HOMOPHOBIA ALERT

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The Republican representative to the fundamental christian movement in America, President George Bush has nominated Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Judge Southwick's record plainly shows that he cannot be given the responsibility to protect the basic rights of all Americans.

As a Mississippi judge, Southwick put his personal bias before widely regarded scientific and legal evidence - as in one case where he separated a biological mother from her 8-year-old child in part because of the mother's sexual orientation.

Even more troubling, Judge Southwick used this case to further his own agenda by joining a concurrence citing highly charged and irrelevant Mississippi rules against "the practice of homosexuality" - including policies regarding sodomy.

This type of bigoted decision-making is unacceptable for any judge, let alone a lifetime member of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

THE DROOLING HOMOPHOBE AND HIS PEDOPHILE SON

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Right-wing Christian extremist Dave Daubenmire of Pass the Salt Ministries with his flock, has been on a crusade to disrupt the church services of gay-friendly churches.

But that's not even the best part of the story. As is so often the case, the best part of the story is in an almost offhand remark.

In a Bible-spewing homophobic rant earlier this year about a visit to the Gay Pride Parade, Daubenmire had this to say:

"The 'meat' on display will forever change the way you view homosexuality. Sin has no boundaries, no clutch, and no emergency brake. Once you dip your toe into the pool of sin, especially sexual sin, there is a magnetism that will not let go."

Ummmm...

Let me put it this way. The straight guys I know who visit the Gay Pride Parade do not describe the event as having "a magnetism that will not let go." Their reaction is more along the lines of, "Nice dress, dude."

They describe it as interesting, entertaining, touching, hilarious, kind of tedious when the "polo-shirted employees of boring corporations" contingents go by, etc. But they do not describe it as a pool of sin with a magnetism that will not let go.

The straight guys I know are not forever changed by the sight of gay male "meat on display," and they are quite capable of resisting the magnetism of homosexuality. They find the magnetic pull of homosexuality pretty gosh-darned unmagnetic. That's kind of what makes them, you know -- straight.

So I just have to ask: Do Dave Daubenmire, and Ted Haggard, and all the rest of the right-wing Christian leering brigade, really not know what they sound like? Do they really not see that frothing at the mouth closely resembles drooling?

ABOVE FROM: Greta Christina

Personally, I think Dave Daubenmire has personal family issues that should be his focus at the moment; not the disruption of churches where gay men and lesbians are welcomed as part of the congregation. It appears that while daddy was away, holding up signs quoting the bible on homosexuality, his son was busy on the computer...... being a very very bad boy!


NEWARK, Ohio -- The 24-year-old son of conservative religious activist David Daubenmire will spend the next five years on probation after a Licking County judge convicted him on a child-pornography charge.

At a hearing this morning, Zachary Daubenmire pleaded no contest to a felony charge of pandering obscenity involving a minor. Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Marcelain convicted him on the charge and immediately sentenced him.

Daubenmire, whose father has fought pornography as the founder of Pass the Salt Ministries and Minutemen United, also was fined $1,000 and must spend two years in prison if he violates terms of his probation.

And then of course, keeping in step with most religious bigots who finally get "caught" with their pants down:

The younger Daubenmire showed genuine remorse and is now in counseling for an addiction that he told the judge began when he was 15.

Authorities found 37 still images and 26 movies depicting young girls enaging in sex with men on the family's home computer. A computer repair technician discovered the pornography last August.

The Columbus Dispatch

A CASE FOR GAY MARRIAGE

This is the story of a religious fanatic, a Catholic mother who is willing to sacrifice her sons happiness, his health and his life for her religious beliefs.
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There's a place in hell reserved for fanatical Catholic Jeanne Atkins who records show stated that if her son was going to return to life with his partner after recovering from his stroke, she would prefer he not recover at all!

Brett Conrad spent more than half his life as Patrick Atkins' partner. For 25 years, the men shared bank accounts, apartments and eventually a home in Fishers.

But when Atkins, 47, fell seriously ill in 2005, Conrad faced what many gay couples from Indiana consider a travesty: no law guaranteeing them the same rights as married couples to participate in care decisions for their ill partners.

Conrad, 47, spent much of the past two years trying to win guardianship of Atkins from Atkins' parents, Thomas and Jeanne of Carmel. Jeanne Atkins is quoted in court documents as saying she believes homosexuality is a sin and that she disapproves of the men's relationship. The parents have barred Conrad from visiting their now-disabled son in their home where he lives.

In June, Conrad won visitation rights from the Indiana Court of Appeals, but the court upheld an earlier Hamilton County ruling that left control of Atkins' care to his parents.

Gay-rights activists say the men's story illustrates the discrimination embedded in Indiana law and underscores why gay marriage should be allowed.

On the other side, opponents of same-sex marriage say the case could have been prevented if Conrad and Atkins had used existing laws that can give unmarried couples -- straight and gay -- the legal right to act on each other's behalf.

In its ruling, the appeals court recognized the human suffering at the center of the case:
"We are confronted here with the heartbreaking fracture of a family," the judges wrote in their ruling. "Brett and Patrick have spent 25 years together as life partners -- longer than Patrick lived at home with his parents -- and their future life together has been destroyed by Patrick's tragic medical condition and by the Atkinses' unwillingness to accept their son's lifestyle."
Court debates go on.

According to the case file, Atkins and Conrad met in 1978 while attending Wabash College in Crawfordsville.

Atkins came from a deeply religious family that disapproved of the relationship. In 2000, he begged for acceptance from his family through a letter.

"Trust me," he wrote, "God loves us all so very much, and I know he approves of the love that Brett and I have shared for over 20 years."

Conrad and Atkins lived together in various apartments for 12 years until buying a home in Fishers in 1992, which they titled jointly, court documents say.
Before falling ill, Atkins had been chief executive of his family's business, Atkins Elegant Desserts and Atkins Cheesecake.

On March 11, 2005, Atkins collapsed while on a business trip to Atlanta. He had a ruptured aneurysm and later suffered a stroke while hospitalized.
Conrad traveled to the Atlanta hospital to be with Atkins but was soon denied access by the family. Hospital staff defied the family's wishes and let Conrad visit Atkins during off-hours.

Atkins eventually was moved to a nursing facility in Carmel, where Conrad would arrive after regular visiting hours so the Atkinses would not see him.
He filed his guardianship request in June 2005. That November, the Atkinses moved Patrick into their home and have since refused to let Conrad visit. They also have refused his phone calls.

At the time of the trial, Atkins was able to walk, dress, bathe and feed himself with some help, to read accurately but understand only 25 percent of what he read, and to engage in simple conversations, court documents show. He still required close supervision and had significant problems with short-term memory and maintaining a prolonged attention span.

His condition today remains much the same, according to the most recent court filings.

The recent decision

In the June 27 decision, the appeals court ordered the lower court to grant Conrad the right to visit Atkins but not the right to be his guardian.

While judges have discretion in awarding guardianship, their decision is guided by state statute, which spells out that guardianship of an incapacitated person should fall to whoever has power of attorney, which is the legal authorization to act on behalf of that person.

If no power of attorney exists, next in line comes the spouse, then an adult child, then a parent and still more options related to marriage or blood. There is no specific right for gay partners.

Hamilton Superior Court Judge Steven R. Nation sided with the Atkins family, noting the lack of a power of attorney.

The appellate court affirmed that decision, saying it found no evidence the lower court had abused its discretion and that it was clear the Atkinses were committed to providing Patrick the best possible care.

In its decision, however, the court expressed misgivings about how the Atkinses feel about their son's sexuality. "We are extraordinarily skeptical that the Atkinses are able to take care of Patrick's emotional needs," said Chief Judge John G. Baker, writing for the 2-1 majority.

That, in part, is why the judges granted Conrad visitation rights, citing the findings of a court-appointed guardian who testified that Atkins would only stand to benefit if Conrad were allowed to visit him.

Gay-rights advocates say nothing short of marriage rights can provide the legal shield necessary to defend against a partner's relatives.

Without such protection, says the Rev. Jeff Miner, a pastor at Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, a gay-affirming congregation in Indianapolis, "you're thrown upon the mercy of the family, and in some cases they're not merciful."
Others who fought for a same-sex marriage ban in the Indiana Constitution this year see the issue differently.

"The problem isn't the couple couldn't get married," said Curt Smith, president of the conservative Indiana Family Institute. "The energy from the intervention comes from the parents' disapproval. . . . They think it's wrong, and that's not something the law can address."

While Conrad v. Atkins is a tragic case, Smith said, it doesn't merit changing Indiana laws.
The same circumstance could have befallen an unmarried straight couple, and there are a number of protections available to unwed couples that Conrad and Atkins didn't use, he said.

For example, he said, gay couples can appoint a health-care representative to ensure they are cared for in times of illness. Partners can include each other in wills.
But many gay couples aren't confident of those methods, saying nothing can match the unassailable rights of marriage.

Regardless of how the courts rule in the Conrad-Atkins case, the Atkinses aren't likely to change their minds about their son's relationship.
Jeanne Atkins testified at trial that it was "probably true" she would not let the men see each other unless required by law.

The record also shows that she told Conrad that if her son was going to return to life with his partner after recovering from his stroke, she would prefer he not recover at all.

009 RAGING!

BITS AND PIECES FROM HERE AND THERE........
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POLITICS AS USUAL


Led by Democrats since the start of this year, Congress now has a "confidence" rating of 14 percent, the lowest since Gallup started asking the question in 1973 and five points lower than Republicans scored last year.

The voters put the Democrats in to end the war, and it's escalating.

The Democrats voted the money for the surge and the money for the next $459.6 billion military budget.

Their latest achievement was to provide enough votes in support of Bush to legalize warrantless wiretapping for "foreign suspects whose communications pass through the United States."

Enough Democrats joined Republicans to make this a 227-183 victory for Bush. The Democrats control the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi could have stopped the bill in its tracks if she'd wanted to. But she didn't. The Democrats' game is to go along with the White House agenda while stirring up dust storms to blind the base to their failure to bring the troops home or restore constitutional government.

The row over the US Attorneys and the conduct of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has always been something of a typhoon in a teaspoon. The Democrats love it, since they imagine it portrays them to the public as resolute guardians of the impartial administration of justice, a concept whose credibility most Americans sensibly deride.

The one Democrat acting on principle in the Gonzales affair has been Senator Russ Feingold. He at least tried to dig into the visit of chief White House counsel Gonzales, as he then was, to the bedside of Attorney General John Ashcroft, to get him to sign off on the illegal wiretaps. And how did the Democrat-controlled Congress deal with Feingold's efforts to nail Gonzales for his efforts to undermine the Constitution and for his prevarications under oath? It promptly legalized the eavesdropping.

Just as the Democrats work tirelessly to demonstrate to the voters that it makes zero difference which party controls Congress, the political establishment forces all candidates for the presidential nomination to sever any compromising ties to sanity and common sense.

Just as their poll numbers are going down, Bush's are going up, by five points in Gallup from early July. People are beginning to think the surge is working, courtesy of the New York Times. So are we better or worse off since the Democrats won back Congress?

GAY RIGHTS AS USUAL


The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Presidential Forum on Thursday evening should have been called the "Presidential Forum on Marriage Equality". Sorting out the questions by topic, excluding minor follow-ups and sticking with the planned ones, and by my count there were 22 questions on marriage or couples benefits in relation to marriage, 2 on HIV prevention, 2 on Don't Ask, 2 on employment discrimination, and 15 other questions on topics that weren't directly related to one another.

I know, I know, marriage is important to a lot of people. But when there are an estimated 670,000 same-sex couples living together in the country and estimates of the number of LGBT people range from 8 to 20 million. That's about 3 to 8% of the queers in this country, and those couples aren't just worried about marriage-related issues. Could we broaden our horizons?

Have we already forgotten the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill, sitting quietly in a corner of the senate?

RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY AS USUAL

Proving that bigotry is alive and well in the U.S. House of Representatives, who would we have but Idaho's own Bill Sali. He's well known as crazy and obnoxious.

He's periodically good for a laugh, but there's an ugly and dangerous side to his antics.

"We have not only a Hindu prayer being offered in the Senate, we have a Muslim member of the House of Representatives now, Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Those are changes -- and they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers," asserts Sali.

Sali says America was built on Christian principles that were derived from scripture. He also says the only way the United States has been allowed to exist in a world that is so hostile to Christian principles is through "the protective hand of God.""You know, the Lord can cause the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike," says the Idaho Republican.According to Congressman Sali, the only way the U.S. can continue to survive is under that protective hand of God.

He states when a Hindu prayer is offered, "that's a different god" and that it "creates problems for the longevity of this country."

Sali just better give it up..... doesn't he know that according to Benedict XVI, the only way to get to heaven is to become catholic?

The face of the new GOP, just like the old GOP.

ANIMAL ABUSE

It's no secret that I own two very loved, spoiled and pampered PUGS.

Daisy, who has ruled this household for almost 13 years was purchased by me when she was 6 weeks old. As she ages, her medical expenses in the last four months have been staggering but that is not a problem; we manage and will continue to do so. She is once again healthy and puppy-like playful.

Muggs, was adopted by Daisy and I six years ago. Little more than a year old, he came from a home where the owner realized she could no longer take care of him or meet the financial obligations necessary to maintain a well nourished, healthy dog.

Turning on the early morning news prior to leaving for work this week, this is all I heard:

Sarasota, Florida - A Sarasota woman has been arrested after officials say she locked her two dogs in a bedroom with no food and water for two months.

Deanna Sperber Ramono told Sarasota Police she was working too much to take care of her two PUGS, so she locked them up in a bedroom.

Authorities say there was feces all over the floor of the room and that the dogs had apparently been dead for more than three weeks when they were found.

Officials say the dogs had tried to claw the door and window blinds in an attempt to escape.


Five days later, I just can't get this horror out of my mind!


As a medical social worker, I'm very well aware of the fact that starvation is a very slow, very painful death.


Why couldn't this bitch just call someone for help, surrender these animals to a shelter?

WHY WE HAVE THE SEPARATION CHURCH AND STATE

I found this post written by my blogmaster Keith Boykin.
Sadly informative but enlightening, I believe it to be one of those "must share" blog entries.

Take the time for a "reality check" and focus on GOD and MAN, the final paragraphs.

Why We Separate Church and State
By Keith Boykin
Thursday, August 2 2007

What you are about to read is heresy. Or treason, depending on your perspective. If I wrote this article in Tehran, I could be in jail by the end of the day, charged with "activities against national security" and "publicity in favor of the regime’s opponents." If the police found out I was gay, I could be sentenced to death and executed in a public hanging. Iranians and visitors to Iran can also be hanged for other crimes, including rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, drug trafficking, pederasty, adultery, prostitution, treason and espionage. In fact, just yesterday, the government of Iran hanged 9 people in what it called a crackdown on "thugs.

Every time I hear the Christian fundamentalists in America talk about putting (their) God back into public life, getting tough on crime, and executing criminals, I am reminded of the Islamic fundamentalists in Iran. The dangers of intermingling church and state are still vividly on display in that country, and I don't want it to happen here.

Injustice In Iran

Not long ago, Sina Paymard, an 18-year-old Iranian musician, was set to be executed for a murder that took place during a fight. Standing on the gallows, the young man's last request was to play a Middle Eastern flute called a ney for the last time. After his performance, the family of the victim was so moved by his music that they granted Paymard a last minute reprieve. Families of victims in Iran have to power to stop an execution and demand monetary compensation instead. In this case, the family asked for 150 million toumans (over $US 160,000) as compensation, and Paymard’s family then struggled to raise the funds.

By the end of the deadline, Sina Paymard’s father reportedly said that he had sold everything in order to raise US $70,000, but the victim's family rejected the settlement as insufficient. After an international fundraising campaign from human rights groups, the family was able to raise the remainder of the money and the execution was halted. That's the kind of "justice" that takes place in Iran.

Amnesty International reports that Iran executed 177 people in 2006 and 143 people so far this year. Armed with cameras and camcorders, men, women and children jostle for position behind security barriers, determined to get the best view of the main event.

A few years ago, Americans objected to the Taliban, the authoritarian religious government in Afghanistan. In that country, women were not allowed to show any part of their bodies in public, men were required to sport short hair cuts, and opposition to the religious government could land you in prison or in the death chamber. After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11 attack, the Taliban government fell, but religious fundamentalism remains a threat to freedom in the world.

These are just some of the recent news reports from Iran.

A 17-year-old girl was sentenced to death by hanging for defending herself against three rapists.

Two teenagers were executed, reportedly for the crime of homosexuality.

Two Kurdish journalists were sentenced to death in Iran for possession of Kurdish flags, videos and photographs of a family trip to Iraqi Kurdistan.

The government of Iran hanged 12 men convicted of various offences including rape and kidnapping after showing their last minutes of life on television.

A woman and two others were hanged in Iran as spectators shout "God is great."

God and Man

There is a small but influential segment of society in our culture and in others that wants to impose religious order on public life. This is a dangerous step backward.

I believe in God, but I don't believe in using God or religion as a device to make me feel better than you. My vision of God may not be the same as yours. I don't care. I just don't want you to impose your vision on me and I won't impose mine on you. At least not in public policy.

Of course, my political beliefs are often informed by my faith. My faith is what teaches me that capital punishment is wrong. I took it seriously when the Ten Commandments said "Thou shalt not kill." And I took it seriously when Jesus said to turn the other cheek. I know that those principles are very hard to live up to, and that is part of the reason I am troubled by the Christians who cite their faith as a justification for wars, weapons and murder.

I don't want religion dictating marching orders to our public officials. I don't care what religion it is, I don't want it in my government. I don't want the Ten Commandments hanging in the county court house. I don't want public school teachers instructing my children how and when to pray. And I don't want those teachers teaching religious theories to substitute for science.

I have seen the damage caused by religious fundamentalism in the Islamic world, and I do not want the Taliban here in America. Even if they come bearing a cross.

ABOUT KEITH BOYKIN


Keith Boykin is one of the most dynamic new voices in American media, politics and literature. He is a host of the BET television show "My Two Cents," a New York Times best-selling author of three books, and a regular commentator on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now."

Educated at Dartmouth and Harvard, Keith attended law school with U.S. Senator Barack Obama, and in his work and travel across the globe, he has met with everyone from Bill Clinton to Nelson Mandela.

A former White House aide to President Clinton, Keith was once the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Clinton White House. He also helped to organize and participated in the nation's first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and leaders of the gay community.

Each of Keith's three books has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, including his most recent book, Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America. Keith won the Lambda Literary Award for his second book, Respecting The Soul, while his first book, One More River to Cross, is taught in colleges and universities throughout the country.

A founder and the first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition, Keith has been actively involved in progressive causes since he worked on his first congressional campaign while still a student in high school. A veteran of six political campaigns, including two presidential campaigns, Keith was named one of the top instructors when he taught political science at American University in Washington. He has traveled extensively from Africa to Europe to North America and South America, and in 1997, President Clinton appointed him to the U.S. presidential trade delegation to Zimbabwe, along with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.

Keith has spoken to audiences, large and small, all across the world. He delivered a landmark speech to 200,000 people at the Millennium March on Washington and he gave a stirring speech about the AIDS epidemic in front of 40,000 people in Chicago's Soldier Field for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Gay Games.

In 2004, Keith launched his media career as a star on the Showtime television series "American Candidate." Since then, you may have seen him on "The Montel Williams Show," "Anderson Cooper 360," "The O'Reilly Factor," "Tony Brown's Journal" or "The Dennis Miller Show." Or you may have heard him on "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," National Public Radio or on Sirius Satellite Radio, where he served as a frequent guest host of the "Michelangelo Signorile Show." Keith has appeared on

From: Keith Boykin