BASTARDS

I can't tell you how sick I am after reading John's post below about John McCusker, the guy who was denied a funeral by the Catholic Church.

I grew up Catholic, very Catholic. And I can tell you this, Catholics have a ritual to death....and it gives great pain to think of what that young man's family is going through. Not only is their 31 year old son and brother dead, but the place to which they turn for comfort, denies them.

It is just so unbelievable. Reading that story was like a punch in the gut.

The Catholic Church has caused much damage and pain to the very people who look to it for comfort....and I know from experience that includes gay people and their families. Too many families have let that fucked up institution define and ruin relationships.

The Catholic Church leadership is filled with men who are pedophiles and men who enabled pedophiles. The Diocese of San Diego has more than its fair share. You get the sense that the Church really thinks they have weathered that scandal. And attacking gays is, for them, a great way to change the subject. WRONG.

Just once, it would be nice if someone in that fucked up church would actually heed the words of that guy they are always talking about, Jesus Christ. Take for example, the Golden Rule, which is pretty much the basic message from Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

If that's the standard, and people treated the Church they way it treated people, man, those guys would have a lot coming to them. Read the rest of this post...

Hateful bigoted Catholic leaders refuse funeral to gay man because he ran two gay bars

There is surely a special place in hell for the leaders of the Catholic church.

A member of the Greater San Diego Business Association and owner of two gay bars has been denied a funeral at the University of San Diego and in any Catholic church or chapel in the Diocese of San Diego. John McCusker, 31, owner of Club Montage and ReBar, two local gay nightspots, died early March 13. McCusker suffered an apparent heart attack while at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort on vacation.

A 1996 graduate of USD, McCusker's family wanted to have the funeral service there, but was denied after church officials received information about him and his businesses.....

Joyce Marieb, executive director of the Greater San Diego Business Association, called McCusker, "a great leader and the kind of guy that people love to see because he gives back and is very generous to the community."

"We all know what this is about," Marieb said, who knew McCusker for the past five and a half years. "They [the Catholic Church] claim they've buried other gay people and that it's because of the bar aspect."

A statement released earlier Thursday by Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor for the Diocese of San Diego, explains the church's actions.

"The facts regarding the business activity of John McCusker were not known by church officials when arrangements were requested for his funeral. When these facts became known the bishop of San Diego concluded that to avoid public scandal Mr. McCusker can't be granted a funeral in a Catholic church or chapel in the Diocese of San Diego."

So what about McCusker would cause a public scandal?

"His business is adult entertainment, which is inconsistent with Catholic teaching" Valdivia said. "People would be scandalized that the church granted a funeral to a person who had this type of business activity."

No, his business is running two simple bars. I looked the bars up on the Web, have read numerous reviews of them, and guess what - they're apparently just bars. And the second bar, Re:Bar, according to one review, USED to be a dank dark leather club and this guy revamped it to make it modern and hip. If anything, the church should be praising him.

But instead, the bigots running the Catholic church are refusing to given this man a funeral. A funeral! Simply because he owned a couple of gay bars. If he were a pedophile priest raping young boys and girls they would give him a funeral. Hell, they'd give him a promotion. But because he's an upstanding GAY businessman, they won't even give him a funeral.

I am beyond words at the the contempt and loathing I have for the leaders of that so-called church. Aside from the religious right, they are doing their damndest to further the devil's work in the name of God. They truly sicken me.

Feel free to call the Catholic diocese of San Diego and let them know how you feel about their un-Christian hate and bigotry.

Phone: 858-490-8200
Email: bcarr@diocese-sdiego.org
Conference@cacatholic.org
ckellett@diocese-sdiego.org Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Ooh ooh, I have a window where Blogger is actually working. Going to throw an open thread up while I still can. Read the rest of this post...

Joe Lieberman, disloyal Democrat

Kos has the story, and I agree wholeheartedly. I'm getting sick of this guy. If he can't figure out how to defend Democratic policies, especially on something as simple as the filibuster when the Dems have given Bush practically every judge he's wanted, then Lieberman should quit and do us all a favor. Read the rest of this post...

Time to descend on Israel

America's Taliban has apparently teamed up with Israel's Taliban to try to stop some pride parade taking place in Jerusalem this summer. Good enough reason for me to help our brothers and sister in Israel.

How can we help?

From the American Family Association's propaganda organ:

...A coalition of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Jerusalem and evangelical Christians from the United States announced yesterday that their group intends to try to stop an international homosexual celebration called the "World Pride Parade" from taking place in the holy city this summer. However, the mayor of Jerusalem has said he has no means to prevent the "gay pride" event from occurring. The coalition, which includes a number of Israeli lawmakers, is hoping to collect a million signatures in opposition to the celebration. San Diego pastor Leo Giovinetti is the leader of the Christian group. According to Associated Press reports, organizers of the parade claim they want to promote tolerant coexistence, but Giovinetti believes holding the homosexual pride parade in Jerusalem will offend the religious sensibilities of many communities. He is quoted as stating that millions worldwide who pray for the peace of Jerusalem are "heartbroken" over what he calls a misguided effort to "divide, inflame and sow disunity." InterPride, the group that organizes homosexual pride parades around the world, made the decision to host the international event in Jerusalem this year. The last World Pride Parade was held in Rome, Italy, in 2000. Giovinetti believes the choice of a major religious center both then and now is no accident, but demonstrates clearly that the InterPride agenda is to provoke and offend religious communities.

Yes, and God forbid our human rights get in the way of YOUR religious sensibilities. Forget that MY Christian religious sensibilities tell that you're a freak, a liar, and that you worship a false God (at the very least you're blasphemous in the way you claim to worship the real God). And they also tell me that God would LOVE this march, especially in Jerusalem. But apparently America's Taliban (and Israel's) are the only ones who truly speak for and to God. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Well, now that we know Ken Mehlman is straight, I hope all those red-stated Republican women will come knocking. I mean, the man is a Harvard lawyer and Jewish - hello, catch party of one. Read the rest of this post...

FOX's John Gibson becomes latest conservative to say marriage isn't about love

I'm simply amazed at how many conservatives don't think marriage is primarily about love and commitment and becoming one with your spouse. Oh no. To conservatives it's all about screwing and shooting out babies. Perhaps this is because they were beaten to a pulp if they had sex before marriage, or even masturbated, so the fixation on marriage being all about screwing your wife is perhaps understandable. Still, I find the entire thing rather distasteful, looking at your wife as little more than a baby factory.

But that certainly is the way marriage once was. It was about women being barefoot and pregnant and shooting out babies. Love was not a prerequisite - hell, it wasn't even in the picture in all those societies, like the ones my grandparents grew up in, where their marriages were set ups. They were economic deals the parents worked out for the dowery and the chance to have grandkids. To hell with spousal love. And to hell with marrying someone who didn't adher to your particular faith (including your particular version of your particular faith - i.e., no Catholics allowed), and forget about marrying someone of another race. We don't need any brown babies in our happy conservative family, thank you very much.

So, yes, FOX News and all the other uber-conservatives are right. Marriage wasn't about love, it was about kids and property and money and the man's ego. Oh, and by the way, none of the property or money ever belonged to the women, even after the husband died. I had to study the rights of women through marriage over the centuries in law school, became somewhat of an expert on it. And the woman got nothing for a very long time.

I do find it ironic, however, that it's gay people who keep trying to remind the straights that marriage is more than a legal and economic contract, and it's about more than just screwing your partner (literally and figuratively). It's about love. It's about finding that special someone and bonding with them for life. It's spiritual. And hopefully it's magical.

But to far-right bigoted conservatives marriage isn't about love and commitment at all. And you wonder why the divorce rate is at 50%. Read the rest of this post...

Bush official says Ken Mehlman is straight

According to Raw Story, the new issue of GQ (only available I'm told in a few towns so far) has a Bush official on the record saying that the chair of the RNC Ken Mehlman is NOT gay. (Raw story has a tease up right now, when the story is really up I'll link to it.)

Keep in mind that for the past year Ken and the Bush officials have refused to answer any questions about Ken's now-reported heterosexuality "on the record." According to my sources at several publications, several stories about Ken over the past year were even killed in the mainstream press over this issue. Which is a bit odd if he's straight. I mean, it would be like someone preparing to out me as straight, jeopardizing my status as a gay powerbroker or whatever, and I chose to let that status be jeopardized for a year rather than confirming for a reporter on the record the obvious fact that yes, I'm gay. That would be odd.

Anyway, if Ken is straight, more power to him (except that he's a rabid homophobe, or at least is willing to use rabid homophobia for political gain). But if he were gay, and just had surrogates publicly lie and say he's straight, I think this suddenly becomes a whole new ball game.

It's one thing to defend a closeted gay person because you feel sorry for him, regardless of how much evil he's doing to the gay community. It's quite another when that closeted gay person starts to publicly deny who they really are, and you KNOW who they really are. That crosses a line, and often isn't forgiven (i.e., those protecting you suddenly start to talk publicly once you start publicly lying.)

Only time will tell whether Ken is straight or a liar. Read the rest of this post...

Accuracy in media [hearts] gay hookers

Well, I'm glad the far-right wing group Accuracy in Media continues to do its part to defend America's gay male Republican prostitutes. According to an article from them today:

In fact, if you look at C-SPAN clips of White House press briefings, it seems that established and well-known reporters often chuckle and grin good-naturedly when Les Kinsolving, Jeff Gannon and others writing for online news services ask loaded questions. It seems this presence has always been part of the White House press room "culture" and that it has livened up the proceedings....

There were plenty of people in the mainstream media willing to hawk the non-story of Gannongate to an audience not versed in White House press room history. It's a shame more reporters did not make the effort to place the story in historic and factual context, as Neuman did.

Well, I don't know about you, but I would agree that the presence of a practicing male prostitute would certainly liven things up at the often dreary White House press gaggle. But I didn't realize that having gay hookers, i.e., people involved in a criminal enterprise, in the West Wing was part of our august history (oh, that's right, it is - Bush 41 had his gay hooker scandal too).

Gosh, maybe AIM should suggest that Grover Norquist's weekly pow-wow of the major conservative groups include a practicing prostitute. I can only imagine how boring those meetings get otherwise. A little leather, a little porn music, and for $200 a person that'll be the best hour those uptight conservatives have spent in a long time.

And finally, my dear gay-prostitute-loving friends at AIM, it's simply amazing that your organization isn't concerned in the least that this closeted hooker was permitted to access the White House without undergoing the 3-month FBI background check that other regular White House journalists have to undergo. As I'm sure you know, to get regular access to the WH as a journalist you have to get a "hard pass." To get a hard pass you have to get a 3-month FBI background check.

But Gannon got hard pass access (i.e., ongoing regular access) even though he never applied for or received a hard pass, and even though he NEVER got the 3-month FBI background check. Had Gannon gotten such a check, the FBI would have found out that he was a practicing hooker (his last client that we know of was only 3 months before he was first spotted in the White House), and $20,000 in default on taxes unpaid from almost 15 years ago. Security would have never let him in the door.

Having undergone one of those background checks myself, I know that being involved in a criminal enterprise and being in default on a major debt makes you a rather big security risk (fortunately, I had neither). But in Gannon's case, the risk was never detected because the man was for some reason permitted to skirt the White House security rules. And the White House, conservatives, and the media have no problem with security being breached leading to someone having access to the president.

Apparently conservatives are all for special rights for gays when the gay in question is a prostitute, and the rights in question are skirting White House security rules that other journalists are required to follow. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Blogger has been freezing for hours every day now. They say they're trying to get to the bottom of it. It's been a year of hell now. I hate moving to another server because blogger is paying for bandwidth, i.e., it's free now. But this is ridiculous. Anybody have an idea of how much bandwidth we'd need to host a blog of this size, with 30,000 people daily traffic? Read the rest of this post...

Setting the Stage for a Showdown in the Senate

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of William Myers to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Myers, whose nomination was filibustered last year, won on a 10 - 8 party line vote.

This Reuters quote from Arlen Specter is a bit of an understatement:

"The real battle will be on the floor," Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said of the mounting showdown over renominated judicial candidates.

Basically, the stage is set for a battle over the Republican's use of the so-called "nuclear option." That's when they change the rules to end the filibuster for judicial nominations.

Harry Reid has already drawn the line in the sand on this one. And, I get the strong sense from Reid, that he and his colleagues are not backing down. Good.

Game on. Read the rest of this post...

Ok, the mystery deepens over my 300-year-old document

Well, I just got another email from my new favorite Englishwoman, Jenny Moran (ok, with a name like Moran, maybe she's my new favorite Irishwoman). And the plot thickens. I asked her why, if this was a Frankpledge, did the back side of the document seem to talk about land. And while I was thinking the land was collateral for the pledge, she now says that the term Frankpledge, by the year 1690, became a more general term used on documents of all sorts. In view of the other language on the document, it now looks like this might in fact be a deed for a land transfer (I want my land, damn it).

The latest marked-up version of the document is here.

Link to previous post on this saga.

Dear Mr Aravosis,

Thank you for your e-mail of 17 March 2005 - we are happy to help.

It is difficult for us to say without seeing the whole document; however, research in reference books suggests that in later years (meaning from the early sixteenth century onwards) the view of frankplpedge and the other work of the manorial court came to be known as one and the same. Many documents were headed in this way - and yours seems to begin View of Frankpledge with (cum is the Latin word) Court Baron. The word following cum is Cur- and the final letter has a tail on the end, indicating that it has been abbreviated. This will be Curia - the Latin word for court.

The Court Baron dealt with land transfers and enforced payments, whilst the Court Leet dealt with minor law and order matters and agricultural administration. This would seem to tie in with the contents of the document. 1690 would certainly be very late for a traditional view of frankpledge unless the manor was extremely traditional!

The Thomas Percivall you found may be the one on the document, however, unfortunately such connections are nearly impossible to prove!

Yours sincerely,

Jenny Moran

Read the rest of this post...

Signorile takes on the gay Republicans

Ouch. Read the rest of this post...

Perhaps solved the mystery of my old document

I had written a number of folks in the area of Kings Cliffe, UK, and got a very nice note back from a woman in the Northamptonshire Record Office. She explained what the document is - it's actually quite interesting, and not a deed. Though that's a bit odd, because the back of the document sure sounds like a deed. (Perhaps the citizens of Northampstonshire don't want me moving in. :-)

You can see the latest transcribed version of the document here, and below is the email from the record office:

Dear Mr Aravosis,

Thank you for your e-mail of 17 March 2005.

The document you have is a View of Frankpledge. Frankpledge was an ancient system that required men of each manor to be part of a group of 10 or 12 men (a Tithing). The group would be responsible for the good behaviour of each other and if one was found guilty of an offence all the frankpledge members would be fined.

Your document is the Manor Court Baron (the part that dealt with legal matters) record that ensured that eligible men and boys that were approaching adulthood were involved in a frankplpedge group.

Having seen the copies you have put online your document looks genuine. It would be made out of parchment - a stretched and treated sheep or cow skin.

You and the people who have seen it have done very well in deciphering the names - the handwriting of the period is difficult to read! The letter c was often written to resemble an r so it is easy to misread, particularly when the writer has put a tail on it. Similarly an open letter 'a' looks very much like 'e' so we think the name is Thomas Percivall rather than Persiviell. You have correctly identified the Latin form of the name Egidius as Giles.

It may be possible to find out more about the people named, but this would be a job for out Research Service who would charge £14 (pounds sterling) per hour to investigate. They would begin by searching Kings Cliffe parish registers which survive from 1590 and may find a reference to a baptism. Because of the age of the record it is unlikely that they would find any detailed information so we would not want to advise you to commission a search that may yield nothing further. However, if you feel you would like to pursue this you will find full details of our Research service on our website www.northamptonshire.gov.uk the click on Community and Living.

We hope the information we have given is of interest to you.

Yours sincerely,

Jenny Moran

Public Services Manager
Northamptonshire Record Office
Northampton

Read the rest of this post...

Morning open thread

Ugh Read the rest of this post...

How to tell people to go screw themselves

Reading the news, you might think that How to Lose Friends and Alienate People was written either by or for Bush and the GOP. It's tough to chose which action is the worst because we have such a crowded field.

• Proposed FDA director who has overseen recent scandals
  
• Wolfowitz to head the World Bank
• Bolton to the UN
• Drilling in ANWR
• Planned cuts in Social Security
• Bilking tax payers of millions in Iraq via Halliburton
• What else? It seems to go on and on.

Ahh, just don't worry about it the Robert Blake, Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson trials are just so much more important. BTW, what's in American Idol? Read the rest of this post...

Failed US diplomacy in action: Angola

Last year the Bush administration elevated Angola to a higher trading partner status and in the process, removing another country. Human rights abuses? No problem, where's the oil? Billions of oil revenue missing from the 2nd largest oil exporting country in sub-Saharan Africa? No worries, let's be friends and keep the oil pumping. This sounds like our policy with the numbere 1 oil producing country in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria. Some might recall Bush's good friend Obasanjo and his own questionable democratic activities and new found wealth.

Human Rights Watch is now saying that despite the billions of dollars worth of oil coming out of this country of 11 million people, most are living in poverty in a war torn country that is saturated with land mines and with minimal levels for health and education. I've seen poor people in Africa but the refuges that I saw from Angola who were trying to survive in northern (and the poorest part of) Namibia were the saddest looking group I met.

One of these days we are going to wake up and demand a bit of transparency with our foreign policy. Until that happens we better get used to more brewing disastors like Angola and quit wondering why we are so unpopular in the world. Read the rest of this post...