More Saturday Male Beauty

Insane Remarks by Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh

Kathleen Parker is more what I recall Republicans being like years ago than what has become the main base of the GOP membership. One did not automatically have to be a hateful bigot in order to belong to the Party. Sadly, the old version of the GOP died when the party was hijacked by Christianist extremists who are unable to grasp the concept of freedom of religion for all or the concept of freedom of religion. In the Washington Post, Parker trashes the recent insane remarks of Virginia Beach's resident lunatic, Pat Robertson, and Rush Limbaugh who increasingly seems to have fried his brain with Oxycontin. Parker has the guts to do what too few in today's GOP have the backbone to do: call lunacy for what it is. Of course, most of the moderates I knew in the GOP now view themselves as independents for lack of a desire to be confused with the nastiness of the GOP today. Needless to say, the teabagger crowd will be calling for Parker's head on a pike. Here are some highlights from Parker's column in the Washington Post:

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Tragedy often brings out the best in some people. And sometimes, it brings out the worst. Please direct your attention to Exhibits A and B, Pat Robertson and Rush
Limbaugh.
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No one should be surprised that Robertson invokes God's wrath or Satan's trade-offs when horror hits. Whether it's a hurricane, a terrorist attack or an earthquake, one can be fairly certain that Robertson's Ouija board will point to a supernatural explanation. Invariably, he blames the victims. . .
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In Robertson's literal world of superstition and fear, a fault's rupture may signify a belch of the beast, but in the real world of science and knowledge, it is a natural, if disruptive, occurrence that bears no malice toward any particular man, woman or child. That we are having this conversation is ridiculous -- obviously, one would hope. That some percentage of the 1 million daily viewers of "The 700 Club" might pray and tithe to the speaker of such bile is far scarier than any voodoo curse.
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Equally ill-timed and foolish, if not nearly as insane, were Limbaugh's remarks upon news of the earthquake:
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"This will play right into [President] Obama's hands -- humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made to order for them."
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Is it possible that Limbaugh doesn't know Haiti's history also includes the post-slavery oppression of dark-skinned descendants of slaves by the lighter-skinned descendants of colonialists who bred with the enslaved?
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Surely, there should be the occasional time and place when circumstances transcend the usual and free us from the race-baiting and ignorance-pandering panhandling that characterizes so much of American politics: When God and Satan are given a holiday from the news cycle. When a president can be granted the pure motives of a good nation. When science isn't an insult to the divine and no demon earns credit for human misery. Haiti is one of those places. Now should be one of those times.
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I applaud Parker's candor. Sadly, for people like Robertson and Limbaugh they attribute their own hate based motives to everyone else and likely would not recognize a saint - or Christ for that matter - if they stood directly before them. Conservatism has become a truly ugly phenomenon under the likes of Robertson and Limbaugh. Indeed, it's the work of the Devil if anything is.

Focus on the Family joins Super Bowl Advertisers

I will concede that I did not get the sports gene - at least not outside of skiing (snow and water), surfing, and in my younger days, running cross country. I generally do not watch the Super Bowl unless at a party at friends, but even then the focus is on socializing and networking, not watching the game. The year before last, in fact, my young gay roommates and I watched the beginning of the game, the half time show and the final score. The rest of the time we watched the European men's' figure skating championships and the HOT male skaters. This year there will even be more reason NOT to watch the game: Focus on the Family - one of the most dishonest anti-gay organizations around - is bringing its foul stench to the list of advertisers. Why not run an ad pushing for theocracy or the public stoning of gays. That's FOTF's ultimate agenda after all. Personally, I will make a point of NOT purchasing from other advertisers in protest of the network's sale of ad time to such a hate group. Here are some highlights from the Denver Post:

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In between the Dr Pepper, Doritos and Bud Light commercials airing during the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, one first-time advertiser will be pushing God's product line. Focus on the Family will air a 30-second "life- and family-affirming" television spot, featuring University of Florida star quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, during the coverage. The Colorado Springs-based media ministry shot the ad with the Tebows on Tuesday in Orlando, Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said Friday. It is set to air before and again during the CBS broadcast of the football championship from Dolphin Stadium near Miami.
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Schneeberger wouldn't say how much it cost to make the ad or the price of air time. However, TNS Media Intelligence reported Monday that 30-second Super Bowl commercial slots, which will reach an estimated 100 million viewers, are selling for $2.5 million to $2.8 million, down from last year's record price on NBC of $3 million.
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Declining donations at Focus on the Family have forced the ministry to eliminate more than 275 jobs in recent years. However, Schneeberger said, the money for the Super Bowl ad is not coming out of the ministry's general fund.
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"Every cent for this ad was paid for by generous donors who specifically gave for this project because they are excited about this opportunity for Focus to show who we are and what we do," Schneeberger said.
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Jim Daly, Focus on the Family president and chief executive, said in a statement that the Tebows' message about family comes at the right moment in the culture because "families need to be inspired."
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Well I'm inspired: inspired to keep telling the truth about Daddy Dobson and his merchants of hate, intolerance and theocracy. Dobson is the Christianist version of one of Iran's nasty, anti-democracy grand ayatollahs.

Saturday Afternoon Reflections

Today has been an enjoyable day over all, although I received a worrisome call from Charlottesville - my mother is in the hospital and is being checked for a possible minor stroke. I spoke with her and it seems she has all of her faculties and no apparent impairment of any kind. I will get an update once the MRI results are back. They will also keep her overnight for observation. Fortunately, the University of Virginia Medical Center is one of the best in the state and has top notch care. My brother is with my mom now and my sister - who had gone snow skiing - will relieve him in a while. Needless to say, I freaked out at first. Plus the call brought back dreadful memories of a vacation in April, 2001, when I received a call that my middle sister had died. I am going to work to stay positive and send out positive energy and suppress the bad energy of the past.

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Earlier today - before the call from Charlottesville - the boyfriend and I took the gay history trolley tour of Key West which was a lot of fun. Among the gay notables who have lived her are Tennessee Williams (we were allowed to go by the house he owned which is not on any other tours). Then, of course there are the many gays who have visited or lived here for a while such as Truman Capote and Kelley McGillis. Then we stopped by the office of the Key West Business Guild - the local gay chamber of commerce - and chatted with the staff and learned about the chamber's history and ideas that can be applied to HRBOR back in Hampton Roads. I am going to talk to a local gay politician and find out more on politics and report back to a board member of the Victory Fund who asked me to do some fact checking for him.

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The guest house where we are staying has couples from all over, including New York, Minneapolis, Boston and other cold climate regions. As the boyfriend states, I tan standing next to a light bulb, so I have already begun to get some color. Tonight we are meeting at the home of a friend who moved here in March and then go to a large seafood festival featuring all kinds of Conch dishes and other seafood as well. The atmosphere here - while still in a non-gay friendly state - is so, so different from Virginia. No one seems to care who is gay of straight and even by day same sex couples can be seen holding hands walking down the street.

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Keep my mother in your thoughts and prayers (for those who believe in pray).

Saturday Male Beauty

From Gay Body Blog

Surprising Fox News Column: Why I’m Joining the Fight for Marriage Equality

I generally give little regard to Fox News, a/k/a Faux News, because so often reality seems to have no bearing on how news and alleged "facts" are presented. The recent addition of Sarah "Bible Spice" Palin as staff underscores of untethered the networks world view can be. In fact, I usually look at Fox and the Drudge Report merely to see what propaganda the enemy is putting out. Thus, I nearly choked on my coffee to see that Fox News has an editorial supportive of same sex marriage and basically telling Republicans the reason that they need to get on board in support. Andrew Sullivan ghas made similar arguments in some of his books, but it still is a shocker to see them appearing under the Faux News banner. One can only hope that rational conservatives - there are still some left in the GOP, although far fewer than once was the case - will read and contemplate these arguments in support of gay marriage. Here are some highlights:

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You may think, “San Francisco liberals at it again! Hijacking the courts, inventing new constitutional rights!” Stop there. The lead counsel in the case is George W. Bush’s Solicitor General, who successfully argued Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court in one of his fifty-five performances before the nation’s highest judicial body. He is Theodore “Ted” Olsen, a founder of the Federalist Society, constitutional law expert, and one of the most respected conservatives in America.
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Mr. Olsen thinks constitutionally guaranteed rights ought to transcend left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican divides (he even recruited legal opponent David Boies as co-counsel). I agree with him. And as a proud Republican representing a younger generation of conservatives that cherish individual freedom, I am honored to join the American Equal Right’s Foundation’s Advisory Board.
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I encourage everyone, but especially Republicans, to consider Mr. Olsen’s arguments on the merits, both in his opening statement and throughout the trial’s ensuing three weeks. The plaintiff’s counsel seeks to convince Judge Vaughn R. Walker that the Supreme Court has already decided in Loving v. Virginia, Turner v. Safely, and in Lawrence v. Texas among others, that the right to marry is a fundamental right currently denied to an entire class of American citizens. This is unconstitutional.
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We Republicans have often found ourselves on the wrong side of civil rights struggles since the 1960s, but there was a reason that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s father is said to have supported Republicans.
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Republicans were historically the party ever-expanding freedom to disenfranchised minorities, from newly liberated slaves to giving women the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony was a Republican. By supporting the AFER trial we have an opportunity to establish our historic credibility on civil rights issues once again. But we should support marriage equality because it is the right thing to do.
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Gays and lesbians are our friends, neighbors, doctors, colleagues, sisters and brothers. Does it sit well with you that because of their sexual orientation, a factor outside one’s control, that they should have less rights and protections in the eyes of the law? . . . If you are uncomfortable with gay marriage, I encourage you to pay attention to this trial, the plaintiffs, the defense and the spectrum of experts, historians, psychologists, economists, political scientists, who will testify as to the effects and detriment of Proposition 8. In the words of NAACP chairman Julian Bond, “The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others.”
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[W]hat if a democratic election imposes mandates that violate a citizen’s constitutional freedom? In the event that majority rule insufficiently protects individual liberty, our system of checks and balances puts forth that it is the role of the courts, to guarantee and protect the rights to individual Americans.
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That’s why the Supreme Court, in 1967 Loving v. Virginia, legalized interracial marriage –six years after our current president was born to an interracial couple. At that time 73% of the population opposed “miscegenation.” How long would it have taken to change popular opinion, for the minority to democratically win their constitutional rights? As Martin Luther King, Jr. famously asserted, “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
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For those of you who would label me a "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) for taking this stand, I direct you to Vice President Cheney, whose conservative credentials are impeccable, and who answered a question on the topic before the National Press Club audience on June 1, 2009 by saying simply, “…freedom means freedom for everyone.

D.C.'s Same-Sex Marriage Proposal has Couples Contemplating Moving

Assuming Congress does not torpedo Washington, D.C.'s new same sex marriage law, marriage equality could be a boon to the District as hard working, often professional gay couples in Northern Virginia decide to make a short move into the District from anti-gay Virginia. Back when I came out, I tried to make a move to D.C., but the difficulties of moving after many years of private law practice made it unworkable. Now, with the boyfriend's successful business in Hampton, a move would be more difficult. But we do still talk about "someday" moving to a more gay friendly state or country. And many Norfolk area gays DO leave the area for more accepting cities and states (on the home tour last night, we ran into a guy from Norfolk who moved here to Key West). When Canada first allowed gay marriage, the influx of educated and successful gays from the USA was called the "gay drain." Now Washington, D.C. may benefit from Virginia's intolerance. Anti-gay legislators will not care - our leaving the state might even please them, but the state's big business ought to care because Virginia is becoming increasingly non-competitive in the recruiting world because of legalized discrimination. Here are highlights from the Washington Post on this potential movement of talent from Virginia:

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Before they had children, Zizos and her partner of 16 years, Karen Bell, chose to settle in Alexandria even though they knew their rights as a gay couple would be limited. They didn't want to create a life anywhere else. Now, just weeks before same-sex marriage becomes legal in the District -- barring congressional intercession -- Zizos, Bell and other gay couples who have settled in the District's Virginia and Maryland suburbs are asking: Is it worth moving?
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The question -- make your marriage legal, or stay in the place where you've made a home -- has forced many gay couples to weigh the battle for equal rights against quality-of-life issues, pitting a yard in Fairfax County against the chance to lock in inheritance and hospital visitation rights and the other benefits of marriage.
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"My partner just turned to me a month ago and said, 'You know, if they pass this in D.C., would you want to get married?' " said Rich Hooks Wayman, who is adopting 4-year-old twins with his partner, Aaron Hooks Wayman. "A lot of us in this community are talking about what this really looks like and whether it's important or not."
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Gay activists and experts on same-sex couples say that if the District's endorsement of gay marriage survives -- the council and mayor approved a measure last month, and Congress has 30 days to review the bill -- they do not expect a mass migration of suburban couples. What is more likely, they said, is that the tourism industry will see a spike as couples come from across the country to marry and then return to their home states. For couples in Virginia and Maryland with children, analysts said, the opportunity for legal marriage will probably be outweighed by misgivings about the District's troubled public schools.
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In fact, the boyfriend and I might be among those who travel to D.C.to get married and spend money there rather than have a ceremony that has no legal effect at all in Virginia.

Obama Doesn't Get It: Activists Call Urgent "Don't Ask/Tell" Meeting

Just this evening I received another annoying call from the Democrat Congressional Committee looking for money - I had received one yesterday as well when I had asked that my name be removed from their calling list. I explained to tonight's caller that until there was REAL action by the White House and Congressional Democrats on LGBT issues, neither I or the boyfriend would be contributing a dime. The caller threw the Hate Crimes Act at me and acted as if that should keep LGBT voters happy for some time to come. At the point he got nasty and tried to use the GOP as a bogey man, I hung up. It is becoming increasingly clear that the current administration plans to do nothing for LGBT Americans other than play games and try to milk our community for money. Personally, it makes me livid and it is clear that LGBT voters need to send a LOUD message to Obama, et al, that we are not buying what they are selling. The Advocate has a story on an emergency meeting that purportedly took place concerning DADT and the signs that the Pentagon wants gays thrown under the bus yet again. Here are some highlights:

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The Advocate has learned that a closed-door meeting of about 20-25 LGBT advocates took place Wednesday at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters in Washington to discuss strategy for repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” at this critical juncture, according to multiple sources who agreed only to speak on the condition of anonymity.
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The two-hour-long meeting was unusual in that it assembled the advisers to major LGBT political donors from outside the Beltway such as Tim Gill, Jon Stryker, and David Bohnett alongside D.C.-based lobby groups such as HRC, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and the Center for American Progress plus the California-based Palm Center as well as lobbyists with ties to the White House and Congress.
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The gathering resulted from a growing sense of urgency that 2010 is a make-or-break moment for repealing the military’s gay ban and that the White House would likely make a decision about how to move forward on “don’t ask, don’t tell” sometime in the next several weeks.
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Participants declined to discuss specific strategy with The Advocate but said they mulled over how LGBT leaders would proceed if the White House decided to make a strong push for repeal or, alternatively, if it took a pass on the issue this year. One source said LGBT leaders had sent “strong signals” to the White House that they want repeal to happen this year and that there would be “repercussions” if it did not. The source would not say what form those repercussions might take.
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Personally, I have lost all confidence that Obama can be trusted. He's slick, he makes pretty speeches, but then does nothing. Short of a repeal of DADT and/or passage of ENDA this year, I may well sit out the 2010 elections and encourage others to do likewise. True, the GOP would do nothing for LGBT Americans, but when given a once in a generation opportunity, neither have the Democrats. The GOP denigrates us and the Democrats lie to us - it's a case of pick your poison. Pam Spaulding is likewise pretty put out with the Obama administration and let loose today on her blog. Here are samples of her thoughts:
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I think it's ironic when the gay netroots have been calling for action for a long time (The "No Excuses" theme regarding action on our issues was not created in HRC's shop, btw) and have been chastised endlessly for the lack of patience -- "he's only been in office __ months." Well now our leaders are pissed, (and, now many progressives as well) about getting the shaft by Congress and the White House. They are late to the game.

We sad little know-nothings in Cheetos-stained pajamas saw this coming, but hey -- we're just rubes, politically unsophisticated, you know. Just not smart enough to understand how it all works. Well, thankfully our movement's movers and shakers are finally waking up to political reality -- the cocktails for a few came along with a big "talk to the hand" for everyone else. Our community (or rather, those who do have access) must be seen seen as easy to buy off and stall.
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Our movement has wasted the opening months of this administration trying to denigrate voices from the outside who knew our civil rights were going to get backburnered because of 1) health care, 2) the endless military debacles, 3) all other progressive causes waiting in line that have been out in the cold for years. The only way to move ahead in the line when it comes to civil rights and a group -- LGBTs -- is to stop the glad handing and to have a plan, not fret over the gay netroots.
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The bottom line is that LGBT rights are not seen by the vast majority of potential allies as worthy of moving up the action chain because of the baseless perception that we are a political liability for elected officials and not really hurting. The black tie gladhanding is not seen as any indicator that hardball politics is going to be played. These elected officials drained our ATM to get elected. They work for us. The shuffling and tap dancing time is over, people.

More Friday Male Beauty

Pat Robertson 'A Public Relations Nightmare,' Says God

Surfing the news before we head out to a homes tour, I came across an article that looks again at Pat Robertson incredible lunacy and callousness in the wake of the horrible earthquake in Haiti. I cannot stand the man and in fact commented today on the IDIOCY of the Norfolk Airport Authority in allowing Regent University to have a huge advertisement - including a huge photo of the utterly self-absorbed Robertson - that greats visitors to the area. If one is trying to scare away progressive business, why not also have an equally big sign stating that the area is inhabited by hate fill, idiot, racist red necks? It makes just about as much sense as spotlighting one of the regions biggest buffoons and charlatans. In any event, the Borowitz Report has a good take on the increasingly senile and nasty brother Pat who truly seems to strive to give Christianity a bad name. Here are some highlights:

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NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) - In the wake of his comments about the earthquake in Haiti, televangelist Pat Robertson has become a "public relations nightmare" and a "gynormous embarrassment to me, personally," God said today. In a rare press conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, the usually reclusive Almighty said that He was taking the unusual step of airing His feelings in public because "enough is enough." "I pray that his TV show would just go away
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While God held out no hope that Rev. Robertson's "700 Club" would be cancelled any time soon, He did say, somewhat ruefully, "If Pat Robertson were on NBC he'd be replaced by Jay Leno by now."

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Many of us in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia wish Robertson, his television show and his broadcasting company would just go away an cease being a local embarrassment. Anyone who would like to tell the Airport Authority to eject Pat Robertson's big advertisement can do so here:

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Norfolk Airport Authority
2200 Norview Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23518-5807
757-857-3351
757-857-3265 (fax)
info@norfolkairport.com
www.norfolkairport.com

2010 Legislative Outlook for LGBT Virginians

Virginia continues to be one of the worse states in the USA for gay employees. Between favoring "at will" employment and a total lack of employment non-discrimination protections, LGBT employees often face being fired because of their sexual orientation and are left with no legal recourse whatsoever. Incoming Governor Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell has indicated that he will not renew Executive Order 1 (2006) which purported to protect state employees which even if dubious effect - I just found out today that a case I am handling for a fired gay employee has been transferred from the Court of Appeals to the Virginia Supreme Court - it's existence at least may have had the effect of reigning in at least some homophobic state supervisory personnel. Now, as DC Agenda reports, Adam Ebbin - Virginia's sole gay member of the Virginia General Assembly - may introduce two gay affirming bills in the 2010 session of the General Assembly. Here are some story highlights:

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Equality Virginia CEO Jon Blair said the two bills expanding workplace discrimination protections and permitting employee life insurance benefits for domestic partners were the lobby group’s top priorities with the best chance of passing in 2010. Other bills to be considered by committees, but with a more doubtful future, include extending reproductive technology access to unmarried couples.
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Blair’s big-ticket item is passing a bill barring workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, enshrining in law former Gov. Tim Kaine’s executive order that incoming Gov. Bob McDonnell declined to continue. Like the executive order it will replace, if passed, the workplace protection will only cover public employees. Blair hoped, though, that step would be just the start.“Virginia is the only state in the nation where it is 100 percent legal to fire someone based on their perceived sexual orientation. Protected classes are race, gender, creed — those kinds of things,” he said.
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The lobby group’s second priority this year is a group life insurance bill that would allow insurers and employers to mutually agree upon any group of people they’re willing to insure. . . . “Employees want it, employers want it, and insurers want it, and all we need is the General Assembly to bless it,” Blair said. “We’re not just talking about GLBT people here. Any person who has an otherwise qualified adult in their household who they want to provide insurance to, including straight couples.
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“This isn’t just about recruiting new employees, either,” Blair said. “There are companies here that have more than one major headquarters and they cannot promote employees from one of those offices to their main headquarters here because employees will refuse the promotion based on losing their benefits. Because when they live in Montreal or Seattle or wherever they are allowed to provide benefits to those partners and when they move here they lose them.”
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“When you explain the life insurance bill is revenue neutral and won’t cost employers anything, that means something,” he said. “When you can say a comprehensive non-discrimination policy is good for business and employers recruiting employees — and 88 percent of fortune 500 companies in Virginia already voluntarily have a non-discrimination policy because they on their own decided it was a good idea — that means something.”
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The state’s only openly gay delegate, Adam Ebbin, a Democrat, noted that he felt there would be “more than one Republican” joining him in supporting both bills. “The insurance industry and business community very much support this. If people see the advantage of this bill for a wide variety of potential policy beneficiaries, I think it can pass.”
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Sadly, I do get calls from employees who have employers wanting to promote them and move them to Virginia. The first question they ask is about employment protections and I have to tell them that the state provides them nothing. A number - not surprisingly - have decided to turn down the promotion and remain in more gay friendly states.

Friday Male Beauty

Destination Key West

UPDATED: We arrived around noon and have settled into the guest house where we are staying on Fleming Street. The temperatures are in the 70's and we spent some time sunning by the pool. When we left Hampton this morning, there was ice on the creek behind the house.

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Yesterday was insane preparing to fly out to Key West this morning. As usual, I had matters coming out of the woodwork and I will be using the laptop to prepare wills and other documents for a couple I know, drafting LLC organizational documents for another client, and reviewing a business asset purchase for an Indian client among other things while away on "vacation." To add to the insanity, I spoke to a large group of real estate investors at a seminar like setting and did not get home to start packing until after 9:00PM.

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We are getting up at 4:00 AM and if all flight connections work out, we will be in Key West by noon. It will be great to get away for a while, but I already know I will still be in daily contact with the office and helping quarterback matters from afar. Not to mention whatever e-mails my office manager forwards.

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As I said before, if any readers will be in Key West, drop me an e-mail and lets have a drink watching the sun set.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Perry v. Swhwarzenegger - Day 4: Choice Myth Rears Its Ugly Head

I write often about the myth perpetuated by Christianists that sexual orientation is a "choice" or "lifestyle choice." Never mind that legitimate medical and mental health experts disagree with the false characterization. For Christianist the choice myth is utterly essential because they know full well that once sexual orientation is recognized as an immutable trait, then discriminatory laws begun to run into a constitutional brick wall. Hence why so many of the most extreme Christianist organizations either operate their own or help fund "ex-gay" ministries. This one of the biggest frauds being on the general public, but the Christianists continue the choice drumbeat regardless of its falsity. They are lying, know that they are lying, and simply do not care that they are lying. In Perry v. Schwarzenegger we are seeing a clear example of how the Prop 8 supporters term being gay as a "choice" while the plaintiffs' experts say that it is not a choice. The Edge has an article that looks at this deliberate lying that's now occurring in federal court - something that ought to be grounds for a contempt finding in my opinion. Here are some highlights:

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The language used by Proposition 8 proponents ahead of the Nov. 2008 vote and by their attorneys in the early days of the federal trial provided an indication of the parameters they are expected to use when they begin their defense late next week.
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In terminology repeated in almost every phase of the trial so far, Prop 8 supporters have referred to homosexuality as a "lifestyle" rather than a core identity, that gays are sexual predators whose reputation legitimizes fears and past increases of gay rights outweigh any need for full marital integration.
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Expert witnesses for the legal team seeking to overturn the referendum talked about "identity" or "orientation." Attorneys who questioned them on cross examination have changed that to "choice" or "lifestyle."
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"It’s interesting that the proponents consistently refer to an individual’s ’lifestyle,’" Shannon Minter, an attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights who is attending the trial, told EDGE. "They seem to consistently be suggesting that being gay is a choice, that it’s not a legitimate identity and it’s okay for the government to be prejudiced against being gay."
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Griffin compared Yes on 8’s messaging to Anita Bryant’s "Save the Children" campaign from the 1970s. "They’re no different," he said of Tam and his ProtectMarriage.com colleagues. "Perhaps they attempted to be more diplomatic, but it’s no different."
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In my view, ex-gays for pay are the lowest of the low since they are literally selling their souls and other gays out for money and acceptance by those who hate them. Hence why I assist Wayne Besen whenever possible in "outing" bogus ex-gays for pay.

Warning- Graphic Photo of Those Condemned by Pat Robertson

The evil of self-proclaimed Christians like Pat Robertson is sometimes hard to fathom. Yet fools - at least in my opinion - continue to support the nasty bastard and worse yet send him and others like him who disseminate hatred money to fund more evil. It literally sickens me as does the photo below of the bodies of those Robertson would diminish and blame for their own deaths. As you will note, some appear to be quite young. When will Americans recognize the Christianist for the extreme evil and danger that they represent? Some comments on the Virginian Pilot's coverage of Robertson's latest foulness highlighted below indicate that I'm not alone in my thoughts:

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keep it to yourself, ok? You sound like an idiot when you open your mouth. Your proclamations make Christians as a whole look foolish. Basing your interpretation on a fairy tale 200+ years old was dumb enough, but then using it as an explanation for events is just downright nasty. Frankly sir, you've become an embarrassment to us all.
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Quit believing the Pat Robertsons, hes no better than Ernest Angley, who actually goes to African nations and tell mothers to bring him their AIDS-infected babies, and after touching these babies, tells the mother that they are now AIDS free!Now if you believe that and Mr Robertson, you may need some help.

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One has to wonder what Robertson got in exchange for his soul when he sold it for fame and riches? Well, I guess I answered my own question; fame and riches. What I'm curious about now is what did the devil get?

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Let me get this straight. There was a slavery rebellion with the slaves essentially freeing themselves, yet according to Pat this was a "pact with the devil"?? What boggles my mind more so is the “devil pact” stems from folklore. Will someone PLEASE check Pat's prescription meds and make sure he's taking his anti-whacky pills?

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Muslim extremists comments and Pat's, what's the difference! They need a place on the planet reserved for these people to fight over who's belief's are correct. Keep them away from the sane people of the world.

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Thursday Male Beauty

Google China Google Cyberattack Part of Vast Espionage Campaign

Some things never change with the Communist overlords in China who still believe that they can do whatever they want in terms of espionage and theft of financial and corporate data. The Beijing Olympics were supposed to showcase a changed China, but obviously not much has changed as Google has learned the hard way. While China represents a huge market, as Google is learning, perhaps businesses need to think twice about doing business in the country until it begins to respect legal rights of both its residents and foreign companies operating within that nation. Besides spying on its own human rights activists, China has also sought to gain business and national security information. Just maybe Google and others need to exit the country if the same old ways are going to just keep on continuing. In a statement, Google said in part as follows:

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These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

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The Washington Post has more coverage on the Chinese cyber attack and here are some highlight:
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Computer attacks on Google that the search giant said originated in China were part of a concerted political and corporate espionage effort that exploited security flaws in e-mail attachments to sneak into the networks of major financial, defense and technology companies and research institutions in the United States, security experts said.
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At least 34 companies -- including Yahoo, Symantec, Adobe, Northrop Grumman and Dow Chemical -- were attacked, according to congressional and industry sources. Google, which disclosed on Tuesday that hackers had penetrated the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights advocates in the United States, Europe and China, threatened to shutter its operations in the country as a result.
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Human rights groups as well as Washington-based think tanks that have helped shape the debate in Congress about China were also hit.
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Security experts say the attacks showed a new level of sophistication, exploiting multiple flaws in different software programs and underscoring what senior administration officials have said over the past year is an increasingly serious cyber threat to the nation's critical industries.
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The standoff between Google and China touches on the most sensitive subjects in U.S.-China relations: human rights and censorship, trade, intellectual property disputes, and access to high-tech military technology.
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"The recent cyber-intrusion that Google attributes to China is troubling, and the federal government is looking into it," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. He added that President Obama made Internet freedom "a central human rights issue" on his trip to China last fall.
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The recent attacks seem to have targeted companies in strategic industries in which China is lagging, industry experts said. The attacks on defense companies were aimed at gaining information on weapons systems, experts said, while those on tech firms sought valuable source code that powers software applications -- the firms' bread and butter. The attacks also focused on obtaining information about political dissidents.

Norfolk Area Ships and Personnel Head to Haiti

The horrific disaster in Haiti is having ripple effects here in Hampton Roads as Navy and other personnel are being deployed to help assist in the nightmare after effects of the 7.0 earthquake earlier This week. Many local families are seeing their loved ones deployed on an emergency basis - including one receptionist in my office complex. With so much of Haiti's capital city destroyed, Navy vessels can transport supplies, provide medical assistance and the hospital ship Comfort can provide back up for damaged hospitals. Word is that local personnel may be deployed to Haiti for 8 weeks or more. Also deploying is the area's urban rescue team that has in the past responded to events such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot: *

Sailors and Coast Guardsmen from the Hampton Roads area will play a critical role in the U.S. effort to deliver humanitarian assistance to Haiti, with thousands of locals on standby to deploy to the impoverished country and some already there.
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At least four Norfolk-based ships received orders Wednesday to prepare to help in the recovery effort, said Ted Brown, a spokesman for Norfolk's Fleet Forces Command. The amphibious assault ship Bataan, the guided missile cruiser Normandy and the dock landing ships Fort McHenry and Carter Hall will probably leave by Friday.
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Expeditionary forces based at the Little Creek campus of the Joint Expeditionary Base also are standing by to deploy, Brown said. Several U.S. Coast Guard ships already have left for Haiti.
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Additional Navy ships that have been asked to prepare to deliver humanitarian assistance include the frigate Underwood, based in Mayport, Fla., and the hospital ship Comfort, homeported in Baltimore. The San Diego-based aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which left Norfolk on Tuesday after finishing its midlife overhaul, has been redirected to load relief equipment and supplies and will arrive off the coast of Haiti today, the military said.

Dustin Lance Black - We Cannot Wait

Dustin Lance Black - Academy Award winner for best screen play for the movie Milk and Board Member, American Foundation for Equal Rights ("AFER") - has a column at Huffington Post that makes the argument as to why NOW is the time to challenge anti-gay marriage amendments like Proposition 8 in the federal courts as opposed to waiting as some professional LGBT activist would have preferred (there certainly has been much back biting and condescension towards Black and others at AFER by some who believe only they should dictate how equality is won). Perhaps I'm biased because I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Dustin Lance Black at the National Equality March back in October. Or maybe I am merely the impatient type by nature who believes that gays have waited long enough to stop being treated as equal citizens. Or maybe it's because as an attorney, I believe the correct legal arguments and reading of the Constitution are on the side of the plaintiffs in Perry. In any event, I support the case going forward and I am thrilled by the legal team representing the plaintiffs. Here are some highlights from Dustin's column:
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Over the past months I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting the plaintiffs in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger. Their love is true, their families are strong, and to hear their stories is to know they deserve full recognition of their love, both for themselves and for their families. The time has come for the world to meet Kris Perry and Sandra Stier, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo. Their stories are our stories, ones of finding love with another person, of overcoming adversity, and of the strength and importance of family.
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But now their stories must take a place in history, next to Brown vs. Board of Education and Loving vs. Virginia, in order to confirm what our great Constitution already tells us is true: that separate is not equal, and that all men and women, regardless of skin color or sexual orientation, deserve equality.
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To those who have said, "Wait," I say, Gay and Lesbian people should not be forced to wait years to be treated equally under the law. By straining to avoid our federal Constitutional arguments, we only reinforce the false notion that our arguments lack merit. We reinforce the lies and myths and stereotypes that have been forced upon us for generations. We send a signal that we must not truly believe we are equal. The truth is, we are equal, and our love deserves equal recognition and protection under the law. Truth is on our side, and justice, but time is not.
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We cannot wait. We cannot wait for more children to be born into this country hearing that they are "less than," that this country considers them inferior or second class, that their love is not worth honoring. If we do, how can we ever expect them to contribute, to thrive, or even just to survive? We cannot wait for one more young person to hear this terrible news and take his or her own life, or have it brutally taken from them. Now is the time for this federal challenge.
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To many of us, this challenge sounds like debate and politics, tedium and hard work, but to the young people out there who are afraid, who tune in and hear that we have taken this bold new step, it will sound more like: "You are not less than. You have brothers and sisters, gay and straight, black and brown and white, thousands of us. And your struggle is our struggle, and your fight is our fight, and very soon, we promise you, you will be equal citizens, and you will be free."

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Perry v. Schwarzenegger - Day 3

Click image for larger view.

Unfortunately, by a 5-4 decision the U.S. Supreme Court - which doesn't allow its own sessions to be broadcast - barred the televising of the Prop 8 trial. Obviously, the defenders of Prop 8 do not want their true motivations and behind the scenes conspiracies to be shown to the wider public. Thus, it will be even more important that the media, including the blogosphere, get that information out across the Internet. Hatred of gays, not the "protection of marriage" is what it's really all about.

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One of the issues that will play out during this trial along with constitutional arguments is that of the motivation behind Proposition 8. I suspect most readers already know full well that anti-gay animus IS the basis behind Prop 8 no matter what its supporters try to say otherwise. The material distributed by William Tam - one of the original Proposition 8 sponsors and one of the intervenors in defending the law in the federal court case - in the screen shot above makes his hatred of homosexuals pretty apparent. Why this fear of by the Prop 8 supporters of the plaintiffs demonstrating animus as the motivation behind the amendment? Because in 1996, the U. S. Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), an amendment to the Colorado state constitution that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action from recognizing homosexual citizens as a Protected class. Part of the Court's reasoning was that the Colorado amendment seemed "inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class that it affects [homosexuals]; it lacks a rational relationship to legitimate state interests."

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Today, the defenders of Prop 8 aimed at fighting plaintiffs’ contention that Prop. 8 was motivated by animus for gays and lesbians. They also seek to claim that gays are not harmed by homophobia and the denial of equal marriage rights. One of the plaintiffs expert witnesses today was Letitia Ann Peplau (Bachelor in Psych from Brown, PhD social Psych from Harvard). Peplau discussed research on heterosexual and same sex couples which not surprisingly found adverse impact on gays because they cannot marry.

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Interestingly enough, as noted on NGBlog, last week, Mr. Tam - author of the message on the screen shot above - asked to be let out of the case as a defendant because of concerns he faces threats and harassment from same-sex marriage advocates. One has to wonder why he didn't think of that issue back before he signed on to Prop 8 last year and intervened in the Perry case. Could it be that he's finally figured out that his hatred of gays will be on full display and that he himself will help demonstrate that anti-gay animus is the sole real motivation supporting Prop 8? Queerty has a review of his supposed reasons for wanting to withdraw here and you can read the motion here. I suspect that Tam doesn't want his ass put on the witness stand and having to explain the poison he has disseminated. Judge Vaughn Walker has not yet decided on whether to accept his withdrawal request. Tam's videotaped deposition has been played and reportedly those who saw the video say it was quite homophobic. Since his statements are on videotape, Tam cannot now easily disavow his prior statements without looking like a gay hating liar. As the saying goes, pay back can be hell.
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Readers wanting regular updates can go to the American Foundation for Equal Rights web page located here. The website also has links to media stories on the trial. Check out the website. Better yet, make a donation.

Pat Robertson: Haiti "Swore a Pact to the Devil" and "Ever Since, They Have Been Cursed"

Constant local embarassment, Pat Robertson, chief loon over at the Christian Broadcasting Network has once again shot off his mouth and made himself and his followers - not to mention the cities of Hampton Roads, Virginia - look like jack asses. How anyone can view this bigoted, nasty man as a "man of God" baffles me. He lives the good life based on contributions from the ignorant and slick business deals that originated with such money and is one of the worse modern day Pharisees I have ever met in person. One might go so far as to say that he's deeply involved with a tempestuous love affair with himself. Here are some highlights from today's 700 Club broadcast via Media Matters:

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PAT ROBERTSON: And, you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, "We will serve you if you will get us free from the French." True story. And so, the devil said, "OK, it's a deal."

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And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti; on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now, we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable.

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KRISTI WATTS (co-host): Absolutely, Pat.

Reflections on the Hati Earthquake Disaster

UPDATED: The news only gets worse - now the death toll may be in the hundreds of thousands.

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The news flowing in from Haiti is horrific and the nation's capital city is being described as "worse than a war zone." As one of the world's most impoverished countries, the devastation could not hit in a worse place - not that any place would be appropriate for such death and destruction - since 80% of the population live below the poverty line. Meanwhile, I think of the millions and millions of dollars spent by the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, the Southern Baptists, and Christianist organizations to deprive LGBT Americans of equality under the civil laws. I cannot but help think that all that money would not have been better spent in places like Haiti. To me, it's yet another example of how warped and perverse the Christian message has become in the hands of self-righteous bigots such as Pope Benedict XVI who lives in incredible splendor while his fellow Catholics in Haiti live in abominable conditions. Wouldn't the money being spent by the Prop 8 supporters be better spent in aid to Haiti? What would Christ do? Here are a few highlights from MSNBC:
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after the strongest earthquake to hit the poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.

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The devastation was so complete that it seemed likely the death toll from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake would run into the thousands. International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said an estimated 3 million people may have been affected by the quake and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.

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France's foreign minister said the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was apparently among the dead. The archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, was also killed, Father Pierre Le Beller said from France after speaking to missionaries who pulled his body from the rubble.

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Haitian President René Préval told the Miami Herald that he had been stepping over dead bodies and hearing the cries of those trapped under the rubble of the national Parliament building, describing the scene as "unimaginable." "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed,'' he said.

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U.N. peacekeepers, many of whom are from Brazil, were distracted from aid efforts by their own tragedy: Many spent the night hunting for survivors in the ruins of their headquarters, where more than 100 people are missing.

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To me, it is obscene that alleged Christians spend millions of dollars to make gays second or third class citizens rather than aid places like Haiti. They are truly modern day Pharisees.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Two Days of Chaos

The coming two days will be insane as we get ready to go to Key West early on Friday morning (A photo of where the boyfriend is taking us is above - it's on Fleming Street. He's taking me on the trip as his Christmas gift to me - frequent flyer miles amazingly covered all airfare). With contractors coming to tear out sheet rock throughout the first floor from the floor up to a height of four feet and to remove all of the lower kitchen cabinets at the boyfriend's/our house on Monday morning, we are in the final push to get EVERYTHING out of the first floor. The guest bath tub now holds all our household cleaning items, food stores are in plastic tubs in the master bedroom closet, and the second floor looks like a warehouse. One last trip to the storage unit will take place tonight. In about 68 weeks, we get to move everything back in.

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Meanwhile it will be a crazed push to get everything ready and lined up at the office for while I am gone. Fortunately, several of my Hindu clients are in India until the 25th, so their deals will close that week or the week after. Plus, the courts are closed Friday for Lee-Jackson Day and then on Monday for Martin Luther King Day. Nonetheless, as a solo practitioner, there is never a complete vacation, so I will be talking to the office daily and, of course, having all relevant e-mails forwarded. I guess a working vacation is the best description. At the salon, the boyfriend is likewise getting all lined up. Just to add to the craziness, I have a HRBOR board of directors meeting tonight and I speak to a Peninsula based real estate investor group tomorrow evening.

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I hope this trip snaps me out of the doldrums. Two friends will be on the trip and I anticipate seeing a client or two while we're in Key West. Again, I never get a complete vacation. But thank God, the weather is warming up so we should be greeted by temperatures in the mid-70"s.

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I will have the lap top with me and will blog, although perhaps on a reduced basis. As for readers who may be in Key West next week, please drop me an e-mail. We'd love to meet up with you for a drink or whatever.

Faux News' New Comedy Venture

I will admit that I rarely put on Faux News - I like to know what is really happening in the world as opposed to some altered universe prospective on things. But on occasion I will turn to that channel to see what the enemy is up to so to speak. Sarah Palin is taking a risk: unless she stays to a pre-written script, God only knows what lunacy she may display. All of which will be captured on video for posterity. She's a narcissist and this show will likely demonstrate this for all to see.

Health Insurers Gave Millions to Fund Anti-Reform Ads

I cannot say that I'm surprised. America's health insurance industry is about as bad a pathological liar as are the Christianist when speaking about gays and homosexuality. Lies, deceit, and underhanded tactics are the norm and truth is entirely eliminated. Think Progress has a new story on the millions of dollars funnelled by health insurance companies to fund advertisements arguing against health care reform. Sadly, many blue dog Democrats are firmly in bed with the health insurers and drug manufacturers rather than average Americans and their families. Here are some highlights:

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Last September, ThinkProgress reported that, despite its public support for health care reform, the insurance industry was engaged in a “duplicitous” campaign to undermine the effort. Now the National Journal has confirmed that from September to December 2009, “six of the nation’s biggest health insurers began quietly pumping big money into third-party television ads aimed at killing or significantly modifying the major health reform bills moving through Congress.” The companies used America’s Health Insurance Plans — the lobbying arm of the insurance industry — “as a conduit to avoid a repeat of the political flack that hit the insurance industry after it famously ran its multi-million dollar ‘Harry and Louise’ ads to help kill health care reforms during the Clinton administration.
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That money, between $10 million and $20 million, came from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint, according to two health care lobbyists familiar with the transactions. The companies are all members of the powerful trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans. The funds were solicited by AHIP and funneled to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help underwrite tens of millions of dollars of television ads by two business coalitions set up and subsidized by the chamber. Each insurer kicked in at least $1 million and some gave multi-million dollar donations.
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The industry’s covert ad campaign isn’t the industry’s only means of wasting millions of premium dollars on sabotaging reform. As former health insurance executive Wendell Potter told ThinkProgress, insurers are using a variety of front groups to advance a hidden attack campaign. The industry regularly feeds talking points to right-wing media like Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, mobilizes anti-reform “grassroots” groups and coordinates with conservative think-tanks to produce academic-appearing reports to advance their cause.
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The insurance industry has also funded state efforts to challenge the constitutionality of health reform. Insurers have “spent heavily on political contributions” in the 14 states seeking to ratify constitutional amendments that would repeal all or parts of the new measure and contributed thousands of dollars to the attorneys generals seeking to disqualify reform. Earlier this month, Lee Fang reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield Association “played a pivotal role in crafting this anti-health reform states’ rights initiative.”
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Based on his failure to support a viable public option, it looks as it President Obama also was a recipient of health care lobby funding. Between needless advertising and dishonest anti-reform ads, the health care insurers have squandered funds that should have been used to lower premium costs.

The Economist: Same-sex marriage in America

The venerable British journal, The Economist, has a new story on the Proposition 8 trial which is of interest since it provides a European perspective on the legal battle playing out in San Francisco. While not allowing same sex marriages, Britain - like many of the countries of western Europe that do not afford gays full marriage rights - has a domestic partnership law that provides many rights akin to marriage. Thus, in some ways it is probably hard for many European readers to understand the religious extremism that motivates the Prop 8 supporters - although some of those countries are grappling with their own Islamic populations which, like Christianists, want to impose their religious beliefs on all citizens. Here are some highlights from this story:

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THE venue, gay-friendly San Francisco, may at first glance seem predictable for a legal challenge that may lead to the legalisation of gay marriage in America. But nothing else about the trial of Perry v Schwarzenegger, which began on Monday January 11th, fits stereotypes. Pitting both a male and female gay couple (including Kristin Perry) against the state of California (nominally represented by its governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger), it is a federal review of whether Proposition 8, a Californian voter initiative of 2008 that outlawed gay marriage in the state, is constitutional.
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Whatever the outcome, the case is likely to go to appeal and come before the Supreme Court. But first the trial will do two things: it will establish, for the first time, a body of evidence, through expert testimony, that appelate courts can use to evaluate the claims by supporters and opponents of gay marriage. And it will blur the existing partisan divide on the issue between conservatives and liberals.
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Their opponents, largely from the Proposition 8 campaign, also consider themselves conservatives, although they hail from the right's religious and "traditionalist" wings. Fearing that they might appear bigoted, the defence pleaded with the federal Supreme Court to ban plans by the judge, Vaughn Walker, (himself appointed by George Bush senior), to stream the proceedings on YouTube. Doing so might expose witnesses to ridicule or harassment, defence lawyers argued. The Supreme Court banned the video feed, at least temporarily, 20 minutes before the trial opened
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America's constitution, however, does not allow rights to be stripped from its citizens by majority vote. Specifically, the federal Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that any laws motivated by homophobia (or other bigotry) are unconstitutional. The motivation behind the Proposition 8 campaign thus becomes an issue. Its sponsors are among the witnesses, and their television advertisements and press releases may become evidence. Scholars will testify about homophobic discrimination.

They will also be cross-examined about other claims against gay marriage. One concerns the sanctity of tradition. But, as Mr Olson has argued, the fact that something has been custom in the past does not require it to remain that way--otherwise, America would still ban interracial marriage while maintaining segregated schools and debtors' prisons.

Another question is whether or not marriage specifically serves procreation. America does not bar, say, infertile couples or old women from marrying. What, then, about the issue of whether gays can raise children? The two women plaintiffs happen to be bringing up four children in what appears to be an exemplary environment. What about the alleged harm to heterosexual marriages by homosexual ones? Psychologists or other experts would have to prove that straight couples are threatened by gay ones, which appears tough.
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Ultimately, Mr Olson is trying to establish that conservatives should welcome, not fear, gay marriage. They revere marriage as a social institution, so the respect of gays for it should be a cause for celebration, not disgust. And there is the 14th amendment of the constitution, which guarantees Americans equal protection under the law. Mr Olson is reminding conservatives that denying homosexuals access to a basic institution of society would appear to violate equality, and thus the constitution.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Perry v. Schwarzenegger - Day Two Wrap Up on Gay Marriage Case

The Courage Campaign has a blog entitled Prop 8 Trial Tracker that is providing updates on the trail in Perry v. Schwarzenegger in federal district court. The blog will be updated throughout the trial and affords a way to keep on top of things from an LGBT perspective. Unless and until the trial is televised - something that terrifies the Christianists backing Prop 8 - it is important that the blogosphere be abuzz with information on the trial. I truly believe that our opponents do NOT want average Americans to get the full truth and to hear the data backed opinions of legitimate experts - as opposed to faux experts with religious degrees utilized by Christianists - because the case in support of Prop 8 begins to disintegrate. Here are some highlights (NOTE: the photo above is of fellow LGBT blogger Jeremy Hooper and his husband who married this past summer in Connecticut):
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The pattern looks pretty clear. Our side is saying that gays and lesbians have been harmed for a really long time, that there has been institutional discrimination, that they are a suspect class (meaning they should be covered by the equal protection clause). Our side is also showing that marriage will be strengthened by permitting loving same-sex couples access it, that society will be more stable with same-sex marriage and that there is no harm done at all by opening marriage to same-sex couples.

The Prop. 8 side wants to show that marriage has always (in the US) been a Christian institution between a man and a woman, that heterosexual marriage is really good for kids and that in fact homosexual marriage will “hurt” kids and will degrade the institution. Ultimately, they are trying to show that it will lead to less stability as people abandon the institution of marriage. They are having a hard time with that because so far the evidence shows that by seeking access to marriage, groups previously excluded, such as slaves, interracial couples, certain classes of “foreigners” and in some cases women, have actually strengthened the institution by obtaining access.
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There’s another theme here which is about tradition. Remember the Fiddler on the Roof song? The Prop. 8 side appeals to their concept of tradition. The only problem is that their idea of tradition either never existed or only existed when women and people of color had fewer rights than white men.
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Homosexuality and America are on trial here. The Prop. 8 folks do not want you to see what’s going on and they don’t want a conversation outside of the carefully controlled media buys they run that are all based on fear. So start talking, start writing.
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This time, in this trial of homosexuality and of America, we have the best conservative legal advocate in the nation on our side along with arguably the best advocacy team in Olson, Boutros, Boies and Stewart, among others. And they are backed up by decades of hard work from Jenny Pizer and so many other brilliant advocates in the LGBT community. This time, though, it’s not the gays stirring it up; it’s the establishment demanding equality for all of America.

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While I am trying to stay calm and not get my hopes up too much, it seems that the Olson-Boies team is loading the record up with facts, figures and expert testimony which will make it hard for an appeals court to ignore. The perverse infusion of religion into the nation's civil laws really needs to be ended and this case has the potential to spark major change.