Talented Workers Opting to Leave USA

There was a time when the USA enjoyed a constant influx of talented workers from around the world who sought to move to the USA and become citizens. Now, for the first time because of better opportunity elsewhere and a broken immigration system, such workers are either not coming to the USA or leaving after acquiring an education in this country. While not mentioned, I cannot help but believe that the rampant anti-immigrant hysteria of the GOP base and religious intolerance that tracks with it doesn't play some under the radar influence as well. USA Today looks at the phenomenon which ought to disturb rational thinking citizens even if not those who continue to call the GOP their political home. Here are some story highlights:

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More skilled immigrants are giving up their American dreams to pursue careers back home, raising concerns that the U.S. may lose its competitive edge in science, technology and other fields. "What was a trickle has become a flood," says Duke University's Vivek Wadhwa, who studies reverse immigration. Wadhwa projects that in the next five years, 100,000 immigrants will go back to India and 100,000 to China, countries that have had rapid economic growth. "For the first time in American history, we are experiencing the brain drain that other countries experienced," he says.

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Suren Dutia, CEO of TiE Global, a worldwide network of professionals who promote entrepreneurship, says the U.S. economy will suffer without these skilled workers. "If the country is going to maintain the kind of economic well-being that we've enjoyed for many years, that requires having these incredibly gifted individuals who have been educated and trained by us," he says. Wadhwa surveyed 1,203 Indian and Chinese immigrants who had worked or been educated here before returning to their homelands and found the exodus has less to do with the faltering U.S. economy than with other factors.

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Multinational companies that belong to the American Council on International Personnel tell Executive Director Lynn Shotwell that skilled immigrants are discouraged by the immigration process, she says. Some can wait up to a decade for permanent residency, she says. "They're frustrated with having an uncertain immigration status," she says. "They're giving up."

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Naturally, this issue either goes over the heads of the birther and teabagger crowd or, more likely, they welcome the exodus of those "foreigners." Truth be told, if I ever had the opportunity, I'd leave the USA as well for a country where gays are full citizens.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Sex Abuse Cover-up by L.A. Archdiocese is Alleged

Meanwhile, even as the Roman Catholic Church is losing members, the hierarchy's cover up of the sexual abuse of minors continues to remain in the media, albeit not as much as deserved. The latest expose involves testimony that Cardinal Roger Mahony (pictured at left) covered up sexual abuse and ordered subordinates to not report it to authorities. It is beyond ironic that the Church is spending millions of dollars to defeat CIVIL marriage rights for NORMAL same sex couples in states across the country even as it continues to try to cover up for pedophiles and their enablers in the hierarchy in lawsuits brought by victims of sexual abuse by priests. Hypocrisy doesn't begin to describe the situation. Here are some highlights from the Los Angeles Times:

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The former vicar of clergy testifies under oath that Cardinal Roger Mahony ordered him in 2000 not to contact police about allegations of sexual abuse by a priest. In deposition papers filed Friday as part of a civil case, Msgr. Richard Loomis also testified that Mahony ordered him not to inform parishes of allegations against the now defrocked Rev. Michael Baker.In 2007, Baker was sent to state prison for 10 years after his conviction on molestation charges. He has been called before a federal grand jury investigating how the archdiocese handled priest abuse cases.Loomis is on leave from the archdiocese after also being accused of sexual abuse.

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Manly said in an interview Friday that, "because of Cardinal Mahony, they never called the police until 2002."In a 2002 interview, Baker told The Times that he had informed Mahony in the 1980s that he had sexually abused children. "I told Mahony I had a problem," Baker said.Mahony allowed Baker to remain active in the archdiocese and sent him to a New Mexico treatment center. Later, Baker was assigned to other parishes and, according to court records and interviews, abused other boys.

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John Aravosis at America Blog correctly sums up what in my mind is the only way the Catholic Church will ever be forced to impose accountability on the enablers and those who covered up for pedophiles:

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At what point does this stop being a church and start being a criminal conspiracy? We are talking pedophilia here. And it's clear that this "church" never quite got the message that raping children is a bad thing. The fact that these perverts who protected these other perverts remain in power in the church speaks volumes about the level of moral corruption in the Catholic leadership.

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Just how many children have to be raped before the Catholic leadership in America and Rome take pedophilia seriously? Maybe it's time we added prison sentences for the enablers as well.

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The thought of some of the pompous blowhards who make up the Church hierarchy sitting in prison cells is a wondrous vision to contemplate - especially when there are many in prisons right now who have done less heinous things than these bishops and cardinals - and dare I say Pope.

Survey Shows Decrease in Louisiana Catholics

I have maintained for some time that the Roman Catholic Church's refusal to address the issue of bishops and cardinals who enabled and/or covered up the sexual abuse of minors by priests and other Catholic clergy would eventually take a toll on Church membership and such seems to be the case in Louisiana based on a new American Religious Identification Survey that shows a significant drop in the number of residents identifying as Catholic. At least so reports the Daily Reveille. Given the Church hierarchy's continued rejection of modern knowledge on numerous issues - including sexual orientation - I suspect that the decline will continue except in backwards and uneducated parts of the world where the Vatican can still get away with its old ways and man made dogmas. Here are some story highlights:

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Scott Louque grew up indoctrinated in the Roman Catholic Church. After 22 years in the faith, the agricultural business senior abandoned his upbringing looking for something more. American Religious Identification Survey shows the population of Catholics in Louisiana has decreased 16 percent compared to survey figures gathered in 1990.“Younger people by and large are more likely not to identify with their parents’ religion,” said religious studies assistant professor Michael Pasquier said.

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This generational gap, along with migration of citizens out of Louisiana for economic reasons, has played a major part in this reduction of number of Catholics in the state, Pasquier said.

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Pasquier said the root cause for the priest shortage comes from changing social climate after World War II movement giving people new social causes to participate in besides religion.Catholics found different ways to benefit society like participating in or against the civil rights movement instead of trying to do good to society by joining an order in the church, Pasquier said.“Today, the reason for the[priest] shortage continuing has a lot to do with the sex abuse scandals which perpetuate a distrust of the priesthood,” Pasquier said.

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The reality s that modern, educated citizens will find it increasingly difficult to cling to the 13th century view of the world, science and sexuality favored by Pope Benedict XVI and similar bitter old queens in dresses at the Vatican. If Catholics continue to vote with their feet, perhaps some day change will come to the Church. However, I am not holding my breath to see it happen in my lifetime.

Amidst Virginia Election Year Pat Robertson Seeks to Retool Image

Call me cynical, but doesn't is seem more than a strange coincidence that in the middle of a political campaign where his boy, Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, is beginning to sink in the polls as voters are coming to understand that "Crazy Pat" and McDonnell hold the same views on theocratic government, that suddenly Robertson has unveiled a video that seeks to "soften" his image? I don't think it is a coincidence. Pat Robertson has tried relentlessly to control Virginia through individuals like McDonnell who seek to impose their religious views on all Virginians, abolish abortion rights, recriminalize gays, and obliterate the separation of church and state. With all the attention focused on McDonnell's thesis written at Robertson's wingnut university (admittedly, it's somewhat less crazy than in the days when McDonnell was a student), Robertson is smart enough to realize he has to try to soften his Christianist and batshit crazy image. He can try to say he's doing it for other reasons, but the timing seems very suspect. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson doesn't hold grudges, really loves people and is "much more moderate" than most people realize. Who says so? Robertson does, in a CBN International video interview posted online this month at CBN.com.

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"I've had terrible things said about me and many of them unfair, but they don't understand me," Robertson tells his audience. CBN International is part of Robertson's Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network. . . . But Robertson, 79, also seems to be trying to set the record straight, as if he were crafting his legacy and public image, said Laura Olson, a political science scholar at Clemson University. "I think he might also be trying to hedge against the media and historians remembering him as either an extremist or an 'old-school' Christian Right leader," Olson said.

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Had Robertson waited until December or late November to unveil this effort, I might be more inclined to believe his possible motives. This is a man who does nothing without a reason. As for loving? This is the man who has advocated assassinating foreign leaders, wanted to bomb the United Nations, and who blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays and liberals. Robertson remains as disingenuous as ever.

Tuesday Male Beauty

click image to enlarge (Image from Gay Body Blog)

New Deeds Ads Target McDonnell on Thesis

Thankfully, Creigh Deeds' campaign has put together ads that will help insure that more Virginians know the real Bob "Taliban Bob"McDonnell - as opposed to the carefully crafted and false moderate image McDonnell needs to win in November. The ads - one of which is set out below - do what is needed most: they tie McDonnell's thesis views to his record in the Virginia General Assembly. In short, the thesis was not some academic exercise but has been in fact a blue print of how McDonnell has sought to govern. Deeds needs to keep the ads coming.

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On a similar note, I wish that Democrat candidate Steve Shannon would do something similar with GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli who is so crazy he makes the real Bob McDonnell seem almost normal. Cuccinelli has fully supported every Christianist effort of Bob McDonnell and then some. The thought of Cuccinelli in the attorney general's office scares the daylights out of me. One can only hope that as voters come to realize that McDonnell is not what he claims it will begin to drag down the entire GOP slate.

It is one thing for candidates to hold their own religious views. It is something totally different when the candidates agenda is to force those views on all Virginians. McDonnell - like the majority of the Uber-Christians - view freedom of religions as their right, but want to restrict religious freedom for everyone else. This year's GOP slate MUST be defeated.

Guilford College Student Threatened for Being Gay

Whether or not it is a sick prank or a serious threat, officials at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina are taking the matter of a student receiving death threats seriously. An unnamed student has now received two death threats from an unknown individual or individuals that state that death is almost too good for him as a gay man. To my view, this type of nastiness is a natural outgrowth of the constant anti-gay mantra that comes from the professional Christian organizations and anti-gay religious denominations that use hatred of gays as a convenient fundraising method and means to distract attention for serious problems in the denomination - e.g., the corruption and misrule within the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Here are some story highlights from Fox8 News:

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Guilford College students will hold a meeting on Monday after someone sent a student two letters threatening his life and calling him derogatory names based on his sexual orientation.The hate crimes happened in the Bryan Hall dormitory last week. On Monday, a student found a note on his door that had a death threat and called him a derogatory name. The note also said "nobody wants your kind on campus." On Thursday, someone dropped a rock with a letter attached in the same student's window. The note used the same derogatory name and also said: "You don't deserve life like the rest of the world. It's bad enough with out all the gay crap pulling people down. It's sick, unnatural, and death is almost too good for you. Almost."

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The dean of students who live in Bryan Hall informed students about the hate crimes during a meeting on Friday."That note was horrible. They read that out loud and I think everybody was just shocked. It was so disturbing, so upsetting, so hateful and so mean," said Sarah Meteyer, a sophomore at Guilford College.The Gay Pride Organization on campus will meet on Monday to organize a march on campus this Wednesday. The organization hopes to bring awareness on campus about what happened at the dormitory.

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The college is acting forcefully and the president has addressed students:

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President Kent Chabotar informed the campus community in a statement last week that publicly deplored the incidents. Campus Life held a mandatory hall meeting in Bryan Hall to continue the conversation, and students are sponsoring a candlelight vigil on campus Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 7 pm. In his statement, President Chabotar said: “There is no room whatsoever at Guilford for persecution, oppression and harassment of individuals or groups. Those who perpetrate acts such as this challenge our intent to maintain the atmosphere of freedom that is essential for learning and civil society. Those who—out of prejudice, ignorance, or hatred—intimidate and silence others by their words or actions undermine us all.”

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The Greensboro Police Department is involved in the investigation of this matter and campus officials will cooperate with local authorities to ensure that those responsible will be held accountable both off campus and on campus. Persons having information about the incident are asked to contact Public Safety at 316-2908.

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I hope those responsible are caught and dealt with appropriately - expulsion from the school might be a good start.

Iowans Not Overly Motivated to Over Turn Gay Marriage

In a new poll, residents of Iowa are not overwhelmingly motivated to get on the repeal gay marriage bandwagon and, indeed, enthusiasm for such an effort lies generally among the wingnut crowd. Hopefully, as was the case in Massachusetts, the majority of voters will see - if they are not already seeing - that gay marriage is no threat except to the Bible beaters and that it has no negative effect on the lives of other citizens. The Des Moines Register has a report on the poll findings which will probably not be encouraging the Maggie Gallagher and others making a very nice livelihood off of peddling anti-gay marriage lies and animosity (in my opinion Maggie has less integrity than a cheap prostitute - at least the prostitute is honest as to why she is doing what she is doing). Here are some highlights:

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Iowans are almost evenly divided about whether they would vote for or against a constitutional amendment to end marriage for same-sex couples, according to The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll. Forty-one percent say they would vote for a ban, and 40 percent say they would vote to continue gay marriage. The rest either would not vote or say they are not sure. The most intensity about the issue shows up among opponents. The percentage of Iowans who say they strongly oppose gay marriage (35 percent) is nearly double the percentage who say they strongly favor it (18 percent).

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The overwhelming majority of Iowans - 92 percent - say gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives. Sixty-three percent say candidates' stands on other issues will be more important in making their decisions in the 2010 elections.

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The poll shows that 26 percent of Iowans favor April's unanimous court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, 43 percent oppose it and 31 percent don't care much or are not sure. Despite the 43 percent opposition to the ruling, 61 percent of Iowans say other issues will influence their decision on whether to vote to retain Iowa Supreme Court justices in the 2010 elections. "It's really none of my business what other people do in their lives," said Curt Goodell, 38, a Johnston resident.

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David Redlawsk, a former political science professor at the University of Iowa, took note of the finding that almost all Iowans say the ruling has had no impact upon their lives. "Given how hard it is to amend the constitution, by the time a vote will happen, this will be the new normal," Redlawsk said. "There's a core that oppose it and always will, but, for most people, they're ready to move on."

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What I find sad is that most of the sheeple who get manipulated by Maggie Gallagher and those like her are clueless to the fact that these parasites are making many times the typical voters income living off of anti-gay animus. It is truly sick and it is anything but Christian conduct.

The Shrinking GOP

With evidence like that set out above that the Republican Party has severe PR problems one has to wonder why Obama and the Congressional Democrats act as if they are afraid of their own shadows and continue to feel compelled to bow and genuflect to the GOP - even as most of the country views the GOP with disdain. The plain and simple truth is that the GOP will NEVER cooperate with Obama and care only about obstructionism. Obama and the Democrats need to begin to aggressive call out GOP leaders for their lies and do all they can to further tie the GOP to the birthers and teabaggers who most remotely rational folks see for nut cases. Here is more from Washington Monthly on the poll results:

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A REGIONAL PARTY.... I was looking over the new results from the weekly Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos. Most of the results are about what we've come to expect -- President Obama's ratings are more favorable than unfavorable (55% to 38%); neither congressional caucus is popular, though Dems are more than twice as popular as Republicans (39% to 18%), and the Democratic Party has a 41% favorable rating to the GOP's 23%.

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In case anyone's having trouble reading the visual, the Republican Party's favorability is very weak in Northeast (7% to 87%), and only marginally better in the Midwest (13% to 78%) and West (14% to 75%). In the South, however, 50% have a favorable opinion of the GOP, and only 37% have an unfavorable view. . . . But it seems the Republican Party would be in a much more competitive position -- in the short and long term -- if its base wasn't centered in just one region.

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Again I ask, why can't Obama and the Congressional Democrats wake up and take advantage of this phenomenon. I am tired of see the tail wag the dog.