Divided City

Because it's worked so well in the past, in other cities:

"Iraq as a political project is finished," a top government official told Reuters -- anonymously because the coalition of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki remains committed in public to a U.S.-sponsored constitution preserving Iraq's unity.

"The parties have moved to Plan B," the official said, saying Sunni, ethnic Kurdish and majority Shi'ite blocs were looking at ways to divide power and resources and to solve the conundrum of Baghdad's mixed population of seven million.

"There is serious talk of Baghdad being divided into east and west," said the official, who has long been a proponent of the present government's objectives.

Screw the Earth

That's the plan, and it's well underway:

From 2002 until this year, NASA’s mission statement, prominently featured in its budget and planning documents, read: “To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can.”

In early February, the statement was quietly altered, with the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” deleted. In this year’s budget and planning documents, the agency’s mission is “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”

David E. Steitz, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said the aim was to square the statement with President Bush’s goal of pursuing human spaceflight to the Moon and Mars.

But the change comes as an unwelcome surprise to many NASA scientists, who say the “understand and protect” phrase was not merely window dressing but actively influenced the shaping and execution of research priorities. Without it, these scientists say, there will be far less incentive to pursue projects to improve understanding of terrestrial problems like climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Bastards

The wave of violent homophobia swelling in Eastern Europe is profoundly disturbing. Now it's hit Latvia:

Dozens of gays, barred from holding a pride parade, were attacked by a right wing mob at a church in the Latvian capital on Saturday.

Hundreds of skinheads, members of the extreme nationalist group ANSS and members of the Orthodox Church surrounded the small Anglican church in central Riga as about 50 gay rights activists and their supporters held a prayer service for LGBT rights.

When the service ended some of the congregants managed to get out a back door unscathed but subjected to verbal abuse.

Others, including the pastor who led the service, opted to remain in the sanctuary hoping the crowd outside would disperse.

Instead, they found themselves bottled in as the protest crowd swelled. Finally they were allowed to leave by the front but were forced to run a gauntlet where they were pelted with bags of excrement and verbal abuse.

"Homosexuals are dirty sinners, ANSS leader Viktors Biese told the Agence France Presse.

" They are immoral people and they don't have a place in normal society. We have to stop them now. We can't wait until they start demanding the right to get married and adopt children."

People who had been in the church said that police stood by and did nothing to stop the attack.

Newsflash: Bush Doesn't Give a Shit about the "War on Terror"

More evidence:

Pentagon officials are complaining that US cuts in aid to Africa are hurting the war on terror, according to an article in Sunday's edition of The New York Times.

"The Bush administration and Congress have slashed millions of dollars of military aid to African nations in recent years, moves that Pentagon officials and senior military commanders say have undermined American efforts to combat terrorist threats in Africa and to counter expanding Chinese influence there," writes Mark Mazzetti.

Sue Them

Given the state of America, the lawsuits will go nowhere, but it's the thought that counts:

When school was canceled to accommodate a campaign visit by President Bush, the two 55-year-old teachers reckoned the time was ripe to voice their simmering discontent with the administration's policies.

Christine Nelson showed up at the Cedar Rapids rally with a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt; Alice McCabe clutched a small, paper sign stating "No More War." What could be more American, they thought, than mixing a little dissent with the bunting and buzz of a get-out-the-vote rally headlined by the president?

Their reward: a pair of handcuffs and a strip search at the county jail.

Authorities say they were arrested because they refused to obey reasonable security restrictions, but the women disagree: "Because I had a dissenting opinion, they did what they needed to do to get me out of the way," said Nelson, who teaches history and government at one of this city's middle schools.

...

Now, in federal courthouses from Charleston, W.Va., to Denver, federal officials and state and local authorities are being forced to defend themselves against lawsuits challenging the arrests and security policies.

While the circumstances differ, the cases share the same fundamental themes. Generally, they accuse federal officials of developing security measures to identify, segregate, deny entry or expel dissenters.

Jeff Rank and his wife, Nicole, filed a lawsuit after being handcuffed and booted from a July 4, 2004, appearance by the president at the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston. The Ranks, who now live in Corpus Christi, Texas, had free tickets to see the president speak, but contend they were arrested and charged with trespassing for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts.

"It's nothing more than an attempt by the president and his staff to suppress free speech," said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of West Virginia, which is providing legal services for the Ranks.

"What happened to the Ranks, and so many others across the country, was clearly an incident of viewpoint discrimination. And the lawsuit is an attempt to make the administration accountable for what we believe were illegal actions," Schneider said.

Our Victory in Afghanistan, Cont'd

Anarchy, courtesy of our invasion and the private sector:

The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption.

Sue the President

Congress needs to do something to fight Bush usurpation of non-executive powers, and this would be something:

Now, U.S. News has learned, an American Bar Association task force is set to suggest even stronger action. In a report to be released Monday, the task force will recommend that Congress consider suing the president. To mount a legal case, a person or group must have been granted "standing," or the right to file a lawsuit. Current law does not grant members of Congress such a right, and recent Supreme Court decisions have denied it in all but very exceptional cases. But Congress could—and should—consider bypassing that hurdle by writing a law to give its members the right to sue, a resolution in the task force's report declares, according to a copy of the report obtained by U.S. News. The resolution cannot become official aba policy without approval from the group's legislative body, scheduled to meet in Hawaii next month.

Romney Disbands Gay Youth Commission

Jerk:

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney issued an executive order Friday abolishing the state's 14-year old governor's commission on gay and lesbian youth.

The moves comes after a long protracted battle with legislators over the commission.

In May he attempted to kill the body over its support for gay pride parades in the state but quickly reversed himself.

The attempt to disband the commission sparked an uproar from lawmakers and supporters of the commission. The legislature then passed a bill a bill creating a new commission out of the reach of the governor's office.

Romney vetoed the bill and lawmakers countered by overriding it.

Ein Bißchen Katzenblogging

Zora and Tista cautiously investigate a rogue towel peeking out from under laundry. (It had them intrigued for a good half hour.) Gramsci is considerably less interested...















Later, Zora relaxes with my stuffed platypus Deanna.















(Now is that the face of a cat who would pee on Rorschach's clothing? Sadly, yes!)

Lose Your Home, Lose Your Rights

Un-fucking-believable. How much more disgusting can the Bush administration get?

David Wojnarowicz once wrote that when he realized he was HIV+, he came to understand that he'd contracted not just a disease, but a diseased society.

I think hurricane Katrina is playing a similar role, revealing just how traumatic and destructive our system is:

Residents of trailer parks set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house hurricane victims in Louisiana aren't allowed to talk to the press without an official escort, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate reported.

In one instance, a security guard ordered an Advocate reporter out of a trailer during an interview in Morgan City. Similar FEMA rules were enforced in Davant, in Plaquemines Parish.

FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Rodi wouldn't say whether the security guards' actions complied with FEMA policy, saying the matter was being reviewed. But she confirmed that FEMA does not allow the news media to speak alone to residents in their trailers.

"If a resident invites the media to the trailer, they have to be escorted by a FEMA representative who sits in on the interview," Rodi told the newspaper for its July 15 report. "That's just a policy."

Gregg Leslie, legal defense director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said FEMA's refusal to allow trailer-park residents to invite news media into their homes unescorted was unconstitutional.

Very Interesting

I'd never heard of this notion before, I have to admit. Intriguing:

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- African and black American leaders meeting this week debated an unusual proposal to spur investment and interest in the continent - securing African citizenship for American descendants of Africans taken away as slaves.

The idea came out of a summit bringing African governments and the U.S. private sector together in search of partnerships to end Africa's poverty. Presidents from 12 African countries attended the four-day conference, along with former U.S. President Bill Clinton and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.

"Just as the people of different races in America have a place they call home, I believe we should have a place we call our ancestral home," said Hope Masters, daughter of the U.S. civil rights campaigner for whom the Leon Sullivan Summit is named.

Anthony Archer, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based lawyer, is heading a committee to consider how citizenship could be awarded.

"Dual citizenship will start the process of mutual and spiritual reconciliation of differences between the two continents that came as a result of slavery," he said. "If we can feel like we really belong, we'll feel more joyful about participating."

Key challenges include determining the ancestral homelands of black Americans, Masters said. The upheaval of the slave trade left many without knowledge of their place of origin.

One possibility is granting continent-wide citizenship to slave descendants through the African Union, Archer said. Another is to work for citizenship of blocs of countries through regional organizations. It was unclear what rights would be granted under those scenarios.

A third proposal would have countries grant citizenship independently to those who seek it.

Something's On the March!

Could be freedom, could be terrorism. Who knows? Who cares, as long as there's marching going on:

Conventional wisdom -- and the Bush administration -- holds that the United States' attack on Afghanistan dislodged and weakened the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

It's back, a top terrorism expert told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday.

"Today, al-Qaida has not only regrouped, but it is on the march," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corp. "Al-Qaida is now functioning exactly as its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, envisioned it."

Well done, Bush!

Logical Discourse About Human Sexuality

It's a complex issue, deserving a complex approach.

This site has it all.

Thanks, Sherman!

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Asteroid

We can kill the planet all by ourselves, dammit. It's called American know-how:

Life on earth is facing a major crisis with thousands of species threatened with imminent extinction - a global emergency demanding urgent action. This is the view of 19 of the world's most eminent biodiversity specialists, who have called on governments to establish a political framework to save the planet.

The planet is losing species faster than at any time since 65 million years ago, when the earth was hit by an enormous asteroid that wiped out thousands of animals and plants, including the dinosaurs. Scientists estimate that the current rate at which species are becoming extinct is between 100 and 1,000 times greater than the normal "background" extinction rate - and say this is all due to human activity.

Big Fat Stupid

Embarrassing. I just hope it'll die in the Senate:

The House, citing the nation's religious origins, voted Wednesday to protect the Pledge of Allegiance from federal judges who might try to stop schoolchildren and others from reciting it because of the phrase "under God."

The legislation, a priority of social conservatives, passed 260-167. It now goes to the Senate where its future is uncertain.

"We should not and cannot rewrite history to ignore our spiritual heritage," said Rep. Zach Wamp (news, bio, voting record), R-Tenn. "It surrounds us. It cries out for our country to honor God."

Sick Planet

Ick:

As many as 1.5 million people are sickened by bacterial pollution on Southern California beaches each year, resulting in millions of dollars in public health care costs, a new study has found.

Oh, That Clears It Up

This man needs to learn when it's time to just stop talking:

A Boston radio station moved quickly to censure one of its talk show hosts after he referred to the head of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority as a "fag".

WRKO-AM suspended John DePetro (pictured) and ordered him to apologize for the remark made on Monday morning about Matt Amorello.

Amorello has been under fire since a concrete ceiling panel on a turnpike tunnel fell on a car killing a woman.

On the program DePetro referred to Amorello as "Fag Matt."

"And I don’t mean gay fag, I just mean the way when you’re a sophomore, juvenile, in grammar school and somebody would say you’re like a sissy boy fag,” DePetro said.

"I don’t mean gay fag. I mean like sissy boy. He’s a little sissy boy. Wife wears the pants."

Mighty White of Him

Little Bush-boy has condescended, at last, to talk to African Americans. And I challenge you to read that last sentence without cracking up:

After six years in office, President Bush has agreed to address the NAACP at its annual national convention in Washington, the White House announced yesterday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the president will appear before the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group tomorrow after years of trading rhetorical jabs with its leadership.

"I think the president wants to make the argument that he has had a career that reflects a strong commitment to civil rights," Snow said at a news conference.

Bwah!!

The Timeless Sanctity of Marriage

Even in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, the fact that marriage is a mutable institution is recognized:

Khaled never thought a form of temporary marriage, described by some in Saudi Arabia as legal prostitution, would open the door to his happily-ever-after.

The 25-year-old Saudi security guard opted to marry Zeinab, also a Saudi, through a "misyar" contract -- a kind of marriage-lite under which couples often live separately but get together regularly, sometimes just for sex.

Khaled and Zeinab are among thousands of people who choose misyar in this ultraconservative Islamic kingdom where contact between unrelated men and women is forbidden and extramarital sex regarded as a grave sin.

Just Hit on Your CO

Seems as though it'd be a much easier way to avoid Iraq:

A member of the Wyoming Army National Guard who was arrested in early June after a highway chase near Hardin told investigators he went on a five-day crime spree in Montana and Wyoming to avoid deployment to Iraq.
...

According to prosecutors and court records, the crime spree began on June 2 when Uptain stole a Lincoln pickup truck from a restaurant in Casper, Wyo., and drove north. Uptain abandoned the truck in Bridger and stole a 2001 Cadillac Deville before continuing north to Billings, court records said.

Uptain spent the weekend of June 3-4 in Billings visiting a friend, prosecutors said. Uptain is accused of stealing the Hummer from Denny Menholt Frontier Chevrolet-Hummer on June 5.

Later that day, a Lockwood woman reported the 1965 Mustang had been stolen. The Hummer was later found abandoned in the same area, court records said.

Deputies were also called to another Lockwood residence that day, where a homeowner said someone broke a window and stole $20 in coins, a piggy bank and a cellular telephone.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said, Uptain drove the Mustang south and eventually abandoned the car. He told investigators he walked back to Interstate 90 and hitchhiked back to Casper.

But, once in Casper, Uptain told investigators, he realized that he had left both his .44-caliber handgun and his cell phone in the Mustang. Prosecutors allege that Uptain then stole another pickup truck in Casper and returned to Montana and the stolen Mustang. After retrieving the firearm and phone, Uptain is accused of taking another pickup truck from a nearby farmhouse before returning to Billings.

On June 8, Uptain was arrested in the stolen Cadillac after a chase near Hardin in Big Horn County, court records said.

The War on Choice Continues

And they're fighting with their money, buying away women's right to control their own bodies:

Abortion business have been purchased in states such as Kansas, Florida, Tennessee and Nebraska.

In one of the first cases the Pro-Life Majority Coalition of Chattanooga outbid a Tennessee abortion business for the right to own a local facility that had long been the sole place in town where abortions were done.

The buying of the building forced the abortion center to close and the site now houses the National Memorial for the Unborn, a memorial for all of the babies who died at the abortion center over the years.

More recently, pro-life advocates in Wichita, Kansas purchased the building that housed the Central Women's Services abortion facility.

Ground Troops Next?

Worse and worse:

Israel declared Tuesday it was ready to fight Hezbollah guerrillas for several more weeks and possibly send ground forces into Lebanon, raising doubts about international efforts to broker an immediate cease-fire in the fighting that has killed more than 260 people and displaced 500,000.

Despite the diplomatic activity, Israel is in no hurry to end its offensive, which it sees as a unique opportunity to crush Hezbollah.

Economic Blackmail

Outrageous. This is the sort of thing that would get Target's corporate charter revoked immediately, if we lived in an actual democracy:

Is Target about to close all its stores in Chicago?

That was the threat issued Friday from the popular retailer.

There are reports that if the Chicago City Council passes a propsed new minimum wage ordinance, it could jeopardize plans for three new target stores -- and it could cause the company to close its existing stores in the city.

Bush's First Veto?

Wouldn't surprise me one bit:

The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would allow federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, but backers appear unlikely to override a promised presidential veto.

The Senate voted 63-37 to lift restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research put in place by President Bush in 2001. The House passed the bill last year.

It now goes to the White House, which this week has repeatedly reiterated Bush's plan to veto the bill. The move would mark the first veto of Bush's presidency.

Both the House and Senate appeared unlikely to come up with the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.

Chilling Image

Look at the (graphic) images from Lebanon I posted earlier, then look at this:

Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006.

Lesbianism Stops at 8 PM

I know, I'm confused too:

A San Jose facility for homeless people who are mentally disabled has been ordered to pay $8,200 in damages for discriminating against a woman because she is a lesbian.

The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission ruled that New Beginnings, an organization that provides shelter and food to disabled homeless people, violated state law in its treatment of Nora Jensen.

In her complaint Jenson said that she moved into the home in April 2003 following treatment for bipolar disorder.

Jenson said that several days later she mentioned to Juanita Prunty, the home's manager, that she is a lesbian and had recently broken up with her partner.

The complaint quotes Punty as replying that she "could not relate" to Jenson's because "homosexuality is an abomination." It also said that Jenson was prevented from using the women's dormitory at the home until after 8 pm each night to "eliminate the chance of sexual activity with another woman."

"It's just not right to be calling people an abomination," the AP quotes Jensen as saying. "It's not right to be telling them what they should and shouldn't be doing. She made me feel like I was 3 inches tall."

Mugabe Fights Back Against Scary Gays

Maybe all the homophobic bigots here in the US should move to Zimbabwe, where they will be safe:

Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe's government has made it a criminal offense for two people of the same sex to hold hands, hug, or kiss.

The "sexual deviancy" law is one of 15 additions to Zimbabwe's criminal code quietly passed in Parliament last week.

The sections involving gays and lesbians are part of an overhaul of the sodomy laws. Until now laws against sodomy were limited to sexual activity.

The revised law now states that sodomy is any "act involving contact between two males that would be regarded by a reasonable person as an indecent act".

Mugabe has a long history of homophobia. He regularly refers to gays and people he suspects to be gay as "less than pigs and dogs".

Earlier this year the 82 year old went on a tirade calling homosexuality "a white disease".

"Leave whites to do that," he declared.

Oh, Lordy

What will advertisers think of next?













IN September, CBS plans to start using a new place to advertise its fall television lineup: your breakfast.

The network plans to announce today that it will place laser imprints of its trademark eye insignia, as well as logos for some of its shows, on eggs — 35 million of them in September and October. CBS’s copywriters are referring to the medium as “egg-vertising,” hinting at the wordplay they have in store. Some of their planned slogans: “CSI” (“Crack the Case on CBS”); “The Amazing Race” (“Scramble to Win on CBS”); and “Shark” (“Hard-Boiled Drama.”). Variations on the ad for its Monday night lineup of comedy shows include “Shelling Out Laughs,” “Funny Side Up” and “Leave the Yolks to Us.”

"Pro-Life" = Pro-Lie

Disgusting:

Women who consult with pregnancy resource centers often get misleading information about the health risks associated with having an abortion, according to a report issued Monday by Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee.

Congressional aides, posing as pregnant 17-year-olds, called 25 pregnancy centers that have received some federal funding over the past five years.

The aides were routinely told of increased risk for cancer, infertility and stress disorders, said the report, which was prepared for Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.

...

Of the 25 centers called, two could not be reached. Eight told the caller that abortion leads to a greater risk of breast cancer, the report said.

...

One pregnancy center told a congressional aide the risk of cancer after an abortion could be 80 percent higher, the report noted. Ford said she doubted a pregnancy center would go that far, but the Web site for a pregnancy center in Albuquerque says the risk for cancer after an abortion is 50 percent or greater.

In February 2003, a National Cancer Institute workshop concluded that having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman's subsequent risk of developing breast cancer.

The report from the Democratic aides also said the pregnancy resource centers provided false information about the mental health effects of abortion, telling the aides that it could cause severe long-term emotional harm.

However, an American Psychological Association panel said, "Severe negative reactions are rare."

Another Day in Free Iraq

Just lovely:

Gunmen sprayed grenades and automatic weapons fire in a market south of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 50 people, mostly Shiites. The sectarian attack drew an angry protest from lawmakers who accused Iraqi forces of standing idly by during the rampage.

Women and children were among the dead and wounded in the assault in Mahmoudiya, hospital officials said. Late Monday, police said they found 12 bodies in different parts of town — possible victims of reprisal killings.

Several witnesses, including municipal council members, said the attack began when gunmen — presumed to be Sunnis — fired on the funeral of a member of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia, killing nine mourners.

Assailants then drove to the nearby market area in the town 20 miles south of Baghdad, killing three soldiers at a checkpoint and firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles at the crowd. After the gunmen sped away, they lobbed several mortar rounds into the neighborhood, the witnesses said.

Please Shut Up

Bush really should listen to me:

It wasn't meant to be overheard.
...
"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

Our president proves that he has no manners, no idea what "irony" means, and no insight when it comes to foreign affairs.

Taliban Retakes Two Towns

Looks like Gingrinch's plan to "win WWIII" is already on the rocks:

Taliban militants seized two towns in tumultuous southern Afghanistan, forcing police and government officials to flee, officials said Monday.

When All Else Fails, Blame the Indians

Ralph Reed sinks to a new low:

The Indians made me do it.

On the eve of a tense primary election, that's Ralph Reed's defense against corruption accusations that threaten to capsize his candidacy for Georgia lieutenant governor.

Reed is suffering some punishing body blows from his opponent for his schemes to use money from Indian casinos to pay for Christian anti-gambling efforts -- by funneling the cash through shell companies to disguise its true source.

The charges have been around for months, of course -- accompanied by ample evidence that Reed played a key role in concocting the schemes and putting them into practice. To date he has dodged the allegations by first claiming ignorance of the clients, and then woodenly chiming that "Had I known then what I know now, I would not have undertaken the work."

But yesterday, he changed his tune -- and blamed the Indians.

Moron

Just shut up, please:

Bush expresses amazement that it will take some leaders as many as eight hours to fly home — about the same time it will take Air Force One with Bush aboard to return to Washington.

"You eight hours? Me, too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country," Bush said, at one point telling a waiter he wanted Diet Coke. "Takes him eight hours to fly home. Russia's big and so is China. Yeah Blair, what're you doing? Are you leaving."

Get to Work, G8

If anyone's got the resources to do this, it's you:

Group of Eight leaders called Sunday for more AIDS funding to improve monitoring and to give more people access to treatment.

G-8 leaders said member nations would work to secure funds needed for 2006-07 to replenish the Global Fund earmarked for AIDS. They also called for the development of a four-year funding strategy.

"That's positive because it's an opportunity to get away from this constant cycle of funding shortages and emergency replenishment," said Oliver Buston of the group Debt AIDS Trade Africa. "It's an opportunity if they take it, and they need to take it."

But he said the plan issued by the leaders lacks specific action.

"What we were hoping for this time was a very detailed, time-bound plan of how the G-8 were going to meet there promise, and this document doesn't really deliver that," he said.

Double the existing number of health care workers is needed to improve the AIDS situation worldwide, said Eric Friedman, policy adviser for Physicians for Human Rights.

Mississippi Battleground

It's criminal in the first place that there's only one abortion clinic in all of Mississippi. That these people are fighting to force its closure is a travesty:

Operation Save America is holding rallies across Jackson in an effort to force the closure of Mississippi's only abortion clinic — a move NOW and abortion rights advocates say would chip away at Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortions.

A bomb threat halted the rally, leading to angry exchanges between the groups. The Jackson Police Department cleared the park and blew up a package found by a bomb squad. Officers would not say what the package contained.

NOW president Kim Gandy said the contentious rally showed "Mississippi is a battleground state for sure."

Gandy said if the state's only abortion clinic is closed, "it's going to have a devastating impact on the women who live here and don't have other options that they can exercise."

Flip Benham, Operation Save America director, said his group will remain in Mississippi until the Jackson Women's Health Organization abortion clinic shuts its doors for good.

Scary Gays in Albuquerque

Oh, please. They really need to recruit some police with a little more courage out there, it would seem:

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has begun interviewing patrons of an Albuquerque gay club raided earlier this month by police.

The ACLU and LGBT group Equality New Mexico say the civil rights of the 30 or so people in the Pride Gym may have been violated.

Officers allegedly were wearing bullet proof vests and armed with semiautomatic weapons when the entered the bathhouse.

At least two patrons say police used excessive force. (story)

One man said that armed police ordered people, some naked, into hallways and told them to lie facedown where they were handcuffed.

A second man confirmed the report saying that some of those handcuffed were in their 70s.

Police say that it is customary to handcuff people during a police investigation for the safety of the officers. But the warrant police used to enter the club says that officers were concerned about their personal safety and the possibility of sexual assault as a result of a weeklong undercover investigation.

"Sending us into this place again puts us or any other undercover officer in danger of sexual assault and or great bodily harm or injury," the request for a warrant said.

Equality New Mexico wants to know what kind of weapon could be hidden under a towel or how police were afraid of being sexually assaulted by elderly men.

Revoke Their Licenses Immediately

It's that simple:

In Chicago, an ambulance driver refused to transport a patient for an abortion. In California, fertility specialists rebuffed a gay woman seeking artificial insemination. In Texas, a pharmacist turned away a rape victim seeking the morning-after pill.

If they don't want to do their jobs, let 'em go do something else. Period.

Is This Guy Still Around?

Gingrinch's brand of insanity is so passe.

Anyway, his strategy of not losing a single city is sheer genius. Why didn't we think of this earlier? Plus, it worked so well back in Vietnam, where we won every battle and therefore won the war...right?

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich says America is in World War III and President Bush should say so.

Gingrich said in an interview Saturday that Bush should call a joint session of Congress the first week of September and talk about global military conflicts in much starker terms than have been heard from the president.

"We need to have the militancy that says 'We're not going to lose a city, " Gingrich said.