Jack-Off Ryan, the story never ends

He's at it again. This time, whining about how his son may some day do an Internet search on dad and find out all about the details of the sex scandal. Here's a thought - if the sex scandal wasn't really a scandal, and Ryan didn't do anything wrong, then why the problem if his son finds out the details? Confused much? Read the rest of this post...

Wow, Bill Cosby let's er rip, again

Pretty damn powerful stuff. I have to agree with him.

During Thursday's speech, Cosby said his detractors were not facing the facts about poor black communities and were just trying to cover up what he called their 'dirty laundry.'

'Let me tell you something, your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day, it's cursing and calling each other n----r as they're walking up and down the street,' he said.
Cosby continued railing about the state of black youth in America. 'They think they're hip,' he said. 'They can't read; they can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere.'

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Colin Powell Sings Village People Song

Speaking of PFLAG dads who haven't said boo while their boss, the president, is trying to make their kids second-class citizens (a-hem), Colin Powell apparently thinks singing the Village People makes up for all of official homophobia. Read the rest of this post...

Go away already! Nader abandons AZ ballot

"Two Democratic voters had filed a lawsuit last week, backed by the Arizona Democratic Party, questioning the validity of Nader's nominating petitions and other documents. The Democrats argued that more than 70 percent of the signatures were invalid."

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Kenny boy to be indicted next week...finally

Justice seems to come slower to major financial contributors. I've always been suspicious of the Big 5 or however many are left but how Andersen went down the drain and this guy is still walking the streets is amazing. Andersen really botched it by not contributing enough cash to the RNC. I'm going to be ill if Kenny boy walks away from this. Read the rest of this post...

Ouch! Call for UN observers for US elections

As much I dislike Castro, I recall him having a sense of humor during the 2000 election when he offered to send help for the mess in the Florida polls. I would really love to see this take off in case Jeb tries pulling more tricks this year, which I expect him to do. Hard to believe it, but I think it's necessary to have independent observers with the Bushies around.

"SEVERAL members of the US House of Representatives have requested the United Nations to send observers to monitor the November 2 US presidential election to avoid a contentious vote as in 2000, when the outcome was decided by Florida.

The bipartisan commission, they stressed, determined "that the 'disenfranchisement of Florida's voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of black voters' and in poor counties".

The commission also concluded, the lawmakers added, that "despite promised nationwide reforms (of the voting system) ... adequate steps have not been taken to ensure that a similar situation will not arise in 2004 that arose in 2000"."

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And tonights show, the Saddam Hussein trial, brought to you by the Pentagon

Since his capture, the news flow about what Saddam was saying was pretty slim. Considering his long relationship with the US I always found it a bit strange that suddenly the news was non-existent. I also thought it was strange that when the video footage was shown yesterday (afternoon my time) that there was no sound. Well, it's clearer today. Our friends at the Pentagon are giving us the information that they think we need to know.

"U.S. news networks agreed to let the American military censor out certain images of Saddam Hussein's court hearing Thursday in Baghdad, one in a bizarre series of events surrounding coverage of the session.

As the silent footage of Hussein began to air on U.S. networks around 8:30 a.m. ET, CBS News anchor Dan Rather explained that the tapes had been "taken to another location, edited, and what you're seeing is in effect a censored version" of what happened in court earlier today.

"And whether you will hear what happened in court is yet to be determined. We know that Saddam Hussein challenged the whole legitimacy of the court," Rather said.

It's also possible that some of the footage was supplied by Dept. of Defense cameras, which were allowed to record sound. Throughout the day, several news nets said it wasn't always clear which footage was from what source, and that it could have been DOD footage, meaning the Pentagon was directly controlling what was being heard.

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Rick "Dog Sex" Santorum wants you to bash gays

Just got this from the America Family Association email list. Of particular note to me is how formulaic and unemotional the appeal is. This is the man who a while back compared gay marriage to a crime worse than the 9.11 attacks. Now he's writing what sound like boring form letters. Methinks little Ricky got his hands slapped by other Republican powers who realize this issue is biting them in the ass.

***AN APPEAL FROM SENATOR RICK SANTORUM***

Dear Friend of the Family,

I am writing to express strong support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which the Senate will be voting on in the next two weeks. This amendment would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and is a necessary addition to our Constitution. The Federal
Marriage Amendment is vital to preserve the traditional institution of marriage in our country. A Constitutional amendment that clearly defines marriage as the exclusive union of male and female is fundamental to the preservation of marriage.

Sincerely,
Rick Santorum
U.S. Senator

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Outing on Capitol Hill Stirs Debate

Gay City News' take on the outing discussion. Read the rest of this post...

Danger, Will Robinson

US job growth slows sharply in June. Read the article here. Read the rest of this post...

Excuse me?

Washington Blade:"In Maryland, Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulksi, who has a generally pro-gay voting record, has not issued a position on the Federal Marriage Amendment, and her office did not respond to repeated Blade inquiries on the subject."

I know people here in town, good friends of mine, who say they've been to Mikulski's home and have met her female "friend" or "roommate" or whatever, and that the one bedroom in the house has only one big bed. You do the math.

Sen. Mikulski's phone number: (202) 224-4654 Read the rest of this post...

[Insert Jeb Bush joke here]

What do YOU think the caption should be?

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Jeb Bush denounces 'special rights' for homos

Kudos to some of the local gay Republicans in Florida who responded by saying they won't support Jeb or George.

The Log Cabin Republicans have denounced a constituent letter sent from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s office that contains anti-gay language and refers to gay rights as “special rights.”

....The letter says Governor Bush “is not in favor of extending ‘special rights’ to the gay and lesbian community.”

“In the past, Governor Bush has voiced his opposition to same-sex marriages, gay and lesbian adoptions and the extension of domestic partner benefits,” the letter says. “Since taking office, the governor’s views on these subjects have not changed. … Gov. Bush believes that the state should not be in the business of actively sanctioning this particular lifestyle.”

....Meanwhile, some members of the local Broward Log Cabin Republicans say they will not contribute money to the Republican Party this year and will not work to re-elect the governor’s brother, President George W. Bush, because of the letter, said Andy Eddy, communications director for the Broward Log Cabin Republicans.

“What a stupid thing to do,” Eddy said. “To come out with rhetoric like that in an election period doesn’t make any sense at all. This will hurt Republicans nationwide.”

After the letter became public, Eddy said several members of the Broward Log Cabin Republicans called him and said they will not be giving any money to the party this year. He noted that in the past, gay Republicans like the late Richard Fasenmeyer, a local gay businessman, gave thousands to the Republican Party.

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My op ed on outing Hill staff

Published today in the Washington Blade. (Anywhere it doesn't flow is their fault - I don't write that short of paragraphs!) A snippet:

....What will outing really achieve? An outing campaign takes troops away from the enemy, teaches members of Congress and their staff that there is a price to be paid for legislating “family values,” and ultimately helps create an environment in which legislative gay-bashing and working for the enemy is less and less acceptable.

In the end, LGBT staffers working for anti-gay members of Congress ask of us what they are unwilling to give in return. They condemn the use of their sexual orientation as a weapon while brandishing our own against us. They demand their private lives be protected and kept off limits while helping their bosses turn our private lives into criminal acts. And they ask us to ignore our own self-interest and defend them with our silence, while they refuse to consider anyone’s well being but their own.

These staffers are complicit in destroying the very people whose protection they now demand as a birthright. I, for one, have had enough.

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China media reports on HK protest, fails to mention reason or 500,000+ demonstrators

Bush must be jealous of the government control over the media. Can you imagine a Bush-controlled state press talking about "a few people went to see F911"? (Funny how F911 is the first ever foreign documentary allowed in China.) At least the Chinese government is mentioning this years protest, unlike the shocker last year in Hong Kong. Let's hope that the officials who are pushing the soft approach are not pushed out of office as we have witnessed in the past.

"The headline said it was "a march by a few Hong Kong citizens." But neither the People's Daily nor any of the mainland's other entirely state-controlled media mentioned the reason for the protest or the size of the crowd.

Organizers estimate 530,000 people took to the streets to demand China allow the city-state a full return to democracy."

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Sudan clears refuge camp before Annan visits

Our partner in the war on terror and possible new oil trading partner has been trying to hide the evidence of their murder, torture and rape in Sudan. I listened to the new US Ambassador to the UN (Danforth) dodge the question when asked whether or not we were witnessing genocide in Sudan. ("That is a legal definition." blah, blah, blah.) Glad to see we have a new expert who is comfortable with all of the weasel words. I sure hope that Annan is going to be more assertive in Sudan than he was ten years ago in Rwanda.

"There may have been 3,000 to 4,000 people here as of 5 p.m. yesterday," said a stunned UN spokesman Fred Eckhard, as he gazed at the empty camp of Mashtel on Thursday. "Now, as you can see, no one is here."

UN officials said the refugees were forcibly removed.

The removal came a day after Sudanese officials promised Secretary of State Colin Powell to provide humanitarian aid workers unrestricted access to Darfur."

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Paris has the coolest mayor, hands down

Besides not allowing the trees in my backyard to cut down (it's so cool and shady now, thank you) he is now adding a swimming pool and other water to go along with the beach that they've been setting up along the Seine since 2001. Now if only we could clean up the Seine, it would be even better. Read the rest of this post...