aswell--have our blind spots.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Monument to Gay Victims of Nazis Unveiled

While many Christianists claim that the Nazi regime never targeted or persecuted gays - and extreme homophobe, Scott Lively of Abiding Truth Ministries even claims that gays were responsible for the rise of the Nazi regime and Holocaust in his lunatic fable the Pink Swaztika - true historians know that gays were, in fact, targeted by the Nazi regime and tens of thousands died at their hands. In recognition of this reality (I know, Christianists have a real problem with grasping reality), a memorial to the tens of thousands of homosexuals persecuted under the Nazis has been errected in Berlin's central Tiergarten park. Here are some highlights from a Reuters story on the memorial:

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BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany unveiled a monument to the tens of thousands of homosexuals persecuted under the Nazis, whose laws were used to prosecute gay men for a generation after World War Two. Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit, who is openly gay, hailed the grey, concrete memorial as a long overdue acknowledgement of the repression of homosexuals, 50,000 of whom were convicted by Nazi courts during Adolf Hitler's 12-year dictatorship. "The monument consecrated today is a reminder to us of the horrors of the past and draws our attention to the degree of discrimination that currently exists," Wowereit said.

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The 600,000 euro ($950,000) cube in Berlin's central Tiergarten park stands opposite the monument to the 6 million European Jews murdered by the Nazis, and was designed by the Danish-Norwegian pairing of Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. Nazi authorities ordered the castration of some gay men, and sent thousands more to concentration camps, many of whom were murdered or died from hunger and disease. "The rehabilitation of those people who were convicted under Nazi laws must therefore be the next step."

Roommate(s) Wanted

Sadly, my roommates - a nice young gay couple - will be moving out at the end of June, so I am once again in the market to find a new roommate(s). Matt and Rob have been great roommates and I suspect I will have a hard time finding (a) comparable replacement(s). Thus, I am running the following ad:

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Professional gay male seeks responsible, non-smoker roommate or couple to share restored house near ODU and minutes from Ghent. Home has two good size bedrooms (the third bedroom is used as a large closet), one bath (updated), living room with flat screen TV, dining room, updated kitchen with dishwasher, nice yard. Front and back porch. Off street parking. $475 per month and half (1/2) of utilities. Available July 1, 2008. http://norfolk.craigslist.org/roo/698034138.html

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A slightly outdated photo of the house is set out (the front door and side panels have since been replaced with a new therompane unit and the porch railings painted) as well as a shot of the dining room looking from the living room.

Hiding in Plain Sight - A Tale of the Closet

ABC News is carrying an excerpt from a new biography of Raymond Burr, star of both the Perry Mason and Ironsides TV series. The book looks at Burr's life and the elaborate story line he fabricated of having been married and then losing his wife and child in an accident and being too busy to remarry - all to create a cover for the fact that he was gay. In truth, Burr had a 35 year relationship with his partner, Robert Benevides. Burr was living this life during the period I was a child and I recall our family religiously watching Perry Mason each week. While I learned of Burr's double life sometime agao, I suspect that many Americans will be surprised to learn that Burr, who became the iconic Perry Mason to many, was in fact gay. As a child, little could I have realized that I would for many years also find myself denying who I was to the world (and myself). The book excerpt make Burr appear to have been a pretty nice and remarkable man. It is sad that he had to live such a significant part of his life in secret. Based on my own experiences, I can only believe that such a secret double life - that could only be revealed to a few close, select freinds - took a toll on Burr. Equally sad is the fact tha Christianist would happily force gays back into such secretive lives. Here are somehighlights from the ABC story:

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Raymond Burr, who played Perry Mason in the wildly popular television show "Perry Mason" and later in "Ironside," lived a secret gay life in Hollywood when such a revelation would destroy a career. Burr invented a biography for himself that included a wife and son who'd died, and used his busy schedule as a way to explain why he wasn't married. But Burr and his partner, Robert Benevides, had a relationship for 35 years that was secret to most of the world except for a handful of close friends. . . . Even Barbara Hale, one of Raymond's closest confidantes, had trouble piercing his protective armor.

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The handsome Benevides, thirteen years Raymond's junior, had a small role in the 1957 sci-fi flick Monster That Challenged the World (billed as Bob Benevedes) but was having trouble finding steady work. He and Raymond hit it off immediately, reportedly after Robert delivered a script to Raymond, and their attraction to each other grew. Before too long, Robert—"a nice fellow and very cordial all the time," said Art Marks—was running errands for Raymond.

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Raymond and Robert were discreet in their relationship, and the Perry Mason cast was an extremely close and tight-knit group—ensuring that the relationship would stay insulated "within the family," even if no one was exactly sure if Raymond and Robert were lovers. Even though Raymond's homosexuality was known within the industry, the scandal magazines of the time, including Confidential, hadn't been sniffing around. They had bigger fish to fry, including Raymond's Horizons West costar Rock Hudson, who was one of their favorite targets.

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His much-publicized relationship with Natalie Wood helped his straight-arrow image, and he was well liked among the major gossip columnists, especially Hedda Hopper. And with her sonny boy making a name for himself on Perry Mason, Hedda had extra incentive to ensure Raymond's name was kept away from "those" rumors. They could destroy a career. Hedda's devotion to Raymond is illustrated in a story told by one of his intimates. One of Raymond's male conquests wrote a letter to Hedda, threatening to expose the actor's secret. Hedda, in turn, wrote to Raymond to apprise him of the situation—and to tell him that his secret was safe. She would, she told him, "stand up and swear anything" for him.

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The closeness wasn't limited to the Perry Mason costars. Raymond treated everyone on the set as family. The stories about his practical jokes were matched only by the stories of his acts of kindness and benevolence. . . . When he heard from his secretary Bill Swann that a little girl in Massachusetts, who'd been horribly burned, preferred an autographed photo of her hero Perry Mason to a letter from President Eisenhower, he flew to the hospital to visit her. He was furious when photographers showed up to document the occasion and refused to let his picture be taken.

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Raymond lent money to anyone who asked, grew close to Barbara Hale's children (including future costar William Katt), and contributed generously to charitable causes. He threw lavish dinner parties for friends, sponsored foster children from Korea and Italy, and puttered around the house in Malibu on his days off, tending to his menagerie. And, along the way, he invented another wife.

Final Tuesday Male Beauty

Out, Proud and Ready to Go for Gold

The Sydney Morning Herald has an interview with Matthew Mitcham (pictured below), a diver on the Australia Olympic team who has come out of the closet in advance of the Beijing Games. A medal favorite, Mitcham is the first Australian to go to the Olympics having declared his homosexuality. Would that more top tier atheletes felt that they clould come out without destroying their careers. Sadly, how well one competes is still irrelevant to the closed minded and homophobic. I applaud Mitcham's courage and hope he takes gold in Beijing. Here are some highlights:

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MATTHEW MITCHAM is brave enough to dive from a 10-metre platform for Olympic gold and courageous enough to do what no Australian athlete has done. When Mitcham balances on the Beijing diving tower this August, like all Australian Olympians, he will be hoping the ones he loves will be there to watch him. The gold medal hopeful's journey has not been easy. Those close to him have seen Mitcham, 20, battle depression, retire in his teenage years after physical and emotional burn-out, then nine months later resume his sport and build himself into the champion he is today. One person who has been by his side for the entire tumultuous journey is his partner, Lachlan.

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Months out from the Games, Mitcham has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media for the first time, in an exclusive interview with the Herald. He has also applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program to have Lachlan near him in Beijing.

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Those who adore him could be watching Mitcham win gold after his performance just over a week ago in Fort Lauderdale. Mitcham stood 10 metres high with the fierce wind whistling in his ears and battling trying conditions. "When I was whizzing around, the sky is the same colour as the water. I was freaking out. It was the first time I had dived outside since I left the sport." His performance was astonishing. Mitcham beat two top Chinese divers who will challenge him for gold. When he saw his four perfect 10s he whooped and leaped on the pool deck.

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Mitcham thinks he would not be going to the Olympics if not for the hardship he endured. "I probably wouldn't have as much of a fighting spirit," he said. "The more you have experienced, the more you have to draw off. I look at the last 20 years as a long, winding path of lessons and some hardship.

Biblical Literalism or Low IQ: Which Came First?

Gene Expression has a couple of interesting posts that compare IQ levels with belief in Biblical literalism and also levels of higher education. Not surprisingly, the fundies do fare very well and the graphs confirm what I've always thought: how can anyone intelligent blindly accept everything in the Bible as literal fact. Here is what Gene Expression found:

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A few months ago I posted data which showed, unsurprisingly, that Unitarian-Universalists tend to have high IQs and Pentecostals not so much. What about something like Biblical literalism and IQ? Well, I plotted the IQ values from the General Social Survey for selected denominations and plotted them against the proportion which believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible. Prepare to be greeted by a very banal reality

More Tuesday Male Beauty

The Change You Deserve

The York Daily Record has a great parody (see below) of the new slogan that was being considered by the Republican Party in its attempt to jump on the "Change" bandwagon until it was discovered to already be the copyrighted slogan for an anti-depressant medication. While rather biting, the parody does properly sum up the mindset of the GOP base. Here the paper's commentary:

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News item: House Republicans, stinging from losses in previously safe seats in Louisiana and Mississippi, introduced a new campaign slogan: The Change You Deserve. The Republicans thought they would cash in on the "change" agenda that's been so successful for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Instead, they found themselves embarrassed when it turned out that "The Change You Deserve" is the copyrighted slogn for Effexor, an anti-depressant.

Knights of Columbus Betray Founder's Vision

As a former 4th Degree Knight of Columbus, I am well familiar with the vision of the Order's founder: to support, protect and care for the families of members and to support the preaching of the Gospel with humility and compassion. In the intervening 125 years, the leadership of the Knights of Columbus have lost their way. While the Order still does many good charitable works, too often, the principal mission would appear to be a sycophant for the Church hierarchy, with little regard for truth and genuine morality and regard for the weak and less powerful. The sexual abuse scandal truly showed how the leadership of the Knights put servile pandering the the Pope and bishops ahead of children and families.

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The fact that bombastic and super hypocrite Bishop Thomas V. Daily was allowed to remain as Supreme Chaplain for several years after the scandal errupted in Boston - Daily had been one of Cardinal Law's lieutenants that intimidated victims and families into remaining silent - was bad enough, but even 6 years later and over $2 billion in settlement payments later, the Knights still refuse to open their eyes to the truth about the Church hierarchy. In fact, at the 125th Anniversary Convention, the principal speaker was Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State of Pope Benedict XVI. Rather than confessing the Church's sins and errors, Bertone depicted the Church as a victim of the media in the USA. Here are highlights from his comments:

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First of all, I would like to say the Church in the United States has suffered deeply because of this situation, has responded with great dignity, and invites everyone to truly commit themselves to a reversal of this situation. While I was still at the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith and as the Archbishop of Genoa, I accompanied the Church in the U.S. through the period of trial and, I repeat, they faced this trial with dignity and courage. I would like to make two concrete observations:

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First, the business [lawsuit and settlements] which has accompanied the sex scandals has nothing to do with respect of the human person, with helping the victims, nor with the recovery of the guilty – whom we cannot abandon to hell. The business created in the United States around this scandal is really unbearable.

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Secondly, I hope that other institutions and social agencies will face this same problem with their members, with an equal degree of courage and realism as the Catholic Church has done. I wonder if the other agencies or institutions have also provided financial consideration for victims as the Catholic Church has done; if they have taken care of the victims and those who are guilty. We must keep in mind that of the 44,000 priests here in the Unites States, the percentage of those who have been involved in this in these scandals is very small. According to the information, it would seem as if the Catholic Church is the only organization that has been affected by this problem. This is unacceptable.

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Obviously, if the Church had done the right thing in the first place, lawsuits and surrounding media coverage would never had occurred. Bertone conveniently ignores this fact. In addition, many in the media continue to provide coverage of sexual abuse scandals in other denominations. However, in those denominations, there has never been evidence linking the cover up all the way the the Vatican equivalent. As far back as the 1960's the Church's policy with the Pope's knowledge was to hus things up and engage in coverups. The Church hierarchy continue to refuse to admit its guilt and the leadership of the Knights continue to have their noses so far up the hierarchy's ass that it's a wonder they do not suffocate.

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P. S. Here's what Bishop Daily had to say about gays (we are evil while covering up the abuse of children, apparently is not):

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As with all sexual disorders the condition of homosexuality is the result of original sin. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made clear that "although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and this the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder." The homosexual orientation violates a person's natural harmony in regard to the proper purpose of his or her sexually and inclines the person toward "acts which are contrary to the natural law" The medical and behavioral sciences have not been able to determine what factors of genetics, hormones or variation in psychosocial upbringing cause a person to be homosexual. It is not my intention to enter into this complex area but to emphasize that the condition is ultimately the result of original sin, not normative, and may not be acted upon in the moral order.

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I cannot overstress that while an objective disorder, a homosexual orientation is not morally wrong in and of itself. It is deliberate homosexual desires and acts that are gravely evil and immoral. . . . legislation can never be enacted which seeks to legitimate homosexual activity or even gives the impression of doing so. Such legislation is of itself immoral and an injustice is the natural rights of all men and women. Likewise,: any educational curriculum which seeks to instill in our children the belief that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable is to be considered as an immoral affront to the natural rights and dignity of our children.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Has Hillary Lost Her Soul?

That's basically the question Eugene Robinson asks in an editorial in this morning's Washington Post which looks at the increasingly delusional and bizarre behavior of Hillary, a/k/a Akasha, and her campaign. Meanwhile, over at Daily Kos, they look at Bill Clinton's non-stop lying on the campaign trail (Bill's always been a liar, so this isn't really new - remeber his perjury when being asked about Monica?). One truly has to wonder what will be left of Hillary's reputation when the saga ends. Surely she doesn't want to come to be regarded as delusional as the Chimperator. Here are highlights from Robinson's column:

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If this campaign goes on much longer, what will be left of Hillary Clinton? A woman uniformly described by her close friends as genuine, principled and sane has been reduced to citing the timing of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination as a reason to stay in the race -- an argument that is ungenuine, unprincipled and insane. She vows to keep pushing, perhaps all the way to the convention in August. What manner of disintegration is yet to come?

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So Clinton's disturbing remark wasn't wishful thinking -- as far as I know (to quote Clinton herself, when asked earlier this year about false rumors that her opponent Barack Obama is a Muslim). Clearly, it wasn't logical thinking. It can only have been magical thinking, albeit not the happy-magic kind. Clinton has always claimed to be the cold-eyed realist in the race, and at one point maybe she was. Increasingly, though, her words and actions reflect the kind of thinking that animates myths and fairy tales: Maybe a sudden and powerful storm will scatter my enemy's ships. Maybe a strapping woodsman will come along and save the day.

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She gives the impression of having spent long nights convincing herself that the stars really might still align for her -- that something can still happen to make the Democratic Party realize how foolish it has been. Clinton campaigns as if she knows she will leave some Democrats with bad feelings. That's the Clinton way: Ask forgiveness, not permission. But every day, as more superdelegates trickle to Obama's side, it becomes a surer bet that she will not win. She and her family enjoy good health and fabulous wealth. They'll be fine -- unless, while losing this race for the nomination, Hillary Clinton also loses her soul.

More Monday Male Beauty

Clinton Blames RFK Remark on Everyone But Herself

I am increasingly coming to believe that Hillary Clinton, a/k/a Akash, is as delusional as the Chimperator. Like the Chimperator, to Hillary reality is what she thinks it is regardless of the objective facts that indicate otherwise. Not only will she not accept the reality that she has lost and should graceful withdraw from the primary campaign and retain some tiny amount of class, but anytime she makes statements that reflect what she's really like, it's everyone else's fault that (1) she made the statement and (2) that people are outraged. Of course her designated mouthpieces likewise seem to be drinking the Kool-Aid in large quantities too. For all herfaux apologies, I think personally, Akasha opes something DOES happen to Obama. I hope he has very good security and a food taster. Today's Washingtom Post has a story that looks at the phenomenon of Hillary's refusal to accept responsibility for her vile remark. Here are some highlights:

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tried again yesterday to explain her reference last week to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, while her campaign aides accused Sen. Barack Obama's advisers of taking the comment out of context and exploiting it.

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Her campaign chairman, Terence R. McAuliffe, was more explicit in his criticism. "It's unfortunate -- a hyped-up press over Memorial Day weekend, the Obama campaign inflaming it, tried to take these words out of context," he said on "Fox News Sunday." On Friday, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, Bill Burton, said Clinton's statement was "unfortunate and has no place in this campaign." On Saturday, Obama told a Puerto Rican radio station that he took Clinton at her word when she said she meant no harm in invoking Kennedy's assassination.
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Neither Clinton nor McAuliffe -- nor Obama or his spokesmen -- mentioned the concern about his safety, particularly among African Americans, that the reference to Kennedy touched on. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll taken in March, nearly six in 10 Americans said they were worried that someone might try to harm Obama (Ill.) if he were the nominee -- more than double the percentage who said they were worried about the same for Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive Republican nominee.
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Some interesting comments at the Washington Post on Hillary's bizarre behavior can be found here (natuarlly, there are also few Hillary Kool-Aid drinker comments too).

Monday Male Beauty

Ignoring Lawrence v. Texas

Pam Spaulding and the News & Observer are reporting that two men in Raleigh, North Carolina have been arrested for violation of North Carolina's "crimes against nature" statute, a/k/a the sodomy statute. Never mind that the U. S. Supreme Court struck down the last remaining sodomy statutes in 2003 with its ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. North Carolina and Virginia both STILL have their sodomy statutes on the books and continue to utilize them to unduly punish gays rather than prosecute them under other statutes that carry less penalties. The City of Virginia Beach is notorious for using sting operations against gays (not that I comprehend why anyone would be so stupid as to solicit sex in a public restroom- perhaps Larry Craig can enlighten us).

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Why are these laws still on the books and utilized by the police? Because (i) the Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly are kissing the asses of the Christianists over at The Family Foundation and (ii) they carry much higher penalties and impose a felony record so that gays can be more severly punished. For example, Virginia already criminalizes both heterosexual and homosexual conduct that occurs in public: Indecent exposure in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor and is punishable by up to twelve months incarceration and a $2500 fine. Open and gross lewdness and lasciviousness in Virginia is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500. Likewise prostitution is a mere Class 1 misdemenor. Under the Virginia sodomy statute, however, the charge is a Class 6 felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $2500 fine. Such seems also to be the case in North Carolina. Here are highlights from the News & Observer:

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Raleigh police are charging two adults for sodomy in private, although the U.S. Supreme Court appears to have outlawed such charges five years ago. Police on Saturday charged two West Raleigh men with a "crime against nature" for having sex early that morning. Each faces up to two years in prison if convicted of the Class I felony. But that charge is unconstitutional, a state lawmaker says.

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North Carolina's "crime against nature" law doesn't apply only to same-sex partners. But a landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling appears to forbid states from treating private, consensual, adult sex as crimes: "The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives," the high court ruled in the case Lawrence v. Texas. "The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government."

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Two months later, the Raleigh Police Department's attorney, Dawn Bryant, told officers they could keep charging people with crimes against nature for committing the acts in public places -- but not in private. Bryant could not be reached Saturday for comment. Nor could Wake County's district attorney, Colon Willoughby. Some district attorneys have stopped prosecuting the crime, but sometimes police rely on it to prosecute public sex, same-sex prostitution and opposite-sex prostitution involving oral sex.

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State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Carrboro Democrat and attorney, has tried for years to rescind the state statute, but the General Assembly hasn't been willing to do it. "I press it every year," she said Saturday. "It would be politically difficult, but that doesn't matter -- it's unconstitutional."

Betraying the Troops

Both the Chimperator and John McCain talk over and over again about "supporting the troops," yet when it comes time to truly do so, both are missing in action. The new legislation that has passed Congress which would update and modernize the G.I. Bill benefits is a case in point. Both the Chimperator and McCain - who both have some fantasy of "winning" in Iraq - oppose the legislation. They are all for asking our military to risk life and limb for the nation, but they do not want to do right by our military. While McCain is no Chimperator since he saw actual combat, not to mention beiing held as a POW, he still is not making the right steps to truly support our troops. As for the Chimperator, today's New York Times has an editorial that properly takes him to task. Here are some highlights:

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Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further weakening the military he has done so much to break. So lavish with other people’s sacrifices, so reckless in pouring the national treasure into the sandy pit of Iraq, Mr. Bush remains as cheap as ever when it comes to helping people at home.

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The Senate version was drafted by two Vietnam veterans, Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, and Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska. They argue that benefits paid under the existing G.I. Bill have fallen far behind the rising costs of college. Their bill would pay full tuition and other expenses at a four-year public university for veterans who served in the military for at least three years since 9/11. At that level, the new G.I. Bill would be as generous as the one enacted for the veterans of World War II, which soon became known as one of the most successful benefits programs — one of the soundest investments in human potential — in the nation’s history.

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Mr. Bush — and, to his great discredit, Senator John McCain — have argued against a better G.I. Bill, for the worst reasons. They would prefer that college benefits for service members remain just mediocre enough that people in uniform are more likely to stay put. Their reasoning is flawed since the C.B.O. has also predicted that the bill would offset the re-enlistment decline by increasing new recruits — by 16 percent. The chance of a real shot at a college education turns out to be as strong a lure as ever.

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By threatening to veto it, Mr. Bush is showing great consistency of misjudgment. Congress should forcefully show how wrong he is by overriding his opposition and spending the money — an estimated $52 billion over 10 years, a tiniest fraction of the ongoing cost of Mr. Bush’s Iraq misadventure. As partial repayment for the sacrifice of soldiers in a time of war, a new, improved G.I. Bill is as wise now as it was in 1944.

Virginia is Up For Grabs in November

So reports today's Washington Post in an article that analyzes both the presidential contest between Obama and McCain, as well as the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator John Warner. The article also mentions three contested House seats, including that of Thelma Drake. Personally, I believe Obama can carry Virginia in November because the state's political terrain is changing to the point where a candidate can win the state by carrying the metropolitan areas and Northern Virginia, thus outweighing the backward and reactionary parts of the state that vote heavily Republican.quickly Given the way that Hillary Clinton, a/k/a, Akasha, Queen of the Damned, has alienated black voters, I seriously doubt she could carry Virginia should she somehow steal the nomination from Obama.

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Moreover, from the military personnel I know, the GOP should not be overly confident of carrying the military vote. In this area both Bush and the Iraq War are very unpopular, and fears that McCain would not get the USA out of Iraq could send many military voters and their families to Obama. Multiple deployments and the strain it places on both the military personnel and their families is wearing heavily on many. One military officer I know confided off the record that many in the military want Obama to win so that an end can be made of the Chimperator's ill-conceived and lie induced war. Here are some highlights from the WP:

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RICHMOND -- For the first time in decades, Virginia is shaping up as a presidential battleground as advisers to Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama lay plans to compete in the fall for the state's 13 electoral votes. The battle for Virginia could be decisive in determining which candidate wins the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. But there will also be campaigns for the seats held by U.S. Sen. John W. Warner and U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, both Republicans who are retiring. National Democrats, optimistic that they can pick up the Warner and Davis seats, also plan to target three incumbent House Republicans. "Virginia has changed dramatically over the years, but the question will be, has it changed enough?" said Larry J. Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.

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But Democrats are emboldened by the state's diversifying demographics, Bush's low approval ratings and statistics showing 131,000 newly registered voters so far this year, nearly half of whom are under 25. Democrats also think they will have a formidable trio of Obama, Kaine and U.S. Senate candidate Mark R. Warner selling the party's message in Virginia. As he proved with his 30-point win in the state's Democratic primary Feb. 12, Obama has amassed tens of thousands of loyal supporters in Virginia, a state where African Americans make up 20 percent of the population and residents from increasingly Democratic Northern Virginia account for one in three registered voters.

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In Northern Virginia, Obama will be trying to replicate the success of Kaine and U.S. Sen. James Webb (D) in getting about 60 percent of the vote in Fairfax County, where as many as a half-million people could turn out on Election Day. One in seven Virginia residents lives in Fairfax, which Bush lost by 6 percentage points in 2004. In Arlington County, where Kaine and Webb received nearly three-quarters of the vote in their races, Democrats are hoping Warner and Obama can get 80 percent of the vote this year.