Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli Sides with Westboro Baptist Church

Being that he's a religious nutcase himself, it should be no surprise that Virginia Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli has refused to join in an amicus brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case brought by the father of a service member whose funeral was protested and disrupted by Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church of "God Hates Fags" infamy. Kookinelli is one of only two state AG's to not join in the brief and claims he is doing so in support of Phelps' right of freedom of speech. Apparently, Kookinelli supports free speech unless it falls in the realm of academic freedom or otherwise counters Kookinelli's extremist religious beliefs. It's a case of transparent hypocrisy for certain, yet all to typical of folks like Kookinelli who have ZERO regard for the right to freedom of religion for others. Indeed, Kookinelli believes that Virginia gays should be punished for nonconformity to Christianist religious views and deserve no employment protections. The full brief that Cuccinelli declined to support can be found here. Channel 12 news has coverage on Kookinelli's latest idiocy. Here are some highlights:
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Never one to follow the crowd, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has decided against filing an amicus brief in a case before the Supreme Court involving the controversial Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). Cuccinelli is one of only two State Attorneys General in the entire country who have declined the opportunity to support Albert Snyder. Snyder sued WBC after the hate group protested at his son’s funeral. Snyder’s son was killed serving in Iraq.
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Snyder won his first case, but the decision was turned back by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, based on the 1st amendment. In addition to the overturned decision, he was ordered to pay the court costs of the Phelps family, the leaders of WBC.
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Snyder has gained the support of many politicians, including 42 U.S. Senators and every State Attorney General (including the District of Columbia) except for Maine and Virginia.

Thursday Male Beauty

BP Cannot Be Trusted to Stop Spill or Process Claims

Here in Key West the fear of the approaching environmental disaster is becoming palpable as is the fear that the region's tourism industry will be destroyed. Also palpable is the total distrust of leaving anything up to BP which seems to be being aided and abetted by the U.S. government which is allowing BP to keep the media away from areas in an effort to avoid damaging photos from hitting the air waves and thus sparking total fury and outrage. Some have criticized my post that suggested that BP North American assets be placed into temporary receivership, but to be honest I do not see BP doing all that should and could be done. After yesterday's incredible snorkeling and kayaking cruise, it literally sickens me to think of all the beauty we saw about to be potentially destroyed. The photo of the dead dolphin above reminds me of the possible fate of the happy and playful dolphins we saw just yesterday. Does BP give a damn about it? I doubt it - or not beyond worries of what money may be lost. The following are highlights from the New York Daily News :
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Here's what President Obama didn't see when he visited the Gulf Coast: a dead dolphin rotting in the shore weeds.
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"When we found this dolphin it was filled with oil. Oil was just pouring out of it. It was the saddest darn thing to look at," said a BP contract worker who took the Daily News on a surreptitious tour of the wildlife disaster unfolding in Louisiana.
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His motive: simple outrage. "There is a lot of coverup for BP. They specifically informed us that they don't want these pictures of the dead animals. They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence. It's important to me that people know the truth about what's going on here," the contractor said.
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"The things I've seen: They just aren't right. All the life out here is just full of oil. I'm going to show you what BP never showed the President."
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After checking that he was unobserved, he motored out to Queen Bess barrier island, known to the locals as Bird Island. The grasses by the shore were littered with tarred marine life, some dead and others struggling under a thick coating of crude.
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"When you see some of the things I've seen, it would make you sick," the contractor said. "No living creature should endure that kind of suffering."
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The uninhabited barrier islands are surrounded by yellow floating booms, also stained black, that are supposed to keep the oil out. It's not working.
"That grass was green a few weeks ago," the contractor said. "Now look. ... This whole island is destroyed. How do you write a check for something like this?"
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He said he recently found five turtles drowning in oil. "Three turtles were dead. Two were dying and not dead yet. They will be," he said. As the boat headed back amid the choppy waves, a pod of dolphins showed up to swim with the vessel and guide it to land. "They know they are in trouble. We are all in trouble," the contractor said.
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BP's central role in the disaster cleanup has apparently given the company a lot of latitude in keeping the press away from beaches where the oil is thickest. On Monday, a Daily News team was escorted away from a public beach on Elmer's Island bycops who said they were taking orders from BP.
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38% of the Gulf of Mexico is now closed to fishing and the area involved will only increase. It is beyond pathetic that the President of the United States is shown what a private company wants him to see. You talk about an ass backwards scenario. Meanwhile, BP diddles rather than simply totally destroying the leaking well - likely because it wants to savage the well and save money. And the U.S. government likewise dawdles away time as the disaster grows. The Washington Post looks at the potential economic disaster which will be piggy backing the environmental nightmare. Here are highlights:
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[T]he economic impact of the nation's worst ever oil spill may be just beginning. With the vast majority of the oil floating offshore, where it will land and whom it will affect have become a guessing game fraught with worry. Wherever the oil goes, it threatens to obliterate billions of dollars for the region's tourism and fishing industries.
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At stake are industries that employ tens of thousands of people and generate billions of dollars in economic activity for coastal areas stretching hundreds of miles. . . . For gulf regions from Texas to Key West, commercial fishing contributes $1 billion to GDP, tourism and recreation contribute $13 billion, . . .

Surf's Out - DNA Looks at GaySurfers.net

Not too long ago I posted about a new website/group for gay surfers - a site that I've joined myself as an out gay surfer. I hope the site in time dispels the macho image of uber-heterosexual surfers. As members of gaysurfers.net are finding out, there are far more of us than anyone knew. Now DNA Magazine - a major Australian gay magazine (subscription required) has picked up on the website and has put together a great article that includes interviews with some of the new group's members. Like many sports, surfing is a sport where homophobia needs to cease being acceptable and a sport where one is judged on your ability, not who you love or sleep with. The article is lengthy, so I encourage you to read the full article. Here are some highlights via the gaysurfers.net site:
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Gay men have long been absent from surfing thanks, in large part, to homophobia that permeates the sport. However, a new website proves there are far more gay surfers than anybody suspected, opening exciting new possibilities for the blossoming gay surf sub-culture.
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Gays have always been so conspicuously absent from surf culture that Matt Warshaw, author of the San Francisco-based Encyclopaedia Of Surfing, has wondered aloud if there are any. “If there was going to be a place where there are openly gay surfers, this is it, but you just don’t see it,” he says. “I’m baffled whether it’s a sport that has happily or unhappily closeted surfers or if it’s so staunchly hetero that it’s like a force-field to keep gays out.”
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That question has been resoundingly answered by a new website, gaysurfers.net, which has proven that gay surfers definitely exist and in far greater numbers than anybody suspected. The website is a social network that’s allowing gay surfers to connect with each other in a way that’s never been possible before and they’re flocking to the site. It came online in February this year and within weeks had more than 250 members, a figure which climbed above 600 in the fortnight we were watching it. Members create profiles – often anonymously – and then get in touch with each other as they check out the gay surfing articles and lists of gay-friendly surf spots. It’s obvious from the almost overwhelmingly superlative praise it’s received from grateful members that the site has met a very real need.
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Robbins Thompson, who spent four years rated in the top five on the American professional circuit, . . . is the site’s creator. He says he built it because he found it impossible to meet other gay surfers anywhere else. “In the past I have met about two or three and they were not out. They were all very scared of being outed and rejected by the surfers from their community,” he says. “I believe there is a surf culture beyond the macho young man and there are things we want to share with other gay surfers beyond dating. I was hoping someone out there would build this community, but it never happened. So I decided to do it myself.”
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Changing the homophobic attitude among straight surfers is one of the website’s key goals. “We have two main objectives,” Thomas says. “To bring gay surfers together, because meeting other gay surfers with similar issues across the world will help those in need, and to help change public awareness. Letting the world know about such a community will help fight against homophobia and discrimination. It will hopefully help to reach the more closeted surfers who need this website the most.”
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It seems the experience of gay surfers depends largely on where they are in the world. While most of those we spoke to from Australia and America reported some degree of anti-gay sentiment, those in Europe said they had suffered virtually no homophobia. “I never have felt hostility to me on behalf of other surfers, except when I prick them waves [cut in line while surfing],” says Guillaume, who surfs in southern France. “I don’t know gay surfers. I am the kind of solitary surfer. I focus on my sport. In reality, the fact of surfing with straight or gay surfers worries me little.”
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Now that gay surfers have a way to find each other, to realise they’re not alone and that their sport isn’t as hostile as they might have thought, that’s hopefully what will happen.

Key West Sailing Adventure

Today we had a wonderful experience taking the Blu Q "Island Adventure Cruise." When the boyfriend and I travel, we make a point whenever possible to patronize gay owned/gay operated businesses. In the case of the Blu Q, the owner/operators are gracious, knowledgeable and informative and a lot of fun. Our six (6) hour cruise included snorkeling, sea kayaking and relaxing on a sand/bar beach in an incredibly gorgeous spot away from all of the other tourist boats and destinations. Anyone planning to come to Key West needs to check out the Blu Q and take one of the assorted cruises offered. The website describes the cruise we took as follows:
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Away from the crowds, enjoy the exotic backcountry islands of the lower Keys like locals have done for generations. We take you to one of the great snorkel destinations of the Marine Sanctuary, remote and pristine. Afterwards, we sail to a remote island of the backcountry, where you get to enjoy the shallow, clear, warm, tropical waters, bask in the tropical sun or explore the sugar like sandbars and natural beaches of the wildlife refuge.
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Wednesday Male Beauty

Is Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk Another Ed Schrock?

It seems that outwardly closeted, self-loathing Republicans just do not grasp the fact that if they keep voting anti-gay that sooner or later someone in gay community is going to reach such a level of anger and disgust that they will turn to the media and/or activists and "out" the politician equivalent of George Rekers. I know this for a fact - I'm the one that call Mike Rogers about former Congressman Ed Schrock who consistently voted against the interests of LGBT Americans even as he was cruising for gsy sex trysts. It seems that Illinois Congressman Make Kirk learned NOTHING from the Schrock debacle. Kirk is now the newest target of Mike Rogers - all set in motion by those who were simply fed up with Kirk's hypocrisy and disingenuousness.

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While some in the gay community argue that no one should out someone else, in cases like Schrock and Kirk I beg to differ. They have deliberately made the decision to vote in ways that harm others in the LGBT community and, therefore, deserve to be exposed for liars and hypocrites. Also, from working with Mike Rogers on the Ed Schrock story, I can personally vouch that he does NOT go off half cocked. If he says he has the goods on someone, believe me, he does. Check out the posts at BlogActive.com where Mike Rogers goes after Kirk. Even better, here are highlights from Huffington Post which will hopefully take the story national:
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Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk has had a dramatic few days, and now a popular gay blogger known for outing politicians claims to have sources confirming that Kirk is a closeted gay man.
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Before the February Illinois primary, Kirk, a Republican vying for President Obama's former senate seat, faced attacks from birther Andy Martin claiming that Kirk was gay. Kirk denied the claims, but now faces an attempted outing from the other side--the gay community.
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Activist blogger Mike Rogers tends to target politicians with antigay voting records, and "outed" Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Mark Foley. He was also featured in the film "Outrage" where he discussed closeted politicians who work against the gay community. In a Tuesday post on Rogers' BlogActive, he explained why he decided to bring up Kirk's sexuality now:
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Until now, Mark Kirk elected not to play the typical Washington game. Instead of supporting his party's dismal record on gay rights, Kirk received Human Rights Campaign ratings of 67% in 2002, 88% in 2004, 76% in 2006 and 85% in 2008. That's more impressive than a lot of Democrats. I even let Kirk slide by when he didn't co-sponsor earlier legislation relating to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. My thoughts then were that he wasn't THAT bad on gay stuff and that the bill was going nowhere anyway.
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Though the HRC has supported Kirk in the past, the group pledged their support to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias last week after Kirk voted against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal.
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Rogers cited several sources who contacted him following Kirk's DADT vote. Two men, whose names were not given, claimed to have had sexual relations with Kirk while he was in college.
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Frank Sennett, editor-in-chief of Time Out Chicago, interviewed Rogers about his Larry Craig outing in 2007, where the blogger explained who he chooses to out and when:

"Rogers acknowledged gay legislators don't have to support gay marriage. However, he added, 'You have to be honest with the American people that you're voting against a group you're a part of. If politicians want to say they're straight and then have sex in bathrooms [referring to Larry Craig] after voting against gay rights, that doesn't work.'
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The Kirk campaign has yet to respond to Rogers' claims.

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Kudos, Mike. Let's hope the closeted members of the GOP will get the message and stop voting against normal, out gays.

Christo-Facsist Loon Warns of "Gay Take Over" of Military

I have written about Scott Lively before and his involvement in both "ex-gay" programs and his book, "The Pink Swastika" which has been discredited by legitimate historians. In my opinion, to say that Lively belongs in a mental institution is being kind. From e-mail exchanges and other run ins with the man I had some years back, Lively is beyond unhinged and I would wager that he is another George Rekers. Simply put, no one is that hysterically anti-gay unless they are a self-loathing closet case (and there are such rumors about Lively and alleged same sex activities).

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Now, Lively - who helped set the stage for anti-gay legal persecution in Uganda - is foaming at the mouth and claiming that a repeal of DADT will result in a gay take over of the U.S. military. How individuals like Lively are not institutionalized, not to mention actually listened to by the ignorant and the bigoted is mind numbing. Lively's ability to continue disseminating utter lies and defamatory fiction against gays underscores yet again the failure of the mainstream media to call out the nutcases and flat out discredit them on a national stage. Out of apparent desire to appear solicitous to religion, utter frauds, lunatics and con-artists continue to fleece the unwary. Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin has good coverage on Lively's latest lunacy Here are some highlights:
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Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively has a new post up at his web site, in which he promises to personally go all-out to oppose the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by distributing copies of his book, The Pink Swastika to every member of the Senate — assuming he can get the donations he needs. Yes, there’s a fundraising angle, but that shouldn’t distract anyone from understanding that Lively is a true believer in his Holocaust revisionism whether it pays him a red cent or not.
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In the Pink Swastika, Lively posits that the German Nazi movement was, at it’s very core, a homosexual movement, and that militant and violent fascism is the core feature and goal of the LGBT equality movement. He uses that same twisted view of history to argue against DADT’s repeal.
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Lively certainly can’t be faulted for having an overly-active imagination. Consider his prediction of what will happen if DADT is repealed. First, if gays are allowed in the military, then straight people will refuse to serve. Those straights who remain will turn to violence in response to the unrelenting sexual harassment. That violence will lead to “politically correct” sensitivity training, which will prompt a further exodus. This then leads to a draft, which would be supported by the “anti-war Lefties.” But that sensitivity training? It won’t work, so they will have to segregate the services into gay and straight units. And that’s when the homosexuals take over all the branches of the military — just like, he says, what happened in Nazi Germany.
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But in all seriousness, the truly disturbing part of this whole thing is this: Lively’s lunacy is easy to laugh at when he lets his paranoia run wild here in the U.S. But when he exports it to Russia, Eastern Europe or Uganda, it causes real and lasting damage. He’s a buffoon, but that doesn’t mean he’s not mortally dangerous.
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As Jim notes, Lively's craziness would be comical but for the fact that there are those who gladly accept his deranged message. And with homophobic members of the senior brass at the Pentagon looking for ways and reasons to torpedo the repeal of DADT, Lively's poisonous lies need to be exposed and fully discredited.

Florida Trip Photos: Pompano Beach-Ft. Lauderdale

I am back online with my own computer and wanted to share a few photos from the Pompano Beach-Ft. Lauderdale portion of the trip. The photos below show some of the sights as well as our wonderful host and hostess. I am truly blessed to have the boyfriend in my life and that he is willing to take me with him on his travels. More photos from Key West will follow.

When Will Obama Start Acting Like a Leader?

At dinner tonight here in Key West the topic came around to the issue of the BP oil spill and the frustration that more and more are feeling over President Obama's continued failure to be a LEADER rather than a follower waiting for Congress to act or allowing matters to spill out of control as he fails to act in any meaningful manner. The topic got started by a sign hanging on a balcony on a building on Duval Street that called for a boycott of BP and action to address the continuing environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. BP continues to dither while Obama acts like Nero fiddling as Rome burns. Add to that Obama's inability to control members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of the Army who are actively working to undermine the DADT repeal compromise and it's enough to make one want to start screaming. Sitting not even a mile from Truman's Little White House and the lack of leadership by the current president could not be more stark. Now Robert Reich is arguing that Obama needs to place BP under temporary receivership in order to deal with the fiasco. Personally, I believe Reich is right on target. Here are some highlights:
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It’s time for the federal government to put BP under temporary receivership, which gives the government authority to take over BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico until the gusher is stopped. This is the only way the public know what’s going on, be confident enough resources are being put to stopping the gusher, ensure BP’s strategy is correct, know the government has enough clout to force BP to use a different one if necessary, and be sure the President is ultimately in charge.
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If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them financially solvent, it should be able to put BP’s north American operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
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The Obama administration keeps saying BP is in charge because BP has the equipment and expertise necessary to do what’s necessary. But under temporary receivership, BP would continue to have the equipment and expertise. The only difference: the firm would unambiguously be working in the public’s interest. As it is now, BP continues to be responsible primarily to its shareholders, not to the American public.
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Five reasons for taking such action:
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1. We are not getting the truth from BP. BP has continuously and dramatically understated size of gusher.
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2. We have no way to be sure BP is devoting enough resources to stopping the gusher. BP is now saying it has no immediate way to stop up the well until August, when a new “relief” well will reach the gushing well bore, enabling its engineers to install cement plugs. August? If government were in direct control of BP’s north American assets, it would be able to devote whatever of those assets are necessary to stopping up the well right away.
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3. BP’s new strategy for stopping the gusher is highly risky. It wants to sever the leaking pipe cleanly from atop the failed blowout preventer, and then install a new cap so the escaping oil can be pumped up to a ship on the surface. But scientists say that could result in an even bigger volume of oil . . . .
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4. Right now, the U.S. government has no authority to force BP to adopt a different strategy. Saturday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his team of scientists essentially halted BP’s attempt to cap the spewing well with a process known as “top kill,” which injected drilling mud and other materials to try to counter the upward pressure of the oil. Apparently the Administration team was worried that the technique would worsen the leak. But under what authority did the Administration act? It has none.
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5. The President is not legally in charge. As long as BP is not under the direct control of the government he has no direct line of authority, and responsibility is totally confused.
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The President should temporarily take over BP’s Gulf operations. We have a national emergency on our hands. No president would allow a nuclear reactor owned by a private for-profit company to melt down in the United States while remaining under the direct control of that company. The meltdown in the Gulf is the environmental equivalent.
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Americans voted for what they thought would be a strong leader. It's increasingly clear that we got the exact opposite. All the GOP needs to do in 2012 is not nominate a nutcase and Obama could well be a one term president and deservedly so.