Final Saturday Male Beauty

Anti-gay Bigotry Alive and Well in Northern Ireland

The Christianists in America have been working hard to export their anti-gay bigotry to other countries, the UK and Australia among them. Apparently, there is fertile ground for their noxious posion and bogus "ex-gay" programs among some in Northern Ireland as evidenced by the outburst of the wife of Northern Ireland's new First Minister, DUP leader Peter Robinson. One would think that Ms. Robinson and Sally Kern have been having get togethers to refine their anti-gay tirades. As always, these "Godly Christians" are anything but Christian in their treatment of others. Fortuantely, the Independent also quotes medical expert who debunks the "cure" myth. Here are some highlights from the Independent:

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THE wife of Northern Ireland's new First Minister, DUP leader Peter Robinson, sparked outrage yesterday by offering to put gay people in touch with a psychiatrist who would help make them heterosexual. Just one day into his new job, Mr Robinson saw his wife Iris, who is also the DUP's health spokeswoman in the Stormont Assembly, dragged into a massive political row. The Strangford MP launched a stinging attack on homosexuality on a live radio phone-in show after a 27-year-old gay man was beaten up in a homophobic attack near his home and left with horrific injuries.

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Mrs Robinson described homosexuality as "disgusting, nauseous, loathsome, shamefully wicked and vile" and said her strong Christian upbringing meant she would never change her views and nothing would stop her from speaking out on the issue.

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She then offered to put gay and lesbian people in touch with a psychiatrist who she described as a born-again-Christian who would help them change their sexuality. Mrs Robinson told BBC's Nolan Show: "I have a lovely psychiatrist who works with me and who tries to help homosexuals turn away from what they are engaged in. "Homosexuality is not natural. My Christian beliefs tell me that it is an abomination and that is very clear. "It is an offence to God, an offensive act and something that God abhors.

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But Michael King from the Royal Society of Psychiatrists said there was no evidence people could obtain psychiatric help to stop them being gay. He said such treatment was potentially harmful. Professor King added: "There is a lot of evidence going back 50 years to suggest that attempts to change people's sexuality in either direction are not possible.

Hillary Finally Concedes

I guess better late than never, but I believe Hillary made a big mistake in her petulant refusal to concede last Tuesday. Now she has some distance to go to make amends and help reunite the Democratic Party which she so deliberately tried to split. Conceding and exiting with class helps one's legacy and also helps position one for moving forward. Today, Hillary fortunately belatedly embraced the more classy approach. Time will tell whether or not she will carry through and really support Obama and help the Party sweep to victory in November. Some commentators have been pretty harsh, myself included. I'm willing to wait and see if she redeems herself. Others see here as beyond redemption, like Peggy Noonan:

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It is the most amazing thing that a young black man who was just a few short years ago unknown to most of his countrymen—really, unknown—could, this week, win the presidential nomination of one of our two great political parties. It is even more amazing that this historic news could be overshadowed by the personal drama and spite of the woman who lost to him.

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I like it that she spent the campaign accusing America of being sexist, of treating her differently because she is a woman, and then, when she lacked the grace to congratulate the victor, she sent her stewards out to tell the press she just needs time, it's so emotional. In other words, she needs space because she's a woman.

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We will hear a lot of tasteful tributes this weekend to Hillary Clinton's grit and fortitude. The Washington-based media may go a little over the top, but only out of relief. They know her well and recoil at what she stands for. They also know they don't like her, so to balance it out they'll gush.

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But this I believe is the truth: America dodged a bullet. That was the other meaning of the culminating events of this week.Mrs. Clinton would have been a disaster as president. Mr. Obama may prove a disaster, and John McCain may, but she would be. Mr. Obama may lie, and Mr. McCain may lie, but she would lie. And she would have brought the whole rattling caravan of Clintonism with her—the scandal-making that is compulsive, the drama that is unending, the sheer, daily madness that is her, and him. We have been spared this. Those who did it deserve to be thanked. May I rise in a toast to the Democratic Party.

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Andrew Sullivan, while not Clinton lover, was a bit more kind. Here's his analysis:

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Senator Clinton did all she needed to do: thanked everyone and unequivocally endorsed and supported Barack Obama. One theme stuck out to me: she essentially said that even though she was careful to avoid ever saying that she was running because she was a woman and that people should vote for her because she is a woman, that's what she believes in private. That's the theme she spoke of most compellingly. She is Ellen Malcolm's spiritual sister. In the end, Clinton remains wedded to the identity politics of her generation and her time. It's a powerful message after so many long decades and centuries in which women have been denied full equality in law and society. It's a necessary message and a moral message. But it becomes circular and self-defeating when it becomes its own rationale.

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She is a very talented politician but it was her fate to find her career hemmed in by two even more talented ones: Bill and Barack. She made up for it all with enormous hard work, diligence and ruthlessness. At any other moment, she would have won. But this is history and politics at the highest level. You cannot defeat such a moment if you are a Salieri. And she had to deal with two Mozarts.

More Saturday Male Beauty

Dedicated to TFP

More "Catholic" Hypocrisy

A Pennsylvanis based organization calling itself the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) ran full page ads in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Times on Thursday bearing the title "Battling for America’s Soul: How Homosexual “Marriage” Threatens Our Nation and Faith—TFP Urges Lawful and Conscientious Resistance." Among other things and after citing numerous Catholic Church statements, some issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (f/n/a, the Inquisition), these ads stated:

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We must join the Crusade like many who “preceded us with the sign of faith.” Unlike the Crusades of old, ours is not physical, but spiritual. Being part of this spiritual crusade means being an untiring apostle for marriage and the family; to never lose an opportunity to tell others—family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers—that homosexual acts and same-sex “marriage” are wrong, unnatural and “intrinsically evil.”

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It is clear, therefore, that the battle for marriage in America is the clash of two worldviews. On the one hand, those Americans who still defend a moral law. On the other, the homosexual revolution and its secularist allies. The stakes are also clear. This is a battle for the soul of America. The so-called Cultural War is gradually becoming a Religious War. For one cannot modify the lex agendi (rules of morals) without thereby modifying the lex credendi (rules of belief) given the profound relationship between the two. He who accepts as good and even exalts homosexual practice cannot adore the true and living God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of that sin. (Gen. 18-19)

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Not surprisingly, and in all too typical form for self-styled "devout Catholics" who blather on and on about supporting the Roman Catholic Church, I can find no evidence that TFP has taken even the slightest step to demand that the Vatican clean house and remove from office all bishops and cardinals (and perhaps the Pope) who enabled and/or covered up the sexual abuse of minors. Rather, all too typically, TFP seems to have its nose stuck up the Vatican's and hierarchy's ass to the point of near suffocation. What kind of Kool-Aid are they dispensing?.

Saturday Male Beauty

Christianists and Khalid Sheik Mohammed On Same-Sex Marriage

I often compare the anti-freedom of religion and utter disregard for the rights of others held by the Christianists in the USA with the nearly identical mindset exhibited by Islamic fundamentalists. On the issue of gay marraige, the two groups are of an equal mind. Likewise, they also have contempt for the constitutional protections afforded to minorities of different faiths as demonstrated by the remarks of Mohammed in court the other day. For those who value freedom of religion and constitutional government, both Mohammed and the Christianists constitute a clear and present danger to the rule of law. Here are highlights from an account of Mohammed's comments recounted in the Wall Street Journal:

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For the past five years, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been under the care of federal civilian and military employees who have taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The experience apparently has not enamored him of the document.

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At his arraignment here Thursday, the alleged 9/11 mastermind said he would not accept any attorney, even a fellow Muslim, “who is sworn to your American constitution.” Displaying a surprising understanding of such concepts as federalism and dual sovereignty, Mohammed referenced recent decisions by state courts in California and Massachusetts under the powers reserved to them under the Tenth Amendment.

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“I consider all American constitution” evil, he said, because it permits “same-sexual marriage and many other things that are very bad,” he told the military judge, Col. Ralph Kohlmann. “Do you understand?”

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It truly is not much of a reach to equate his comments with those of Dobson, Tony Perkins, Don Wildmon and other disingenuous Christianist blowhards who screech about "activist judges" when court rulings rightly protect minorities and grant them equality under the law. The only difference is that they have not endorsed violence - yet.

More Friday Male Beauty

Miller-Jenkins Decision Update

The Virginia Supreme Court's opinion intoday's ruling became available a couple hours ago online and what's interesting is that the Supreme Court not only affirmed the Court of Appeals but it also threw out Lisa Miller - Jenkins' attempt to raise new issues that were not properly raised at the Court of Appeals level and/or timely appealed. In short, it looks like Lisa Miller - Jenkins' counsel screwed up. And who was that counsel? The Christianists at Liberty Counsel, including constant anti-gay gadfly Matthew Staver. Here are some highlights from the Supreme Court's opinion:

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Following the Court of Appeals’ entry of judgment in the first Virginia appeal, Lisa filed a petition for appeal to this Court. We dismissed Lisa’s petition because it was not timely filed. Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins, Record No. 070355 (May 7, 2007).
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We first decline Lisa’s request that we consider the effect of the Virginia Marriage Amendment on the arguments presented in this appeal. Lisa did not ask the Court of Appeals to consider the Virginia Marriage Amendment, despite the fact that it became effective on January 1, 2007, several months before the Court of Appeals issued its opinion in the present appeal. In addition, Lisa did not assign error in this Court to the Court of Appeals’ failure to consider the Virginia Marriage Amendment. Therefore, we conclude that this part of Lisa’s argument is procedurally barred.
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The Court of Appeals’ holding in the present appeal merely reflects the issues actually decided in the first Virginia appeal, including the issues whether the PKPA applied to the custody and visitation dispute and whether the Vermont custody order was entitled to full faith and credit.

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Thus, it appears that the Christianist attorneys are not quite as wonderful as they claim to be on their websites. As I have remarked before, many of these attorneys - e.g., Jan LaRue of Concerned Women for America - went to non-ABA accredited Christianist law schools and, therefore, would not be able to take the bar exam in mosts states. Nonetheless, they pontificate on all matter of legal issues as if they are illustrious authorities on the law. Religious fanaticism and legal competence are not synonymous. Here's a complete cast of the attorneys involved in this case:

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• Mathew D. Staver (Rena M. Lindevaldsen; Liberty Counsel, on briefs), for appellant (Lisa Miller-Jenkins).
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• Joseph R. Price (Gregory R. Nevins; Rebecca Glenberg; Arent Fox; Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc.; American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Foundation, on brief), for appellee (Janet Jenkins-Miller).
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• Amicus Curiae: Commonwealth of Virginia (Robert F. McDonnell, Attorney General; William E. Thro, State Solicitor General; Stephen R. McCullough, Deputy State Solicitor General; William C. Mims, Chief Deputy Attorney General; David E. Johnson, Deputy Attorney General; Matthew M. Cobb, Assistant Attorney General, on brief), in support of appellant.
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• Amicus Curiae: American Center for Law and Justice (Vincent P. McCarthy; Kristina J. Wenberg; Erik M. Zimmerman; Benjamin P. Sisney, on brief), in support of appellant.
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• Amicus Curiae: National Legal Foundation (Steven W. Fitschen; Barry C. Hodge, on brief), in support of appellant.
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• Amicus Curiae: Michael A. Cox, Attorney General of the State of Michigan (Henry J. Boynton, Assistant Solicitor General; Alison P. Landry, Senior Assistant Attorney General, on brief), in support of appellant.
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• Amici Curiae: National Association of Counsel for Children; Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers; Virginia Women Attorneys Association; Virginia National Organization for Women; Virginia Organizing Project; Professor Joan H. Hollinger (Thomas M. Wolf; Megan A. Scanlon; LeClair Ryan, on brief), in support of appellee.

Friday Male Beauty

Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Vermont Civil Union Ruling

The Virginia Supreme Court issued its ruling this morning in a four year long custody battle arising from a Vermont civil union gone bad and held that the Vermont civil union decrees must be enforced in Virginia even though same-sex marriages are barred in Virginia by both statute and the so-called "Marriage Amendment" passed in November, 2006. No doubt the professional gay-haters will be in an uproar, especially since Lisa Miller is now an "ex-gay" for pay. Here are some highlights from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

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Virginia Supreme Court ruling this morning means a Vermont child custody order in a failed civil union must be enforced here even though same-sex marriages are barred in Virginia. The unusual, long-running case centers on 6-year-old Isabella, born to then Lisa Miller-Jenkins, after she was artificially inseminated. Miller-Jenkins entered into a civil union in Vermont with Janet Miller-Jenkins in 2001. The union broke up and Lisa, now Lisa Miller, returned to Virginia in 2003, became a born-again Christian and renounced the lesbian lifestyle.

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The Virginia justices today upheld a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that a federal law aimed at preventing parents from shopping from state to state for the most favorable custody rulings, required the Vermont order to be respected. The case has attracted national attention from liberal and conservative groups.

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Lambda Legal, which participated in the case on behailf of Janet Jenkins, released a statement, highlights of which are as follows:

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Today, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a prior ruling by the Virginia Court of Appeals that said that the state must honor the Vermont Supreme Court's order of visitation between Janet Jenkins and her daughter.

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Janet Jenkins (formerly Miller-Jenkins) and Lisa Miller (formerly Miller-Jenkins) were joined in a civil union in Vermont and thereafter had a child. After the women ended their relationship, Miller moved to Virginia with the women's daughter, and asked a Vermont court to dissolve the couple's civil union and sort out custody of the child. When the Vermont court ordered visitation for Jenkins, Miller filed a new lawsuit in a Virginia court, using that state's antigay marriage law to have herself declared the child's sole legal parent.

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The conflicting court orders — one from Vermont ordering regular visitation for Jenkins, and the other from a lower court in Virginia naming Miller as the sole parent — led to a decision by the Virginia Court of Appeals that the lower court in Virginia was wrong to contradict the Vermont court order granting Janet Jenkins visitation rights. A few months later, the Virginia Court of Appeals, based on its earlier decision, reiterated that Virginia must enforce the Vermont court order. Lisa Miller appealed that decision to the Virginia Supreme Court resulting in today's decision.

Final Thursday Male Beauty

Most Say Gay Marriage A Private Choice

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll should have the Christianists terrified since it found that 63% of adults say same-sex marriage is "strictly a private decision" between two people. That the government has the right "to prohibit or allow" such marriages was stated by only 33% of the respondents, with 4% of those surveyed having no opinion. In the yongest group polled - and those most likely to support a Democrat for president - 79% were against the government restricting same-sex marriage rights. Ultimately, the hate merchants are going to lose as their adherents literally die off. Thus, I suspect that we can likely expect all kinds of shrill histrionics and more outrageous lies from the Christianists as they fight the growing tide of history. Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Robert Knight and the other haters will be going uttlerly berserk and the spittle will be flying. (Note: take the comments of Mark Rozell who is quoted in the article with some caution - when I ran for school board in 1994 he never spoke with me, yet accepted my opponents claims that I was "Christian Right"). Here are some highlights from USA Today:

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"Those [anti-gay marriage] initiatives did have an impact in [2004] election results," says Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "Turnout was 2.4% higher on average in those 11 states [with anti-gay initiatives] than the other 39 states." But these poll findings "suggest caution" to conservative activists who think this will mobilize voters, he says. "People were warned, with lots of overheated rhetoric, about the consequences of gay marriage in Massachusetts. They didn't see it affect their own lives. Now, most people have let loose a collective yawn about the issue."

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A majority of respondents at every level of education and income say same-sex marriage is "strictly private." This was true:

**In every region: East (71%), West (64%), Midwest (63%) and South (56%).
**Among all ages except "65 and older": 18 to 29 (79%), 30 to 49 (65%), 50 to 64% (62%) and 65 and older (44%).

** Among people who say a relative, friend or co-worker personally has told them he or she was gay or lesbian (73%).

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"After Massachusetts, the public has seen that the decision there has not affected people's lives as much as was feared," Rozell says. Still, there are forms of marriage Americans overwhelmingly do want to see regulated: 66% say polygamy should not be a strictly private decision; 78% say the government should regulate marriages involving someone under 16.

Homes in Foreclosure Top 1 Million

For more than six months I have been commenting on what's happening in the residential real estate market and the news seems to only get worse overall. This new grim statistic means that there will be continued downward pressure on home sale prices and further drops in the market values of homes which in turn will leave even more homeowners with no equity and loan balances that significantly exceed what they can realistically hope to get if they are lucky enough to find a buyer. Given this fact, such homeowners have the choice of (1) walking away from the property or (2) trying to negotiate a "short sale" whereby the mortgage lender agrees to accept a less than full payoff amount and hopefully avoid having to take the property to foreclosure sale where no buyer is willing to pay enough to retire the loan in full.

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The benefit of a "short sale" is that the lender does not end up owning a property which it cannot sell, yet must maintain and pay taxes on. For the homeowner, provided the motgage lender will waive seeking a deficienct judgment, a "short sale" may provide a way to start over. I have a whole article and information and form packet on short sales (anyone interested in a copy should e-mail me). Until housing begins to recover, no one should expect the economy to turn around. Here are highlights from CNN:

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More than one million homes are now in foreclosure, the highest rate ever recorded, according to a trade group which warned Thursday that number will continue to climb.

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The seasonally-adjusted rate of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments also hit a record high. Nearly 3 million home loans, or 6.4%, have missed at least one payment, while about 737,000 are at least three months past due, but not yet in foreclosure.

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"It's the same story we've been seeing for a while now - we had too much reckless lending, and buyers who got over-extended," he said. "We've had an unprecedented decline in home prices on a nationwide basis, which is public enemy number one for mortgage loans. And now you've got an overall economy that has slowed adding to this toxic stew."

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Prime fixed-rate loans, which are considered very low risk, have also seen sharp increases in their delinquency and foreclosure rates, although they are performing far better than the riskier loans on the market. The report showed about 1.2 million prime mortgages are now a month or more past due, a seasonably adjusted rate of 3.7% of those loans. That's up from a rate of 2.6% a year ago.

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Nearly half of the homes in foreclosure are concentrated in six states. But those states are undergoing two very different types of housing meltdowns. California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada have been hit by a hangover after a home building boom in the middle of the decade, which was fueled by rising home prices and investors snatching up real estate using risky mortgages. Those four states have nearly 400,000 homes in foreclosure, or a third of the nationwide total. Roughly 3.6% of all of the loans in these states are now in foreclosure. "Clearly things in California and Florida are going to get worse before they get better," said Brinkman. The other two states that are ground zero for the crisis - Michigan and Ohio - have been hit by the more traditional economic woes stemming from rising job losses, particularly in the automotive sector.

More Thursday Male Beauty

H. L. Menchen on Religion

Although he quotes Mencken in a different context (i.e., the demands of Islamic fundamentalist against Danish citizens), Bob Felton at Civil Commotion has a quote from H. L. Mencken that wondefully describes people like Rick Scarborough and Tony Perkins mentioned in the prior post and those like them who seek to inflict their religious beliefs on all of society. (I am assuming Scarborough and Perkins actually believe the religious based bile they put out and are not in it solely for the money they get from mindless Christianist contributors). Here's a portion of the Mencken quote:

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The way to deal with superstition is not to be polite to it, but to tackle it with all arms, and so rout it, cripple it, and make it forever infamous and ridiculous. . . . True enough, even a superstitious man has certain inalienable rights. He has a right to harbor and indulge his imbecilities as long as he pleases, provided only he does not try to inflict them upon other men by force. He has a right to argue for them as eloquently as he can, in season and out of season. He has a right to teach them to his children. But certainly he has no right to be protected against the free criticism of those who do not hold them. He has no right to demand that they be treated as sacred. He has no right to preach them without challenge.

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The meaning of religious freedom, I fear, is sometimes greatly misapprehended. It is taken to be a sort of immunity, not merely from governmental control but also from public opinion. A dunderhead gets himself a long-tailed coat, rises behind the sacred desk, and emits such bilge as would gag a Hottentot. Is it to pass unchallenged? If so, then what we have is not religious freedom at all, but the most intolerable and outrageous variety of religious despotism. Any fool, once he is admitted to holy orders, becomes infallible. Any half-wit, by the simple device of ascribing his delusions to revelation, takes on an authority that is denied to all the rest of us.

Christianists React to California Supreme Court Refusal to Stay Ruling

As predicted, the disingenuous Christianist mouth pieces are having vapors over the California Supreme Court's refusal to stay its May 15, 2008, ruling striking down all California laws banning gay marriage. From their statements it is crystal clear that in their view minorities have no rights whatsoever unless the majority of the population is gracious enough to allow them to have them. Thus, under their reasoning, Jews, Muslims, blacks, and others could have their rights curtailed if the majority decided to enact constitutional amendments depriving them of legal rights and status. The mindset of these people is akin to what happened in Nazi Germany where the majority was turned against the Jewish minority with the Holocaust and mass murder being the ultimate result. These people are neither Christian nor moral. Would that the mainstream media would challenge them on their arguments and the natural outcome of the mob majority rule that they espouse. Here are some examples via the Christianist news service, CNSNews.com of the demagoguery of professional homophobes, Rick Scarborough and Tony Perkins (pictured at left) who make a nice living by shaking down the sheeple for money:

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Rick Scarborough, president of the conservative group Vision America, issued a news release on Wednesday blasting the ruling as "an affront to democracy.""I don't know why they don't just hang a sign outside the California Supreme Court building that says, 'Until further notice, representative government hereby suspended by court order,'" Scarborough stated."Two weeks ago, the California high court created a 'right' to homosexual marriage out of thin air," he noted. "In so doing, the majority declared unconstitutional a 2000 referendum for a statute providing that marriage in California consists only of the union of a man and a woman."

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"Not only is the court saying that homosexuals must have a right they've never had before in California, but that enforcement of its edict can't wait five months for the people to be heard," he declared. "Never in the annals of judicial tyranny has an activist court made such a brazen move. "I would not be surprised if pro-family forces launch a drive to recall the justices who committed this crime against democracy," Scarborough added.

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But Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, told Cybercast News Service that he was "sharply critical" of the decision to withhold the stay."Once again, the California Supreme Court has shown contempt for the democratic process by ignoring more than 1.1 million California voters who signed petitions placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November," Perkins stated."Today's ruling underscores the need for passage of the marriage protection amendment," he noted. "Without the amendment's passage, the high court's ruling will have far-reaching consequences for children, the family, religious liberties, businesses and every facet of society.

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Once gays achieve full civil legal rights, one has to wonder what bigots like Scarborough and Perkins will do for a living. What new minority group will become the target of their un-Christian hatred in order that the prejudiced and/or gullible can be fleeced of money?

Thursday Male Beauty

Blogger Meet Up - Update

Last evening I met with Java Jones (a/k/a Doris) of "My Life or Something Like It" who writes out of Greenwood, South Carolina (a small town about 50 miles south of Greenville, South Carolina). First we went to Mixers for a couple of drinks and then we went by my house where Doris got to meet the roommates, Matt and Rob, and we watched an episode of Queer as Folk on Logo, which is not available in Greenwood. Greenwood definitely does not sound like a place where it's easy to be gay. Thus, all the more kudos to Doris and her husband for taking in two gay teens who had been thrown out by their parents for being gay.

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All in all, I had a wonderful time as did Doris by all appearances. What was remarkable is that although we had never met in person before, it was like we already knew one another and it truly felt like meeting an old friend to talk and catch up on things. As I have said before, through this blog, I have met some truly wonderful people, Doris being one of them. We both agreed that it would be great fun to somehow plan a larger meet up of our blogger friends on the east coast. As Doris left to head back to a relatives home in Virginia Beach, we gave each other a huge hug. The Internet and my cyberspace friends are awesome.

Unfit for the Judiciary

Oklahoma sure seems to have more than its share of bigoted hate-merchants in political office and/or judicial positions, particularly the Oklahoma City area, based on the reletively recent anti-gay verbal diarrhea of state legislator, Sally Kern, and now District Judge, Bill Graves. Neither Kern nor Graves seem to understand that THEIR religious beliefs do not override the CIVIL laws. They are to adiminster the CIVIL laws, not some religious court of Star Chamber. Judge Graves has his panties in a serious wad over the proposal to amend the Oklahoma rules of judicial conduct to prevent judicial discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity. While I concede that it is surprising, EVEN VIRGINIA - certainly not one of the more progressive states - requires that judges cannot be biased in performing their judicial duties based on litigants' sexual orientation.

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Mr. Graves has confirmed the depths of his bigotry not only against gays but also Hispanics and I suspect anyone who is not white in a letter that can be found here. In his tirade, Graves also shows his ignorance of the law when he cites the Oklahoma "crimes against nature" statute, 21. Oklahoma Statutes Sec. 886, ignoring the fact that the U. S. Supreme Court struck down the remaining sodomy statutes FIVE YEARS AGO in its ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. Mr. Graves also apparently has never heard of the concept of equal protection under the law as required by the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. In short, Mr. Graves demonstrates that he cannot impartially apply the law and, therefore, should not be on the bench. Here are select highlights from his rant which evidence the typical Christianist approach of equating being gay with being a pedophile and/or diseased:

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"Sexual orientation" would include pedophiles and polgamists. Does the BBC desire to protect such activity? Homosexuals practice anal sodom, defined as "the detestable and abominable crime against nature" at 21 O.S. Sec. 886, which no doubt has contributed greatly to the AIDS plague. Does the BBC desire to promote this practice?

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By including the term "ethnicity," would a judge be barred from questioning whether a person with no social security card is an illegal alien? If not, would it be "invidious discrimination" to report this to the ICE for deportation of such person? Rule 3.6 would also prohibit a judge from honoring his or her religious beliefs against homosexuality since there are numerous Biblical references condemning homosexuality. Even many non-Christian atheists object to the homosexual agenda.

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All I can say is God help any litigant or criminal defendant who is non-white and/or a sexual minority that has the severe misfortune of having to appear in Judge Graves' coutroom. Based on his own statements, it is a foregone conclusion that they will not receive an impartial dispensation of justice from this bigot, who can be reached at: Oklahoma County Courthouse, 321 Park Avenue, Oklahoma City OK 73102 , (405) 713-1456.

Final Wednesday Male Beauty

Suit Seeks to Block New York Policy on Same-Sex Unions

The Alliance Defense Fund, the insidious coalition of anti-gay Christianist organizations I described in a previous post, has raised its ugly head again, this time in New York State where it has filed a lawsuit seeking to block Governor David Patterson’s order directing state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside New York State. In league with ADF are five conservatve GOP state legislators (I know, what a surprise), Senator Serphin R. Maltese of Queens, Senator Martin J. Golden of Brooklyn; Assemblymen Daniel J. Burling of Warsaw and Brian M. Kolb of Geneva; and James N. Tedisco of Schenectady. It is amazing what lengths these folks will go to in order further their agenda of marginalizing and denigrating gay Americans, all in the name of their supposedly loving God. One can only speculate on the number of homeless and straving children around the world that could be cared for with the huge amounts of money they spend seeking to limit the secular civil rights of others. Here are some highlights from the New York Times coverage:

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ALBANY — Five state lawmakers, backed by a conservative Christian policy group, sued Gov. David A. Paterson on Tuesday, seeking to block the governor’s order directing state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside New York. The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in the Bronx, came as the Senate Republican conference all but ruled out taking any action to try to challenge the governor.

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The Christian group, the Alliance Defense Fund, based in Arizona, which represents the lawmakers, has fought efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in several states. In Tuesday’s suit, it argued that Mr. Paterson usurped the Legislature’s authority as the sole branch of government empowered to decide what the state’s definition of marriage is.

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The suit seeks an injunction against an order that Mr. Paterson’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, issued last month directing all state agencies to review their policies to ensure that they conform to a decision by a state appellate court in Rochester in February. That decision held that the state must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, even though New York does not itself allow gays and lesbians to marry.

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“This is a lawsuit that’s not going anywhere,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represents Ms. Martinez. “The governor is doing what a governor should do, which is direct his agencies to comply with the law. He’s not circumventing anything. He’s not doing anything that violates the law,” Ms. Lieberman said. Lawyers for Ms. Martinez said on Tuesday that the Alliance Defense Fund had failed so far in previous attempts to challenge New York State and local agencies that have recognized same-sex marriages.

A Familiar Malice

Is the title of a post by Bob Felton at Civil Commotion that accurately describes Hillary's speech last night and compares her insanity/disingenuousness with that of the worst of the Christianist preachers for whom reality is irrelevant. I truly am coming to believe that Hillary needs a mental health intervention (Bill has needed one for quite sometime). If she keeps up this behavior, her legacy will be that of a laughing stock nutcase. Here's Bob's thoughts:

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By even the standards of this strange political season that prizes religious exhibitionism, Hillary Clinton’s speech last night was reminiscent of nothing so much as the worst rantings of fundamentalist preachers.

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She is so baldly and so grossly out of touch with reality as to raise well-founded questions about her mental stability.

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She urged her followers on a course certain to damage her party, their nominal friends, and weaken it.

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They Amen!-ed at the appropriate times and they will do as she asks, resolutely working against Obama and counting on a miracle to come galloping over the hill.

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And the point is, just like any moron preacher who secretly knows he’s a moron, to humble her betters.

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Oh, yeah — another thing: She asked for money, so that her mighty work may continue. All that was different was the place.

California Supreme Court Rebuffs Christianists

Wow!! I am very happy that the California Supreme Court has both denied the ADF's request that the Court's May 15, 2008, ruling be stayed until after the November, 2008, election and denied the petitions for rehearing. Matt Staver and other theocratic wingnuts will no doubt be blustering and whining and convulsing in fits, disingenuously claiming that the end of western civilization is at hand. Meanwhile, same sex marriages will be able to commence and proceed for four and a half months before election day in November, thus increasing the pressure on the California electorate not to support the Christianist efforts to amend the California constitution. This, combined with what hopefully will be a huge turnout of younger voters supporting Obama on election day, will hopefully be enough to defeat the amendment effort and send the Christianists back into the wilderness politically, at least in California. Here's a copy of the Court's Order:

More Wednesday Male Beauty

The Coming Energy Wars

That's the title of an article in the latest Newsweek that looks at the potential future and the economic impacts of soaring oil and gas prices. If accurate, the future will not be pretty nor will it be painless in the USA or elsewhere. As a former in-house attorney for an oil company, I am hardly someone who is violently anti-oil companies. I know full well the costs and high risks involved in both exploration ventures and the number of "dry holes" drilled for each successful producing well, not to mention the challenges of overseas exploration and the difficulties of dealing with foreign governments. However, as one who lived through the energy crisis of the early 1970's, the USA and its citizens have been on notice of the potentially impending energy cost nightmare for over three decades. Rather than face up to the reality, both the U.S. givernment and the citizenry have closed their eyes to the situation, which may be about to come home to roost. During the married phase of my life, I lived for 20 years in upscale suburbia in Virginia Beach where (i) there is virtually no public transportation that's worth a damn and an auto is needed to go just about anywhere, and (ii) countless soccer moms drive around in gas guzzling behemoths that serve no useful purpose other than to evidence conspicuous consumption: Suburbans, Hummers, Escalades, Navigators, etc. Hopefully, the coming economic pain will result in needed conservation efforts and changed habits that should have begun in earnest 30 years ago. Here are some story highlights:

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This spring, America hit a historic point. With average gas prices per gallon edging toward $4, America's notoriously profligate ways started to change fast. Americans are driving less, using mass transit more, buying fewer gas guzzlers, indeed shopping less wantonly in general, and lowering their previously unshakable confidence as consumers. Suddenly, Americans are acting differently; if not exactly like Swedes, then not quite like themselves, either. It's a shift that could change the world.

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And there are more changes to come. So far the price shock has triggered the most obvious consumer shifts in the United States. Europeans, already greener, are also are buffered by a stronger currency, and Asians are protected from the spiking price of oil by subsidies that control the impact on gas prices at the pump. But if oil prices continue to rise, and the subsidy dam breaks, as seems likely, the energy revolution now transforming America will spread.

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As the per-barrel price climbed over the last few months, with futures reaching $135 last week, the consensus began shifting to a new more gloomy view: that not only would long-term demand, led by China and India, continue to grow, but that the supply threats, including increasing conflict, falling investment, industry bottlenecks and downward estimates of big field reserves in major oil states—aren't going away any time soon. Now many (though not all) serious people take $200 oil—and the prospect of another '70s-style oil shock—seriously.

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Oil drives so much of the global economy, it's almost impossible to fully imagine the world of $200 oil. No question, the shock will force nations to go greener much faster than now, particularly by conserving energy and developing and adopting new non-fossil fuels. But none of this can happen full stop in six to 24 months. So the predictions tend to be gloomy: some analysts see a shift toward regional trade, and even a major reversal of globalization itself, as rising transport costs make it too expensive to ship many kinds of goods long distances.

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No industry will be unaffected. Any company that moves goods or people needs oil. At $200 oil could make the long-predicted death of Detroit, or at least one of its Big Three, a reality. Airlines are vulnerable too. Skyrocketing jet fuel prompted American to announce it would cut flights due to the grounding of numerous older, less fuel-efficient planes. . . . The oil-induced depression of the American consumer may be a harbinger of what's to come elsewhere. In the United States, consumer confidence is now at a 15-year low. Energy Department data show that $4-a-gallon gas is finally forcing Americans to cut back on driving; this year gas consumption in the country is expected to drop for the first time since 1991.

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With oil futures up 40 percent in just the last two months, the sense of an accelerating shock is already palpable in the United States. While American automakers were moving slowly toward smaller cars before the spike, sales of SUVs and pickups are now falling so fast, they appear to be caught flat-footed. "At $200, GM tanks," says energy expert Philip Verleger. "They just don't have time to fix their fleet."

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So, what's to be done? For starters, policy makers might stop grilling big oil companies about why prices are so high (since they now control only a small percent of known reserves, it's largely out of their hands), support smarter green initiatives (wind and solar credits rather than ethanol boondoggles) and stop pandering to voters with subsidies and gas-tax cuts that ignore the new reality—oil is a finite resource, more people want more of it, and the profligacy with which we've used it is going to change. . . . By some estimates, the world could save 25 percent of its oil usage with simple measures like driving the speed limit, turning off lights, and fully using the green technology we already have (hybrids, better insulation, etc, etc).

Needless Deaths - Blood on the Chimperator's Hands

Via Andrew Sullivan's blog I came upon this piece in The Atlantic that looks at the case of Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith (pictured above) who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroic conduct in Iraq. Unfortunately, the article while deservedly lauding Sergeant Smith, makes no mention of the fact that he died in a war launched based upon the calculated and cynical lies of the Chimperator and Emperor Palpatine Cheney. In my view it is both criminal and a sin that a valiant young man like Sergeant Smith died in a war that should never have been commenced. It is nothing short of disgusting that Laura Bush made the delusional statement that the Chimperator suffers more than anyone over the war he wrongly commenced. Tell that to Sergeant Smith's family and the families of the other Iraq War dead, both American and Iraqi.

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Perhaps living in an area with many military personnel, such stories hit home much harder than for those not living surrounded by members of the military (my new roommate who will be moving in later this month is, in fact, in the military). Perhaps not, I don't know. In any event, I hope God has a special place in Hell for the Chimperator and Cheney. They are truly uncaring and evil men, in my opinion, who are responsible for who knows how many total deaths in the Iraq War debacle. Here are some story highlights:

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Over the decades, the Medal of Honor—the highest award for valor—has evolved into the U.S. military equivalent of sainthood. Only eight Medals of Honor have been awarded since the Vietnam War, all posthumously. “You don’t have to die to win it, but it helps,” says Army Colonel Thomas P. Smith. A West Point graduate from the Bronx, Smith has a unique perspective. He was a battalion commander in Iraq when one of his men performed actions that resulted in the Medal of Honor. It was then-Lieutenant Colonel Smith who pushed the paperwork for the award through the Pentagon bureaucracy, a two-year process.

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On the morning of April 4, 2003, the 11th Engineer Battalion of the Third Infantry Division broke through to Baghdad International Airport. With sporadic fighting all around, Smith’s men began to blow up captured ordnance that was blocking the runways. Nobody had slept, showered, or eaten much for weeks. In the midst of this mayhem, Smith got word that one of his platoon leaders, Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith (no relation) of Tampa, Florida, had been killed an hour earlier in a nearby firefight. Before he could react emotionally to the news, he was given another piece of information: that the 33-year-old sergeant had been hit while firing a .50- caliber heavy machine gun mounted on an armored personnel carrier. . . . And a few days after that, other members of the platoon, who had witnessed Sergeant Smith’s last moments, were themselves killed.

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Sergeant Smith was directing his platoon to lay concertina wire across the corner of a courtyard near the airport, in order to create a temporary holding area for Iraqi prisoners of war. Then he noticed Iraqi troops massing, armed with AK-47s, RPGs, and mortars. Soon, mortar fire had wounded three of his men—the crew of the platoon’s M113A3 armored personnel carrier. A hundred well-armed Iraqis were now firing on his 16-man platoon.

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Sergeant Smith threw grenades and fired an AT-4, a bazooka-like anti-tank weapon. A Bradley fighting vehicle from another unit managed to hold off the Iraqis for a few minutes, but then inexplicably left (out of ammunition, it would later turn out). Sergeant Smith was now in his rights to withdraw his men from the courtyard. But he rejected that option because it would have threatened American soldiers who were manning a nearby road block and an aid station. Instead, he decided to climb atop the Vietnam-era armored personnel carrier whose crew had been wounded and man the .50- caliber machine gun himself. He asked Private Michael Seaman to go inside the vehicle, and to feed him a box of ammunition whenever the private heard the gun go silent.

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Seaman, under Sergeant Smith’s direction, moved the armored personnel carrier back a few feet to widen Smith’s field of fire. Sergeant Smith was now completely exposed from the waist up, facing 100 Iraqis firing at him from three directions, including from inside a well-protected sentry post. He methodically raked them, from right to left and back. Three times his gun went silent and three times the private reloaded him, while Sergeant Smith sat exposed to withering fire. He succeeded in breaking the Iraqi attack, killing perhaps dozens of the enemy while going through 400 rounds of ammunition, before being shot in the head.

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Colonel Smith believes there are other Paul Smiths out there, both in their level of professionalism and in their commitment—each a product of an all-volunteer system now in its fourth decade. How many others have performed as valiantly as Sergeant Smith and not been recommended for the Medal of Honor?

Wednesday Male Beauty

"Deranged Narcissism"

I have to agree with the assessment of Jeffrey Toobin over at Huffington Post, namely that Hillary's refusal to concede and admit that she has lost the race for the Democratic Party nomination is clearly evidence that Akasha has perhaps gone over the edge and had a mental break down. She's beginning to make the Chimperator look like he's in touch with reality. Hillary seems to be living in some parallel reality of her own creation. She's starting to be down right scary in her insanity. I agree with John Aravosis and others that Nancy Pelosi and other senior leadership in the Party need to act to ship Hillary off to a rest home for some serious mental health counseling. Here are Toobin's comment and those of some other network commentators:

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Political analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Hillary Clinton's refusal to concede the election "deranged narcissism."

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"Well whatever that was, it wasn't a concession speech." -- FNC's Hume

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"If I were Barack Obama, if I heard that speech, I would not be very happy. ... They are living in parallel universes right now." -- CNN's Borger.

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"This was a defiant speech, against all the kind of advice that [heavyweights] within the Democratic Party gave her" -- Ex-WH adviser David Gergen, on whether he was surprised by Clinton's speech (CNN).

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"She did everything but offer Obama the vice presidency" -- GOP strategist Alex Castellanos (CNN)

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Blogger Meet Up

I received a telephone call today from my blogger friend Java Jones of My Life or Something Like It who lives in South Carolina. I was thrilled to find out that she is coming to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. We have been in contact for many months (since at least August of 2007) via e-mail, comments and occasional telephone calls and Java, a/k/a Doris, is a real sweetheart. Anyone who has not checked out her blog should do so. She and her husband have gaiven a home to two gay teenagers who were thrown out of their homes for being gay. She's a true angel of mercy. We were going ot get together tonight, but her drive in from Baltimore is taking longer than expected and it's getting late (i.e., 9:45 PM and she's still an hour out). Thus, we will get together tomorrow sometime. She will be staying with relatives in Virginia Beach about 25 minutes from me. I cannot wait to meet her in person, give her a big hug and no doubt share stories and I suspect many laughs and special moments.

Gay Marriage May be Economic Boon to California

Even though unfortunately the anti-gay constitutional amendment has apparently received enough signatures to be placed on the California ballot in Novemeber and, if passed by voters, potentially overturn the historic May 15, 2008 ruling of the Californai Supreme Court, as this Los Angeles Times article indicates, gay marriage could bring lots of financial benefit to the state. One can only hope that many Californians will vote against the proposed amendment not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is the smart thing to economically. Here are highlights from the LA Times:

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Forget economic stimulus checks. Same-sex marriages may give California just the financial boost it needs.Wedding planners, bakers and hotels began booking more business almost immediately after the state Supreme Court's May 15 decision overturning a ban on gay marriage. Citing pent-up demand, one UCLA study projects that same-sex unions could provide a $370-million shot in the arm to the state economy over the next three years.

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PlanetOut, a media and entertainment company that conducts surveys about gay and lesbian consumers, says gay consumers earn 20% more than their straight counterparts, on average, and spend about 10% more on nuptials.The court ruling comes at a good time for many small wedding-related businesses, which are finding that their traditional customers are spending less on weddings because of the economy."Brides are being more frugal with things they don't see as a priority," said Richard Markel, president and director of the Assn. for Wedding Professionals International.

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.V. Lee Badgett, research director at the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law, estimates that gay weddings could provide a $370-million boost to the state economy.That estimate presumes that about half of California's 92,000 same-sex couples will tie the knot, multiplied by $8,040, the amount of money from savings accounts that Badgett figures same-sex couples will use on their weddings.Event planners, restaurants, tent and chair rental companies, florists, caterers and hotels should all get a piece of that pie, she said.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Obama to Claim Democratic Nomination

Like many others, I am awaiting news updates to confirm that Barack Obama has tied up the nomination for the Democratic Party. Yes, I have been very harsh on Hillary Clinton throughout the primary contest and, I believe rightfully so. Having once run for public office myself and lost by a slim margin after a very nasty campaign, I know all too well how much losing hurts. It is literally a personal rejection no matter how one views it. However, how one accepts that reality of losing and how they carry on going forward says it all about the losing candidate. In Hillary's case, she has failed the test and come up short, looking like a delusional nut case rather than losing with class and dignity.

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I truly pray that Obama will NOT offer her the Vice President slot. She has proven herself to be a sleaze bag just like her husband, Slick Willie, and having her in the number 2 slot has the potential for disaster. I'll be right up front and state that if I were Obama I'd be worried that Bill and Hillary would have me assassinated, making it of course look like some white supremacy group was responsible. I do not like Hillary nor do I trust her as far as I can throw my Jeep. In addition, having her on the ticket could well alienate many cross over GOP voters who might otherwise support Obama. As for the disgruntled older women supporting Hillary who might support McCain over Obama, I predict that should McCain win the election and add reactionaries to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hillary will go down in history as having severely damaged the nation. I hope all these so-called feminists enjoy a return to back alley abortions and the re-passage of sodomy laws nation wide. Meanwhile, here are highlights from MSNBC on Obama's plan to claim victory:

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Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois prepared to claim the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night after The Associated Press said he had won a majority of delegates to the party’s summer convention. By doing so, he shattered a barrier more than two centuries old to become the first black candidate ever nominated by a major political party for the nation’s highest office. “Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States,” Obama planned to say in a victory celebration in St. Paul, Minn., at the site of the convention that will nominate his Republican opponent in the fall, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

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Obama, 46, of Illinois, bested Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in a historic campaign that sparked record turnouts in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial and gender divisions within the party. Throughout the day, as superdelegates fell into Obama’s column, speculation increased that McCain could be facing an Obama-Clinton unity ticket.

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Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., a prominent Clinton supporter, told NBC News that “certainly to the extent that she will do anything to win ... she’ll be available.” “She’ll do whatever is needed,” Rangel said. “If people think it would help, she’d do it.” Lisa Caputo, a longtime Clinton adviser, said Clinton “knows the math just isn’t there, so everybody needs to be a realist.”

More Monday Male Beauty

A Cavernous Narcissism

That term sums up, in my opinion, both of the Clintons. I am truly suffering from Clinton fatigue. As Hillary, a/k/a Akasha, continues to refuse to embrace reality and accept that she's lost the nomination she acts increasingly like a delusional female version of the Chimperator. Thinking she has won somehow is like believing that Iraq had WMD's immediately before the ill-fated invasion or that she's on some quasi-Joan of Arc divinely directed crusade against the infidel (much like the Chimperator has let slip out on occasion while speaking about Iraq). After eight years of George W. Bush and Emperor Cheney, I truly want someone in touch with reality in the White House. Here are some highlights from Politico.com:

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A Clinton donor tells me that on a conference call today with major fundraisers this afternoon, Harold Ickes told them Clinton isn't planning to drop out. He pressed donors to stay unified, and reviewed tactical options, including challenging the Michigan delegation.

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State finance committees are also circulating letters to deliver to Clinton tomorrow in New York, and I've obtained a draft of the Illinois finance committee's letter, being circulated by a Clinton fundraising aide, Rafi Jafri, which stresses a fight until the convention, and a resolution in "August, and no earlier." We, the Illinois Finance Committee, want to show our full commitment to and support for Senator Hillary Clinton, in the fight for her rightful appointment as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee at the convention this August.

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As I have said before, will someone PLEASE get a wooden stake and some silver bullets and end this lunacy? Or at least a straight jacket so she can be carted away. Of course, then there's Bill: Mr. Narcissim himself. Vanity Fair has a new eight page article on Slick Willie which in and of itself should prove to Democrats that allowing Hillary to be the nominee would open a possible Pandora's box of dirt on Bill. Here are a few highlights:

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But among the not-so-small cadre of Clinton friends and former aides, concern about the company the boss keeps is persistent, palpable, and pained. No former president of the United States has ever traveled with such a fast crowd, and most 61-year-old American men of Clinton’s generation don’t, either. “I just think those guys are radioactive,” one former aide to Clinton who is still in occasional affectionate touch with him told me recently, referring to Burkle and (to a lesser extent) Bing. “I stay far away from them.”

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This winter, as Clinton moved with seeming abandon to stain his wife’s presidential campaign in the name of saving it, as disclosures about his dubious associates piled up, as his refusal to disclose the names of donors to his presidential library and foundation and his and his wife’s reluctance to release their income-tax returns created crippling and completely avoidable distractions for Hillary Clinton’s own long-suffering ambition, I found myself asking again and again, What’s the matter with him?

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There is reason to believe that Clinton, who never made more than $35,000 a year as governor of Arkansas and left the White House about $12 million in debt, has had his head turned by his ability to enjoy his post-presidential status; that the world of rich friends, adoring fans, and borrowed jets in which he travels has skewed his judgment or, at a minimum, created uncomfortable appearances of impropriety.

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None of these wisps of smoke have produced a public fire. But four former Clinton aides told me that, about 18 months ago, one of the president’s former assistants, who still advises him on political matters, had heard so many complaints about such reports from Clinton supporters around the country that he felt compelled to try to conduct what one of these aides called an “intervention,” because, the aide believed, “Clinton was apparently seeing a lot of women on the road.”

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Whatever the facts of Clinton’s personal life, it is beyond dispute that he has associated with some decidedly unpresidential company. In 2002, Clinton flew to Africa with the New York investor Jeffrey Epstein on his private Boeing 727 on an anti-aids and economic-development mission. (Others on the mission included Kevin Spacey and the comedian Chris Tucker.) In 2006, Epstein was indicted on state charges of soliciting prostitution in Palm Beach, Florida, and he later came under investigation by federal authorities amid allegations that he hired under-age girls for massages and more in a house stocked with sex toys and genitalia-shaped soaps. He remains the subject of at least four pending civil lawsuits from young women and is reportedly expected to accept a plea deal on a state charge that would give him 18 months in prison, followed by house arrest, in lieu of a trial now set to begin this month.

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One person, who has worked at the highest levels for both Clintons, told me that Clinton’s association with such people “just shows poor judgment, for someone who understands political calculations the way he does, and the subtleties as he does, that he puts himself in that position.” Whatever the explanation, much of Clinton’s behavior on the campaign trail this year has been so maladroit as to constitute malpractice: his blowups at television reporters, his derisive dismissal of Obama’s unwavering anti-war stance as a “fairy tale,” and most of all his denigrating comparison of Obama’s performance in the South Carolina primary to Jesse Jackson’s victories there two decades ago (which even one of his closest former aides described to me as insensitive at best). Perhaps no figure in modern American politics has less standing to say “Shame on you!” than Bill Clinton.

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But it is also beyond dispute that Clinton has blended the altruistic efforts of his philanthropy with the private business interests of some of his biggest donors in ways that are surpassingly sloppy, if not unseemly, for any former president. . . . Since 2001, Clinton has received more in almost every category—pension, staff salaries, supplies—than any of his colleagues in that smallest of clubs. Before Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford died, Clinton’s telephone and rent expenses came close to exceeding the comparable expenses for all four then living former presidents combined.

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In the end, this is Clinton’s most grievous sin, his steady refusal to take grown-up responsibility for the consequences of his own actions. In the White House, on the day of his last sexual encounter with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton told her that he was worried that a foreign embassy might be listening in on their calls, and that if she were ever questioned, she should say they were just friends.

Life's Random Winds

It is ironic that I had posted recently about the my family's summer home on Brantingham Lake where I spent so many wonderful summers. One of the frequent occurences we had as I grew up was all of the aunts, uncles and cousins within the extended family gathering at the lake house - through my grandfather's sister, Kathleen Phelps Lyng, I still have many cousins of various degrees in the area. Dinners at the camp - as summer homes are called in that area - with 24 or more people was a common occurence.

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In any event, I just found out that the son of one of my second cousins who still lives in the general vicinity of the summer place was killed in an ATV accident. He was just 19, smart, a well rounded athelete, and as the photo at left indicates, a very handsome guy. Speaking with his grandmother by telephone (she was always a favorite of mine) was such a sad, sad time. She truly treasured him as did all of his family. It truly demonstrates how all of us need to treaure our loved ones and find wonder in each and every day because we never know when a tragedy may stirke. I hope Jerome that you rest in peace and that those closest to you find away through their current sorrow: Here are some highlights from Jerome's obituary:

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GLENFIELD — Jerome M. Branagan, 19, Lovers Lane Road, died Sunday of injuries suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Adams Hill Road in the town of New Bremen. He was pronounced dead at Lewis County General Hospital, Lowville.

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In high school, he was a member of National Honor Society and of the baseball, football and wrestling teams. He was a dean's list student and a member of the baseball team at SUNY Canton.

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A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Peter's Catholic Church, Lowville, with the Rev. Christopher J. Looby, parochial vicar, officiating. Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Brantingham Cemetery.