More Saturday Male Beauty

Who Is Funding Anti-Gay Hate Groups in Iowa? - Update

Earlier in the week I wrote about members of the Wells Family - they control Blue Bunny and Wells Enterprises which is the third largest maker of ice cream in the USA - who have been major donors to gay hater extraordinaire Bob Vander Plaat of the toxic Family Leader organization. The same Family Leader organization that alleged black children in America were better off under slavery than under Barack Obama's presidency. I suggested that readers let the company know (and better yet businesses like Disney with which it does business) that such unvarnished bigotry would not go unpunished by way of product boycotts, etc.

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Now, in a move that more or less copies Chic Fil-A's disingenuous efforts to distance itself from the documented anti-gay agenda of its founder and his family, Blue Bunny has released a statement on its webpage trying to say that the individual actions of its CEO have nothing to do with the company he controls. They apparently believe that members of the LGBT community and the larger public are all morons if they think that lame excuse will fly. Here's the bullshit statement:
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Regarding Recent Posts About Political Contributions Blue Bunny and Wells Enterprises have never donated money to Bob Vander Plaat’s political campaign. Everyone, including our employees, has a right to support political activities within their role as a private citizen. What our employees support personally is in no way an endorsement by our brand or our company.
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Isn't that special? He's the CEO and he gave as an individual with the money he got from the business. Hello, that's a pretty damn direct connection! If you want to know what products to avoid while you're out shopping, an overview of Blue Bunny's products can be found here on the company website.

The GOP Transformation Into a Religious Movement is Nearly Complete

I left the Republican Party well over a decade ago because of the party growing inability to separate politics and the civil law from far right Christian religious dogma. In the intervening years since my exit from the party things have only gone from bad to far worse and virtually all of the moderates in the party that I knew (and most of my family) have likewise fled the party as well. Indeed, as Andrew Sullivan has maintained, the GOP is now a sectarian party. Gary Laderman, a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Religion at Emory University, has a piece up at Religion Dispatches that makes the case that the transformation of the GOP from a political party to a religious movement is nearly complete. It's to the point that I don't know how anyone with a modicum of intelligence other than those motivated by greed and self-centered aspirations can remain a Republican. Here are highlights from Laderman's article:
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The Republican Party is no longer a political party—it’s a full-fledged religious movement. The political ideology fueling this movement is religious to the core; and while it might be easiest to label the religious element “Christian,” that designation is too broad and generous for the true complexities at work here.
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[W]hat does it really mean to argue that the Republican Party, a movement with a distinctive religious culture, is a new kind of religion, a new kind of religion we might as well call “Republicanity”? Let me count the ways.
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1) Mythology Every religion has a mythology, or sacred stories . . . . Republicanity’s myths are being manufactured by the mythbuilders over at Wallbuilders. . . . .The myths of Republicanity are fairly obvious and easy to identify when uttered by the faithful: glorifying the Founding Fathers as saints, inserting God into the nation’s origins, and demonizing the US government when policy disagreements occur.
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2) Rituals: Every religion has rituals . . . . Likewise, Republicanity is rife with ritual acts of the sacred variety. One of the most recent examples is the signing of yet another pledge, “The Marriage Vow—A Declaration of Dependence on Marriage and Family,” drafted by The Family Leader, an Iowa-based organization. Signing pledges (against raising taxes, for lowering the debt, agreeing that this is a “Christian nation”) is all the rage these days, with adherents of Republicanity.
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Town hall meetings to vent anger and frustration, public events more akin to religious revivals than political rallies, and following Fox news, religiously, at certain intervals throughout the day, are a few other examples of rituals performing their role in a religious movement: to energize the faithful, differentiate insiders from outsiders, and establish what is sacred and what is profane.
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3) Ethics: Every religion has its own ethical teachings which provide moral guidelines for how to act, identify the good guys from the bad guys, and determine the right course of action in an often ambiguous world. . . . Republicanity is no different, possessing its own set of ethical commitments that define its moral universe. It is like the most narrow and conservative religious cultures in its absolutist ethical positions and refusal to tolerate any difference of opinion.
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4) Theology: Most religions have a God or multiple gods who rule the universe and the lives of humans on this Earth, leaving members preoccupied with seeking greater understanding of the power and influence of divine powers. . . . . Republicanity is built on a theology of divine presence in national affairs that looks in some instances like a form of theo-fascism—particularly when leaders claim an intimate knowledge of God’s will and being chosen by Him (no goddesses in this religion) to purify America.
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Taken all together, Republicanity is a culture that merges politics and religion.

Saturday Male Beauty

Debt Ceiling Uncertainty Puts States Like Virginia at Risk

There is certainly some irony in the fact that Virginia Governor Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell is finding himself faced with a possible downgrading of Virginia's debt rating because of the intransigence and lunacy of his GOP cohorts in Congress. While McDonnell has tried to skew the blame to Barack Obama, the truth is that the fault lies with the Kool-Aid drinkers in the GOP who have become the total political prostitutes of of the Tea Party and Christofascists - just as McDonnell has done himself. Karma can be a real bitch. The New York Times looks at how McDonnell may find himself bit in the ass by his fellow GOP extremists. Here are some highlights:
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States whose economies rely on the federal government — including Maryland and Virginia, home to many federal employees and contractors — are at the greatest risk if there is no agreement and Washington has to decide which payments to make and which to skip. They were among the states warned by Moody’s Investors Service this week that their credit ratings were being jeopardized by Washington — which would make it more expensive for them to borrow for costs like construction, through no fault of their own.
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“For nearly 75 years we have worked hard to earn the highest credit ratings from all three rating agencies,” Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, a Republican, wrote this week to President Obama and members of Congress, urging them to raise the debt limit. “Now your failure to get the job done is hurting the businesses and citizens of our commonwealth.”
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[A] number of states have begun preparing for the worst. Ric Brown, Virginia’s secretary of finance, said that it was a difficult task, made much more difficult by the lack of concrete information coming from Washington. “What you’ve got at the federal level, let’s face it, is outright chaos,” he said in an interview. “It’s hard to make sense out of that.”
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[I]f the debt limit is not raised and the federal government cannot meet all its costs, states and localities will face a new set of more serious problems. The National Conference of State Legislatures told members this week that there was little experience to guide their many “what if” questions, citing instead “a potpourri of ‘coulds,’ ” including the possibility that the federal government could pay its debts in the order in which they were received, or could prioritize which payments to make.
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If the Democrats have any sense they will begin the drum beat now that the blame for the potential debacle lies with the GOP and that voters need to begin punishing ALL Republicans by voting them out of office starting now. Virginia's fall elections would be a perfect chance to begin the onslaught against Republicans because many Republicans in the General Assembly are just as extreme as their counterparts in Congress..

New Study: Sexual Behavior Changes but Not Sexual Orientation

More bad news for Christofascists who peddle the ex-gay myth for political and financial profit - and, of course for lisping, mincing Marcus Bachman: A new study by of all people Mark Yarhouse at Regent University (not exactly a gay friendly institution) pretty much confirms what we in the LGBT community have always known. Namely, one can change their sexual behavior and try to pretend to be straight, but guess what. You're still GAY! One of the obvious fall outs ought to be that ZERO state or federal funds be paid to quacks like Marcus Bachmann who are fleecing the ignorant and religiously brainwashed by claiming to be able to turn them straight. Both Ex-Gay Watch and Warren Throckmorton (with whom I've had numerous e-mail exchanges in the past), a one time proponent of witch doctor like reparative therapy who has now seen the light, look at the new findings which cut charlatans like Bachmann and the folks at Exodus International off at the knee caps. First this from Ex-Gay Watch:
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[R]esearch has suggested that men in mixed orientation marriages — that is, married ex-gays — remain just as gay in orientation. And the data comes from an unlikely source: Mark Yarhouse, a social scientist at Pat Robertson’s Regent University and one of conservative evangelicalism’s foremost researchers into sexual orientation change.
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Yarhouse, best-known for the 2007 Jones-Yarhouse study with Stanton Jones, drew his latest conclusions from a survey of 106 husbands and 161 wives in mixed orientation marriages. The men had an average age of 45 and had been married 16 years. Conservative Christian therapist Warren Throckmorton summarizes the findings for us: [The data] demonstrates that the Kinsey scores shift more toward the heterosexual side when the participants were asked about their sexual behavior but when asked about their attractions, fantasies, and emotional attachments, there was no change. The Kinsey Expanded scale included an average of participant Kinsey assessment of behavior, attractions, fantasies and emotional attachments. … At any rate, the results are consistent with what I am finding as well. People adapt their behavior to their beliefs and commitments but their orientation does not shift, on average.
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Sexual orientation cannot be made to change; behavior can. (Incidentally, Throckmorton says his own research suggests that men in mixed-orientation marriages actually tend to become more gay over time.)
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The honesty of this research is welcome. It does, however, raise an ethical issue for Yarhouse, according to Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin. Yarhouse is something of a darling of the Christian Right for his previously published studies on sexual orientation change. So will he let himself continue to be used as a propaganda tool for anti-gay religious conservatives like Fischer and Quinlan? Or will he speak unambiguously to such ideologues about the reality of ex-gays and the myth of “change”?
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As for Throckmorton, here are brief highlights from his blog:
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Media have been all over the Bachmann clinic story this week with lots of related discussion about how much, if at all, sexual orientation changes. As a part of this discussion, I noted that a study I am writing up found that over all married gay people assess themselves as growing more same-sex attracted over time.
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Along the way, colleague Mark Yarhouse wrote to remind me that he found something similar in a study recently reported in the new issue of the Christian journal Edification . . .
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In all of the bluster about change therapies and clinics, I think evangelicals need to face what evangelical academics are finding in research. Also, a word to the media, both Christian and mainstream, quoting advocacy groups will get you two sides for dramatic tension, but if you want to know how research informs the questions you are asking, please consult those who, despite their religious loyalties, will report accurately.

Certification of DADT Repeal

Set out above is the certification signed by Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Panetta and Joint Chiefs head, Admiral Mullen. Here's a portion of Obama's statement yesterday in connection with the certification's execution via Towleroad:
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Today, we have taken the final major step toward ending the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law that undermines our military readiness and violates American principles of fairness and equality. In accordance with the legislation that I signed into law last December, I have certified and notified Congress that the requirements for repeal have been met. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will end, once and for all, in 60 days—on September 20, 2011.
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As Commander in Chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness. Today’s action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal. As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country. Our military will no longer be deprived of the talents and skills of patriotic Americans just because they happen to be gay or lesbian.
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I want to commend our civilian and military leadership for moving forward in the careful and deliberate manner that this change requires, especially with our nation at war. I want to thank all our men and women in uniform, including those who are gay or lesbian, for their professionalism and patriotism during this transition. Every American can be proud that our extraordinary troops and their families, like earlier generations that have adapted to other changes, will only grow stronger and remain the best fighting force in the world and a reflection of the values of justice and equality that the define us as Americans.
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Yesterday was a victory for equality under the law for all citizens and a major defeat for the hate and division which is increasingly the principal hallmark of conservative Christianity in this nation. As a country we need to continue to push Christian and religious based prejudice out of the nation's civil laws at both the state and federal level. Bob McDonnell, are you listening?

Norwegian Shooter Had Right Wing Christian Views?

It's still too soon to know what motivated the man pictured at right who murdered more than 90 people in Norway yesterday through a bomb blast at government offices and then a horrific shooting spree that killed dozens and dozens of youths at an island political party camp. However, several reports suggest that the shooter was a right wing extremist who also considered himself a conservative Christian. Besides the obvious example of the consequences of far right rhetoric, the incident also raises the question of why the Hell anyone outside the military should ever be able to possess automatic weapons. Without automatic weapons, the shooter could not have taken so many lives. The BBC has this brief elements on the shooter:

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Police chief Sveinung Sponheim said his internet postings "suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views".
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On the Facebook page attributed to him, he describes himself as a Christian and a conservative.
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The Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying that the suspect turned to right-wing extremism when in his late 20s. The paper also said that he participated in online forums expressing strong nationalistic views.
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Even the less than sensationalistic Virginian Pilot had this about the shooter:
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The same man - a blonde-blue eyed Norwegian with reported Christian fundamentalist, anti-Muslim views - is suspected in both attacks.
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The Swedish paper Expressen has these additional details on the shooter:
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According to Norwegian TV2, he belonged to right-wing circles in East Iceland - the part of the country where, among other things Oslo included. He also had multiple weapons - according to VG, he had a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun. According to witnesses, several weapons also remain in his car - including a machine gun.
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Anders Behring Breivik has been active in various right-wing forum in Norway and he has among other things, wrote that the fight is between nationalism and internationalism. According to VG, he calls himself a nationalist. He has also written a number of Islam-critical posts.
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There is also speculation that the shooter might have been in line with some politicians who have been openly voicing concerns about how Norway's culture might be diluted by immigration from countries with different religions and values.
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Does any of this sound familiar? Yes, it sounds just like the hate and venom coming out of far right extremists and far right Christians in the USA - many of whom have been exporting their poison overseas. Let's be clear, extremism of any kind is dangerous, but religious extremists are the most dangerous because in their warped view, God is on their side. One need not look far to see examples all around in this country where Christianists are constantly disseminating propaganda that could easily encourage (Lou Sheldon of the hate groups Traditional Values Coalition recently stated that gays are the very face of evil).

Quote of the Day: Andrew Sullivan on What the GOP Has Become

Like many rational former Republicans I find what has become of a party that once viewed itself as responsible and guided by logic and reason beyond abhorrent. Indeed, I am frightened for the future of the USA because today's GOP is no more rational that Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. Congressional Republicans truly do not what damage they cause to rank and file citizens and who they may ruin financially. It's all about their extremist agenda. Andrew Sullivan who once held more hope that I did that somehow the few remaining grown ups in the party would regain control lets loose. Obviously, the only way to send a message to today's GOP is to vote against the party at every level and in every election until the GOP is not in a position to hold the nation hostage and put the interests of crazed extremists ahead of the nation as a whole. Here are highlights from Andrew's indictment of the GOP:
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The Republican refusal to countenance any way to raise revenues to tackle the massive debt incurred largely on their watch and from a recession which started under Obama's predecessor makes one thing clear. They are not a political party in government; they are a radical faction that refuses to participate meaningfully in the give and take the Founders firmly believed should be at the center of American government. They are not conservatives in this sense. They are anarchists.
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Their fiscal anarchism has now led to their threat to destabilize and possibly upend the American and global economy because they refuse to compromise an inch. They control only one part of the government, and yet they hold all of it hostage. I cannot believe they are prepared to allow the US to default rather than give an inch toward responsibility. Except I should believe it by now. Everything I have written about them leads inexorably to this moment.
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But this is who they are. I longed for Obama to bridge this gulf in ideology. But he cannot bridge it alone, especially when the GOP is determined to burn the bridge entirely, even when presented with a deal so tilted to the right only true fanatics could possibly walk away from it. And so the very republic is being plunged into crisis and possible depression by a single, implacable, fanatical faction. Until they are defeated, the country remains in more peril than we know.

More Friday Male Beauty

Anti-Gay Bigotry is Alive and Well in Small Town Virginia

UPDATED: A reader from Gloucester County who actually saw the Pride Month display before it was taken down passed along some information that underscores Pastor Woodard's bigotry and the reality that he cannot countenance recognition of the fact that LGBT citizens exist much less that some of us have made significant contributions to our society and culture. Here's the added details:
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The only sign on the display read, "June is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Month" with a graphic of a person in rainbow colors, a copy of the Rainbow flag and a graphic that said "Gay Pride" and "Be Yourself".
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The materials included in the display included works by Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Rita Mae Brown, Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman and Alice Walker; music CD's by Sir Elton John, Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls; a movie DVD, "Milk", starring Sean Penn, about Harvey Milk.
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There were also biographies Andy Warhol, T.E. Lawrence, Alexander the Great, and Michelangelo, together with non-fiction books about LGBT issues and some fiction books for adults and young adults.
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Not exactly subversive stuff or a "promotion of homosexuality." Obviously, the LGBT individuals have contributed more to culture and society than Woodard's piss ant far right little church. Let's be blunt: Woodard is a homophobic bigot plan and simple.
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ORIGINAL POST: While some of Virginia's larger cities are crawling their way into the 21st century and becoming LGBT accepting - despite the obstacle thrown in their paths by Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and the loony Ken Cuccinelli - things remain in the 17th century in rural areas where anti-gay bigotry is alive and well and the sensibilities of bigots trump the rights of taxpaying citizens. A case in point is nearby Gloucester County, Virginia (estimated population 36,858) which now finds itself the subject of media attention because of the removal of an innocuous Pride Month display in the local library. I've mentioned this situation previously and the challenge to the bigotry spearheaded by County Supervisor Gregory Woodard - a fundamentalist pastor - who seems just a tad too hysterical in his opposition to all things gay if you get my drift. Fortunately, the Daily Press is not letting the story die and has documented that a handful of complaints to the bigoted Mr. Woodard caused the demise of the library display. Other members of the Board of Supervisors are trying to duck the issue by saying there are more important things to ficus upon. In that regard they are somewhat correct. Gloucester is a backwater and by embracing bigotry it will remain that way even as the rest of the world moves on. Here are highlights from the latest Daily Press story on the controversy:
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Copies of hundreds of pages of emails, obtained by the Daily Press from Gloucester County under a Freedom of Information Act request, show that a small number of complaints about a gay pride exhibit at the Gloucester Public Library caused a flurry of communication between county supervisors and officials. Whether the issue will get a public hearing remains to be seen.
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Bill Walker, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the agenda for the September meeting has not been set. Whether or not the gay pride exhibit is discussed at the meeting, Walker said Library Director Diane Rebertus has the authority to install and take down exhibits. "It's unfortunate that this whole thing has taken the path it has," Walker said. Rebertus referred to the display in an email as "low-key." It was installed June 1 and coincided with June being gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender month.
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The display first caught the attention of a member of the Board of Supervisors more than two weeks after it had been put up. Supervisor Gregory Woodard received an email June 18 from a Gloucester resident who was "offended by the promotion of homosexuality by our library."
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On June 20, Woodard forwarded the email to County Administrator Brenda Garton. She sent out an email saying Rebertus received a complaint from a woman on June 17. . . . On June 22, Woodard wrote to Garton in an email that he was surprised the Library would make a decision to promote gay rights month. Garton responded in an email that she doesn't think anyone intended for the display to promote anything, "just like celebrating military month with a display of materials isn't promoting war." Minutes later, Woodard responded by email to Garton to ask Rebertus to make the Library Board consider the issue of promoting gay rights.
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Woodard asked Board of Supervisors Chairman Christian "Buddy" Rilee to place the issue on the July meeting agenda, but Rilee declined. "There are so many important issues facing Gloucester and we do not need to go there when it comes to this topic," Rilee wrote.
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On a positive note, Supervisor Woodard has recently announced that he would not seek re-election to the Gloucester Board of Supervisors. Hopefully, with Woodard's exit from the Board of Supervisors his style of Christian hate filled bigotry will go with him.

Obama and Pentagon Certify ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal

This afternoon President Obama, the Secretary of Defense Panetta, and Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all signed off on and certified, the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. Now we begin a sixty (60) day count down to the full relegation of DADT to the trash heap of history. Needless, to say I can already hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Christianists. DADT has been a huge tool for anti-gay religious extremists who have heretofore been able to point to DADT as a vaidation of their anti-gay views. Elaine Donnelly must truly be having the vapors like some southern belle of yesteryear whose corset was laced far too tightly. The spittle must be flying by the bucketful as well at Family Research Council and the American Family Association, two registered hate groups who have lost a huge battle with the demise of DADT. Here are highlights from the Washington Blade on the developments this afternoon:
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President Obama and Pentagon leaders gave the green light on Friday to start the 60-day time period for when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be off the books and openly gay Americans will be entirely free to serve in the U.S. military.
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After consultation during a Friday meeting at the White House, Obama — along with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen — issued certification to Congress that the armed forces are ready for open service.
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[N]ow that repeal has been certified, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be off the books on Sept. 20. Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said the “final countdown to repeal begins today” as a result of certification.
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Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, said certification of repeal means gay service members can “breath a huge sigh of relief.” “While we still must wait 60 days for this change to formally take effect and for the law to officially be off the books, this step is nothing short of historic,” Nicholson said. ”This is the final nail in the coffin for the discriminatory, outdated, and harmful ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law.”
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September 20, 2011 will be huge day for gay and lesbian service members in Hampton Roads who have had to live in fear. For my many gay friends in the military it must feel as if a huge weight is about to be removed from their shoulders. I hope activist remember that the legislation that set repeal in motion arose only because the LGBT community raised hell and demanded that the Democrats and Obama cease the pretty words with real action. The same needs to now be done with DOMA.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Today is the boyfriend's birthday and tomorrow is the third anniversary of our first date. Over the past three years he has proven to be a sweet and gentle soul and I am so very lucky to have him in my life. That's not to say there isn't occasional friction in our relationship - I usually check his infrequent Germanic rigidness by saying "Yes, mein Fuhrer" - as in any relationship. But over all he's truly sweet, kind and loving. Indeed, he's one of the nicest people I've ever known. It's no wonder that his client's nearly worship him.

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I hope he has a wonderful day today and a few friends and my youngest daughter and her boyfriend will be getting together with us for a birthday dinner this evening.

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For those coming out later in life, what I've found with the boyfriend proves that it does get better and that there is a new life out there waiting for you even at times you feel your entire world has collapsed and left nothing to replace it. Patience is the key, although that's not exactly one of my strongest attributes. Believe that there's a positive future and it will arrive in time.

Friday Male Beauty

'NOM' Defector Louis Marinelli Launches the National Organization for Marriage Equality

Louis Marinelli continues to be a pain in the ass for his former bosses Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown who like Elaine Donnelly make anti-gay lies and bigotry a viable line of work. Marinelli who "saw the light" while serving as the bus driver on NOM's hateful 2010 "Summer for Marriage Tour", has been a font of information on the internal machinations at NOM. Now he has launched the National Organization for Marriage Equality to counter NOM's poisonous lies. The new organization's website describes it's mission as follows:

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[W]e aim to educate the public on the issue of civil marriage equality. Specifically, the organization is dedicated to the following objectives:
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to protect marriage equality in states where it exists;
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to educate the public about the importance of marriage equality in states where it does not exist;
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to grow support for civil marriage equality among conservatives, republicans and independents;
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to separate misinformation about the LGBT community from the facts.
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The new organization also plans to visit 17 states on a tour this summer. Marinelli has this to say about the upcoming tour:
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This summer we plan to travel the country from California to Maine to talk about my change of heart on the issue of marriage equality and talk with conservatives and republicans about why they should support the freedom to marry.

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Because it was these counter-protesters that led to my change of heart in support of same-sex marriage and my subsequent resignation from the National Organization for Marriage, this tour will serve as a testament to that change and I look forward to seeing many of the same faces and families I saw last year so that this year I can stand with them, not against them.

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Kudos to Marinelli. Let's hope he can opens some minds and change some hearts.

Elaine Donnelly's So-Called "Center for Military Readiness" Trashed in New Report

Elaine Donnelly (pictured at left) - who I mentioned in the previous post - is one who will hopefully be seeking a new line of work with the demise of DADT. A new piece on Huffington Post looks at the fraudulent nature of Donnelly's "Center for Military Readiness" which operates out of her home and provides both her and her husband a steady income from peddling hate and bigotry. Given the true nature of Donnelly's operation one can only wonder why the main stream media - not to mention members of Congress - ever gave this woman a shred of credibility. She's no better than a crazy aunt that one would like to keep hidden from the public eye. Worse yet, her supposed non-profit entity doesn't meet general standards for non-profits. Why on earth hasn't the IRS gone after the organization? It's all about enriching the Donnellys and disseminating lies and false information. It's a pattern seen over and over again with so-called "ministries" and "educational" groups run by Christianists. Here are some story highlights:
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WASHINGTON -- The leading opponent of repealing the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and a decades-long critic of expanded opportunities for military women runs a nonprofit organization that watchdog groups say has filed inaccurate and misleading reports to the IRS, lacks a credibly independent board and is operating uncomfortably close to the line that separates education from lobbying.
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The Center for Military Readiness (CMR), the tax-exempt nonprofit founded by Elaine Donnelly nearly 20 years ago, bills itself as "an independent non-partisan public policy organization that specializes in military personnel issues." But the "small think tank" headquartered out of Donnelly's suburban Detroit home and run day-to-day by her husband Terry is the single most influential conservative voice pushing back against social progress in the military.
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An examination of a decade's worth of CMR's 990 tax forms and interviews with several nonprofit experts reveal a mom-and-pop operation that has repeatedly failed to comply with standard rules required of 501(c)3 groups like CMR.
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CMR does not have a written conflict of interest policy, a whistle blower policy or an independent process to review compensation for the Donnellys and their executive director Tommy Sears, a former defense industry lobbyist based in Washington. The group also did not fill out a tax form required of nonprofit organizations that pay a family member in excess of $10,000. Donnelly's husband Terry earns more than that as CMR's administrator. Borochoff said the documents are routinely found in well-run nonprofits.
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n 2010, Donnelly earned $48,476 as CMR's president, a pay cut from the $55,674 and $54,035 she was paid in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Her husband Terry was paid $11,718 last year, better than 2009 when he made $9,812 but nearly three times less than the $31,248 he was paid in 2008. Last year, the couple claimed more than $28,000 for travel and home office expenses.
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CMR'S ability to influence far-reaching social debates is all the more remarkable considering the limits of its funding. It annually brings in around $250,000 in revenues from a network of like-minded conservative foundations. Though its website includes a page where supporters can contribute $25 to become a "member," the group has little or no revenue from membership dues in recent years. Terry Donnelly said CMR is "not a membership organization in the truest sense," though he claimed it has "well over 10,000" people on its email list.
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CMR, like similar organizations, is not required to publicly release its list of donors. A partial accounting by the liberal watchdog Media Matters reveals, unsurprisingly, that CMR's patrons include conservative and Christian groups such as Focus on the Family.
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Donnelly admits she may be out of step with the times. . . . She is already focused on "educating" lawmakers like Foxx to assure the Pentagon doesn't sidestep DOMA -- which the president this week vowed to help repeal -- and give married gay troops the same benefits as straight couples.
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It's time that the media and Congress recognize that Donnelly is pretty much a nutcase with no legitimate credentials who is funded by anti-gay organizations with one goal: denigrating and stigmatizing LGBT citizens. She deserves about the same credibility as a member of the Klu Klux Klan.

Military to Certify End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Today

The Washington Post is reporting that the Pentagon will certify the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell today thus setting the stage of the final end to this discriminatory policy that raised Christianist anti-gay bigotry to a national policy level. Expect more shrieking and screaming form the professional Christian hate groups as they lose one of their most special privileges and tools to depict LGBT citizens as inferior. With DADT headed for the trash heap of history some of the Christofascists - e.g., Elaine Donnelly - will be faced with the prospect of needing to find a real job as donations likely start to dwindle. In this region with its huge military presence I expect over time the number of "out" members of the LGBT community will rise as service members cease to be afraid to reveal their true selves. As that happens, I believe the trend towards openness will spread into the business world, including the many defense contractors located in Hampton Roads. Here are some highlights from the Post story:
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Top Pentagon leaders will say Friday that the military is ready to permit gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, allowing President Obama to formally end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to a U.S. official and others familiar with the plans.
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In accordance with a law passed in December that set in motion the process of ending the ban, Obama first must receive notice from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and top uniformed brass that the military is prepared to end the policy before the government stops enforcing it. The policy will end 60 days after Obama formally certifies the repeal in writing to Congress.
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If Obama signs the certification in the coming days, the ban would end in late September.
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Obama met Wednesday at the White House with Panetta, who will be formally sworn in to his new job by Vice President Biden on Friday at the Pentagon. The White House isn't planning to formally mark the end of “don't ask, don’t tell” with any type of public event until the end of the 60-day period, sources said.
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Once the almost 18-year ban ends, gays and lesbians serving in military uniform will be able to publicly reveal their sexual identity without fear of dismissal or official rebuke, openly gay men and women will be able to enlist in the military, and gay couples may be allowed to wed at military chapels or live together on military bases in states that recognize same-sex marriages.
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As the Post goes on to report, the end of DADT will not end all legalized discrimination for LGBT service members because DOMA will continue to bar military spousal benefits for gay couples, including potential housing options and survivor benefits. Thus, Christianist bigotry will not be totally removed from the nations laws and the need to repeal DOMA will become more evident than ever. Nonetheless, the end of DADT is huge - especially for areas like Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia where the military has a huge presence.

More Thursday Male Beauty

The Bachmanns' "Ex-Lesbian" Friend Fits All The "Ex-gay" Stereotypes

I don't mean to sound mean or nasty, but Slate has a piece on Michele and Marcus Bachmann's "ex-lesbian" friend, Janet Boynes, and true to form she's a former drug addict/dealer who had by the sounds of it a totally f*cked up life - none of which was due to her being a lesbian (in fact, she sounds like a reprise of Michael Johnston who Wayne Besen and I exposed as a total fraud back in 2003). Yet true to form, she wants to blame all of her problems on her sexual orientation rather than her screwed up family circumstances and/or her own bad choices. Are there any "ex-gays" who weren't drug addicts and/or alcoholics? It seems that ALL of them are one time losers who latched on to the "ex-gay" for pay gravy train.
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Like most "ex-gays," Boynes would have us believe that because of her sexual orientation she did not have a relatively normal life (in contrast to most of us in the LGBT community). Moreover, she wants to blame her utterly screwed up prior life on her homosexuality rather than the real causes of her problems. Frankly, I am way past over having any sympathy for losers like Boynes who messed up their own lives with booze and drugs who then want to say that being gay was the cause of their problems. Let's get real - for Boynes like all the rest of the "ex-gay" for pay crowd they "became stright" only learning that there's good money to be made playing "ex-gay." And as an added bonus, they gain a modicum of respect within the Bible beater circles. . Meanwhile, I can only wonder how many lives of young LGBT individuals will be damaged because of the lies Boynes is promoting. To me, it is utterly disgusting and immoral. Boynes may be enjoying her financial freedom and new found self-respect derived from peddling lies and snake oil to the gullible, but I find her less honorable than the most tawdry whore. Here are highlights from Slate:
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If the Bachmanns still believe that being gay is a sinful lifestyle from which it's possible to be delivered, they aren't about to explain their thinking right now. In the past, however, they have pointed to the testimony of one particular friend as proof of their belief that it is possible to leave the gay "lifestyle." This friend is devoting her life to the proposition that homosexuality is not only destructive but, in some sense, contagious, and her beliefs may provide some useful context for the Bachmanns' past comments. Her name is Janet Boynes, and she calls herself an ex-lesbian.
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"I was not born homosexual," Boynes writes in her memoir. "I made a decision." In her telling, a slew of environmental factors tempted her to make that decision, the way a weakened immune system might make the body prone to infection. Boynes writes that she was born into poverty in Norristown, Pa., one of seven half-siblings by multiple fathers.
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Boynes's life as a gay woman was chaotic; she cheated on her girlfriends and was cheated on. For awhile, she was addicted to—and sold—cocaine. But from time to time, she writes, her churchgoing childhood would kick in, and she would think of God and recognize that she was on a sinful path. At last, she writes, in 1998, a chance encounter with a Christian woman in a parking lot prompted her to renounce her lesbian ways.
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Today, she says she wants to marry a man and is just waiting for the right one to come along. . . . And her emphasis on loving the sinner is often undercut by a fire-and-brimstone judgmentalism. In her book, Boynes tells the harrowing story of her gay brother's death from AIDS over a decade ago–noting that he bled out of every orifice. When I asked her what she made of his death, she said, "Sometimes sin has consequences." As she sees it, sin is trying to take over the culture: The fight for same-sex marriage is just a prelude to normalizing pedophilia and bestiality, she writes. Gay activists are "recruiting" children in schools.
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The belief that homosexuality is highly contagious is at the heart of the perspective propounded by Boynes and shared by the Bachmanns and many other conservative Christians, but it is not new.
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Boynes to suggest, as she did to me, that for many people, "if I'm out there in the homosexual community, hanging out with them on a daily basis, that's what I will become." What doesn't make sense is why, if homosexuality is so darn tempting, more of America isn't already gay.
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Boynes may feel better about herself and be enjoying the financial benefits of being "ex-gay," but I suspect that it's her, not LGBT individuals. who will be called to account on Judgment Day for the lies and untruths she willingly disseminated for the purpose of self-enrichment and to engender praise from the hate filled Bible beating set. But for the damage she is doing to others, she would represent a very sad figure. I'm sorry, but I find her - and the Bachmanns - to be contemptible.

MN School District Investigated for Anti-Bullying Policy

UPDATED: The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC")and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) today filed a lawsuit today against the Anoka-Hennepin School District. The lawsuit challenges the pervasive anti-gay harassment in the district’s schools as well as a “gag policy” that prevents teachers from discussing issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Here's more from the SPLC website:

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five students who have faced severe anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in school. It charges that the district’s gag policy perpetuates the abuses suffered by these students and others.

The groups filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota after the school district failed to address the persistent abuse or repeal its discriminatory policy.

“We are disappointed that the district fails to see the serious harm this policy is causing its students,” said Sam Wolfe, the SPLC’s lead attorney in the case. “School and district officials who are entrusted with the safety and education of all students continue to ignore, minimize, dismiss and even blame victims for the abusive behavior of other students.”

The lawsuit charges that LGBT students and students perceived as LGBT have been subjected to a constant torrent of slurs and have been physically threatened or attacked by peers. While many of these abuses occurred in front of teachers or were reported to school officials, school personnel almost always took insufficient action to stop the abuse.

This piece is cross posted from The Bilerico Project. The U. S. Justice Department and the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights are investigating the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota for alleged abuse and bullying of students who do not conform to gender stereotypes. The school district has experienced a string of seven student suicides in fewer than two years (including 15-year-old Justin Aaberg, whose mother is a Facebook friend of mine and who provided the photo), yet it has refused to implement an anti-gay bullying policy that would seek to specifically protect LGBT students.

Instead, the school division - principally due the efforts of anti-gay "family values" organizations such as affiliates of Focus on the Family and the SPLC registered hate group, the American Family Association - has adopted a policy that purports to be "neutral on the issue of homosexuality."

Earlier this month the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the Anoka-Hennepin School District urging it to maintain its "neutrality policy" with regard to sexual orientation.
And the consequences of blocking any meaningful anti-gay bullying policies are deadly. Just ask Alise Williams, whose son, Christian Taylor, committed suicide on May 31, 2010, after constant bullying because he was perceived as gay by bigoted students. The York County Schools purportedly have an anti-bullying policy, but as seems to be the case time and time again, it is rarely, if ever, enforced.

Here are highlights from CNN's coverage of the Justice Department and Office of Civil Rights investigation:

Federal authorities are investigating "incidents involving harassment and bullying" in Minnesota's largest school district, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed in an e-mail to CNN.

The civil rights investigation is under way in the suburban Minneapolis school district, Anoka-Hennepin, a community already embattled in a culture war over homosexuality in the classroom.

The Justice Department together with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights are looking into "allegations of harassment and discrimination in the Anoka-Hennepin School District based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes," according to a district memo provided exclusively to CNN.

The federal investigation comes after a string of seven student suicides in less than two years, which stirred public debate over the district's sexual orientation curriculum policy.

Parents and friends say four of those students were either gay, perceived to be gay or questioning their sexuality, and they say, at least two of them were bullied over their sexuality.

It's unclear whether the suicides or the policy are a significant part of the federal investigation. The controversial policy, adopted in 2009, states that staff must "remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation" and that "such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches or community organizations."

Anoka-Hennepin is the only Minnesota school district known to have such a policy. However, at least eight other states - Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah - have statutes specifying varying limits on classroom instruction regarding homosexuality. Tennessee considered similar legislation this year.

In May, two advocacy groups, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, threatened the school district with a federal lawsuit challenging the policy. So far, negotiations with the school district have not met their demands.

Tammy Aaberg - whose 15-year-old son, Justin, committed suicide last July - has become an outspoken critic of the neutrality policy. "He came to me and said, 'Mom, a kid at school says I'm going to go to hell because I'm gay,'" said Aaberg. The neutrality policy, she said, contributed to a school environment harmful to her son, who was outed in the eighth grade by another student. "I believe that the climate that they have in the school, the way that kids are allowed to treat other kids - they say 'fag' all the time," Aaberg said. "If you're even questioning who you are and you're not seeing anybody who's like you, you don't see anything positive about who you are, then you start wondering, 'What's wrong with me?'"

Sam Wolfe, the Southern Poverty Law Center attorney handling the advocacy group's case, calls the curriculum policy a "gag policy." In May, Wolfe wrote a letter to Carlson stating that students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and those perceived to be LGBT "remain in jeopardy in a hostile and alienating environment."

"The gag policy singles out LGBT students by denying them and them alone any affirmation of their identity," Wolfe wrote in the May 24 letter. He also said the policy "categorically preclud(es) any meaningful classroom discussion about history, literature, current events or any other relevant lessons involving LGBT people."

A similar federal investigation in Tehachapi, California, led to federally mandated revisions of the Tehachapi Unified School District's policies. After investigating a complaint surrounding the suicide of a 13-year-old student, the departments of Justice and Education concluded the eighth grader "suffered sexual and gender-based harassment by his peers, including harassment based on his nonconformity to gender stereotypes" and the school district "did not adequately investigate or respond appropriately as it is required to do by federal law," according to the resolution agreement reached this month between the Tehachapi Unified School District and the federal agencies. Tehachapi district officials disagreed with the investigation's findings.

One can only hope that similar changes will be forced on the Anoka-Hennepin School District.

Thursday Male Beauty

Irsh Parliament Blames Vatican For Sex Abuse Cover Ups

UPDATED: The Irish Times has an even more damning article on Parliament's finger pointing at the Vatican. My favorite part of the article which focuses in part on the Vatican's belief that it is above the law, is as follows:
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The revelations of the Cloyne report have brought the Government, Irish Catholics and the Vatican to an unprecedented juncture," the Taoiseach said. "It’s fair to say that after the Ryan and Murphy reports Ireland is, perhaps, unshockable when it comes to the abuse of children. But Cloyne has proved to be of a different order.
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"Because for the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual-abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See, to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic . . . as little as three years ago, not three decades ago. And in doing so, the Cloyne Report excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism . . . the narcissism . . . that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day."
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Things continue to go from bad to worse for the Roman Catholic Church where the Irish Parliament has laid blame for the cover up of sexual crimes against children and youths directly at the feet of the Vatican. Church attendance has plummeted and with this new development, it may plunge further. It's beyond obvious that the Church hierarchy cannot be trusted and one again has to wonder why anyone who hasn't had a lobotomy listens to anything issuing from the Vatican and bishoprics around the world. The Church hierarchy has engaged in nothing less than a world wide criminal conspiracy. It's a truth that rank and file Catholics do not want to admit, but continuing to finance the Church - even its good aspects - sends the message to Rome that nothing need change. Here are highlights from the New York Times on this new development in Ireland:
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Ireland’s lawmakers on Wednesday accused the Vatican of encouraging Roman Catholic bishops not to tell the police about priests who were suspected of being pedophiles and of flouting Irish law. The rare denunciation of the Holy See’s influence in this predominantly Catholic country came just a week after the government issued a report accusing the Vatican of sabotaging Irish bishops’ 1996 decision to begin reporting suspected cases of child abuse to the police.
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The report gave details of a confidential letter sent in 1997 by the Vatican’s nuncio, or ambassador, in Ireland to Irish bishops, warning them that their child-protection policies violated canon law, which states that priests accused of abuse should be able to appeal their cases to the Vatican. “This is not Rome. This is the Republic of Ireland 2011, a republic of laws,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers on Wednesday. He said the church’s leaders had repeatedly sought to defend their institutions at the expense of children. It was the first time that Ireland’s Parliament had criticized the Vatican, rather than local church leaders, over the 17 years of pedophile-priest scandals in Ireland.
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The sad reality is that Pope Benedict XVI and most of the bishops and cardinals belong behind bars. The Catholic laity needs to face this fact and vote with their feet. Here in the USA, the Episcopal Church and ELCA are two options that ought to be pursued by Catholics who do not want to be accessories to sexual abuse of children and youths.

Wall Street Makes Fallback Plans for Debt Crisis

As extremists in the know nothing elements of the Republican Party push the nation closer to potential financial disaster, Wall Street is devising ways to deal with the fall out of U.S. Treasury bonds defaulting. Personally, I have zero holdings in such bonds, but nonetheless fear for what could happen. For those heavily invested in U.S. treasuries or in funds holding treasury bonds, the prospect of default ought to be most disconcerting. Indeed, they need to be calling and writing GOP members of Congress and promising revenge if the GOP members of the House f*ck over the country simply to appease the Tea Party loons. Better yet, they ought to be ready to fund campaigns of candidates who will challenge people like douche bag Eric Cantor. The New York Times looks at what Wall Street is doing to lessen potential adverse effects. Here are highlights:
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[O]n Wall Street, financial players are devising doomsday plans in case the clock runs out. These companies are taking steps to reduce the risk of holding Treasury bonds or angling for ways to make profits from any possible upheaval. And even if a deal is reached in Washington, some in the industry fear that the dickering has already harmed the country’s market credibility.
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On Wall Street, Treasuries function like a currency, and investors often use these bonds, which are supposed to be virtually fail-proof, as security deposits in their trading in the markets. Now, banks are sifting through their holdings and their customers’ holdings to determine if these security deposits will retain their value. In addition, mutual funds — which own billions of dollars in Treasuries — are working on presentations to persuade their boards that they can hold the bonds even if the government debt is downgraded. And hedge funds are stockpiling cash so they can buy up United States debt if other investors flee.
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The rating agencies . . . are surveying other entities that would be affected by a United States default — like insurance companies and states — and issuing warnings that a United States downgrade could result in several other ratings cuts. States that might be downgraded, in turn, are trying to reassure the market that they could still pay their bills on time.
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If lawmakers do not act before then [August 2], it will be difficult for the Treasury to meet coming interest payments as well as obligations to government employees, vendors and programs like Social Security and Medicare.
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In the Treasury market, investors are starting to sell, fearing that the government will not make good on some interest payments that will be due next month. And complex financial instruments that will pay out if the United States defaults have become twice as expensive to buy as they were at the start of the year. Analysts say the signs of panic are small for now.
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Deterioration of investor confidence in the United States could also hurt the value of the dollar, according to William H. Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pimco, a bond fund based in California. Mr. Gross said he believed that the dollar would become weaker because of the country’s inability to deal with its rising deficit. Instead, he favors currencies in China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Compared with the balance sheet of the United States, he said, “their dirty shirts are much cleaner.”
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One of the worst possibilities that people in the financial industry, like Mr. Lengsfield, have been discussing is that scores of insurance companies, pension funds and mutual funds might be forced to dump their Treasury holdings. Some investors have rules that they cannot hold assets that are rated below AAA. It was this sort of rule that drove the forced selling of mortgage bonds during the financial crisis.
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[I]t is unclear whether other investors might stampede for the exits. “The question I think investors are going to face is, Where do they go?” asked Ms. Cunningham. “Do they go to foreign banks? U.S. commercial paper issuers? U.S. agencies? Is there a safer haven than Treasury securities?”
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If a default occurs, I hope that voters will remember that the GOP caused the disaster and will vote the party out of office in 2012 and elections this fall in states like Virginia.