I fractured my left wrist on December 24. I am going for surgery on January 8, 2010. Unfortunately I will not be doing newsletters until my cast comes off.
I wish you all the best in 2010 and I leave you with this personal commentary about Christmas.
Based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, there are at least 125 billion galaxies in the universe. It is estimated that at least ten percent of all sun-like stars have a system of planets, there are 6.25×1018 stars with planets orbiting them in the universe. If even a billionth of these stars have planets supporting life, there are some 6.25 billion life-supporting solar systems in the universe.
Would any of these planets celebrate Christmas? Was Christ made flesh only once? Was the Original Sin committed only once, and on this globe? What injustice! Both for the other worlds, deprived of the Incarnation; and for us because, in that case people of the worlds devoid of Original Sin would be perfect, like our progenitors before the Fall. They would enjoy a natural happiness without the weight of the Cross.
Or else, infinite Adams have infinitely committed the original sin, tempted by infinite Eves with infinite Forbidden Fruits and Christ has been obliged to become incarnate, preach, and suffer Calvary infinite times, and perhaps He is still doing so. If the worlds are infinite, his task will be infinite too. Infinite His task, then infinite the forms of his suffering. Therefore, to maintain his presence, He would have to enlarge Himself and be born on every planet with life forms on it.
There lies the mystery which certainly devout Christians refuse to acknowledge. If astronauts discover inhabitants on any other world would these creatures celebrate Christmas? If not, would it be cruel of the Lord God to deprive them of that knowledge?
If those inhabitants of the other worlds unknown to us, which could be an infinite number of worlds, know of the existence of God, how would they resolve the fact that there are other worlds?
In our contempt: we forget that to a flea, the dog is his universe, just like we humans are so small compared to our universe. So following this analogy, wouldn’t if follow that if our God made the universe infinite to us humans; could it not also follow that He made it infinite in both time as well as in space? E=mc2.
Would that make the universe eternal? If this is true, then there is no need of creation and it will be unnecessary to conceive the idea of God. If God is infinite, we can’t curtail His power, He would never cease to operate, and therefore, with a Universe that is infinite there would be no need for creation.
In which case, would there be Christmas anywhere?
Carlos T Mock, MD
Sarah "Paddy" Jones -- Elderly Salsa Queen http://www.urlesque.com/2009/12/18/sarah-paddy-jones-elderly-salsa-queen/
"JCPenny Christmas 2009 "Return To The Dog House" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_zp-I1mQxc&feature=related
A doggy Christmas surprise - Karácsonyi kutyás meglepetés http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtPKbMwnRo&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Under The Mistletoe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT9L3_nY_YY
Ps. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, just go to my website: www.carlostmock.com and go the the subscription link. It will appear in your email every week.
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=32&osCsid=006da62aa1b561e59a588cf73b086abb
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Pass the Bill Newsletter - December 19, 2009
Pass the Bill Newsletter - December 19, 2009
“But let’s all take a deep breath, and consider just how much good this bill would do, if passed — and how much better it would be than anything that seemed possible just a few years ago. With all its flaws, the Senate health bill would be the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, greatly improving the lives of millions. Getting this bill would be much, much better than watching health care reform fail.” PAUL KRUGMAN
Pass the Bill By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18krugman.html?th&emc=th
Democrats Clinch a Deal on Health Bill By ROBERT PEAR, DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 19, 2009. WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said on Saturday that they had clinched an agreement on a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system, and that they were on track to approve the legislation by Christmas over fierce Republican opposition. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/health/policy/20health.html?hp
December 15, 2009: For He's a Jowly Good Fellow http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258564/december-15-2009/for-he-s-a-jowly-good-fellow
International
Nearing Arms Pact, U.S. and Russia Look Ahead By PETER BAKER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. WASHINGTON — Eight months, three presidential meetings, countless Geneva negotiating sessions and one missed deadline later, the United States and Russia appear close to agreement on a new arms control treaty that will reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one quarter. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/18arms.html?ref=global-home
In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security By JOHN MARKOFF and ANDREW E. KRAMER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/science/13cyber.html?th&emc=th
Attacker Fractures Berlusconi’s Nose By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO and RACHEL DONADIO. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/world/europe/14italy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Abu Dhabi Gives Dubai $10 Billion for Use on Debt By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and BETTINA WASSENER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/global/15dubai.html?hpw
China
Financial Times Editorial Comment: China’s strong and brittle state. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 14 2009 19:42 | Last updated: December 14 2009 19:42. This year, we have grown accustomed to thinking about China’s strengths. We have been awed by its mountainous foreign exchange reserves and by its ability to power ahead in a global downturn. We have seen its ever-more sophisticated military and naval hardware on display. And we have witnessed its growing confidence on the world stage, to wit, its shrill lectures on the dangers of the US deficit and a weakening dollar. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/financial-times-editorial-comment.html
China’s Rapid Reactor Expansion Raises Concerns By KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/global/16chinanuke.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Mess-o-potamia
New York Times Editorial: A Test for President Karzai. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009. President Hamid Karzai’s inaugural speech last month resonated with high-minded purpose. He vowed to end the “culture of impunity” and “bring to justice” those who threaten Afghanistan’s future with predatory ways. Ministers in his government, he insisted, “must possess integrity and be professionals serving the nation.” Whom Mr. Karzai chooses for his new cabinet will be the first indicator, after his fraud-marred election, of whether he is truly determined to rein in epidemic levels of corruption and incompetence. His speech on Tuesday to an anti-corruption conference in Kabul suggested, ominously, that he still does not get it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16wed3.html?ref=global
New Afghan Cabinet List Draws Ire From Legislators. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 19, 2009. Filed at 11:03 a.m. ET. KABUL (AP) -- Afghan legislators complained Saturday that several members of President Hamid Karzai's proposed Cabinet are inexperienced and beholden to warlords -- opposition that threatens to slow the reform Washington believes essential to beating the Taliban. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/19/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
U. N. Officials Say American Offered Plan to Replace Karzai By JAMES GLANZ and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17galbraith.html?ref=global-home
Suicide Bomb Blast Near Hotel in Kabul. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/15/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?th&emc=th
Pakistan Strikes Down Amnesty for Politicians By JANE PERLEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17pstan.html?hpw
Pakistan Reported to Be Harassing U.S. Diplomats By JANE PERLEZ and ERIC SCHMITT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17visa.html?hpw
Iran Test-Fires Its Most Advanced Missile By MICHAEL SLACKMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/middleeast/17iran.html?ref=global-home
Credit Suisse to Settle Over U.S. Sanctions on Iran By CLAUDIO GATTI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009. Credit Suisse, the second-largest Swiss bank after UBS, is expected to pay a fine of $536 million to settle charges with the federal government and state authorities in New York that it violated sanctions against doing business with Iran and other countries, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/16bank.html?ref=global-home
New York Times Editorial: Iraq, the Kurds and the Americans. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. Four months ago, with little fanfare, the State Department sent a full-time senior diplomat, Alan Misenheimer, to live in Iraq’s disputed oil-rich city Kirkuk. For the Obama administration, which had been hoping to back out of its day-to-day involvement in Iraq’s fractious politics, it was a smart, if belated, call. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18fri1.html?th&emc=th
Weighing Netanyahu as Peace Maker By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/world/middleeast/16mideast.html?ref=global-home
National
Obama presses bank chiefs to lend more - White House to push for greater regulation, curbs on executive pay By Binyamin Appelbaum. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 14, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302760.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics
New York Times Editorial: Guantánamo Must Be Closed. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18fri2.html?th&emc=th
Senate passes defense spending bill, turns attention to health care By Paul Kane and Ben Pershing. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 19, 2009; 11:20 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121900796.html?hpid=topnews
Democrats Stepping Down (and Republicans, Too) By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 19, 2009. Representative Bart Gordon, a 13-term Tennessee Democrat who is chairman of the House science committee, has never lost any of the 15 counties in his conservative district, let alone been in recent danger of losing his House seat. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/us/politics/20cong.html?hp
Morgan Stanley’s Mack gives up on bonus - Move reflects backlash over compensation By Francesco Guerrera and Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 18 2009 19:03 | Last updated: December 18 2009 21:07 http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/morgan-stanleys-mack-gives-up-on-bonus.html
Climate change
Grudging Accord in Climate Talks By ANDREW C. REVKIN and JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 19, 2009. COPENHAGEN — After two weeks of delays, grandstanding and frantic dealmaking, the United Nations climate change talks concluded here early Saturday morning with a grudging agreement by the participants to “take note” of a pact shaped by five major nations. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/science/earth/20accord.html?ref=global-home
U.S. unveils plan to rev up clean technology in poor nations - Nations pledge funds to make renewable energy more accessible By Juliet Eilperin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 14, 2009; 11:03 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121400844.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Local Governments Can Lead Fight Against Climate Change by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Copyright by the Huffington Post. Posted: December 15, 2009 09:42 AM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-arnold-schwarzenegger/local-governments-can-lea_b_392442.html
Health Care
Building a Baby, With Few Ground Rules By STEPHANIE SAUL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009. Unable to have a baby of her own, Amy Kehoe became her own general contractor to manufacture one. For Ms. Kehoe and her husband, Scott, the idea seemed like their best hope after years of infertility. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/us/13surrogacy.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Washington Post Editorial: HIV/AIDS: The incurable epidemic - Two studies show how difficult it is to eradicate HIV/AIDS. Copyright by The Washington Post . Wednesday, December 16, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121504873.html
Overuse of CT scans will lead to new cancer deaths, a study shows - Each year that today's scanners are used, 14,500 deaths could result, researchers say. When healthy people are exposed to the radiation, the imaging may create more problems than it solves. By Thomas H. Maugh II. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. December 15, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-sci-ct-scans15-2009dec15,0,5726817.story
Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma By NATASHA SINGER and DUFF WILSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009. MILLIONS of American women in the 1990s were told they could help their bodies ward off major illness by taking menopausal hormone drugs. Some medical associations said so. Many gynecologists and physicians said so. Respected medical journals said so, too. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/13drug.html?hpw
GOP Bashing
Disaster and Denial By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009. When I first began writing for The Times, I was naïve about many things. But my biggest misconception was this: I actually believed that influential people could be moved by evidence, that they would change their views if events completely refuted their beliefs. And to be fair, it does happen now and then. I’ve been highly critical of Alan Greenspan over the years (since long before it was fashionable), but give the former Fed chairman credit: he has admitted that he was wrong about the ability of financial markets to police themselves. But he’s a rare case. Just how rare was demonstrated by what happened last Friday in the House of Representatives, when — with the meltdown caused by a runaway financial system still fresh in our minds, and the mass unemployment that meltdown caused still very much in evidence — every single Republican and 27 Democrats voted against a quite modest effort to rein in Wall Street excesses. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/opinion/14krugman.html?th&emc=th
In Senate Health Showdown, Round Goes to G.O.P. By ROBERT PEAR. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009. WASHINGTON — On the 17th day of Senate debate on health legislation, it came down to this: A rock-ribbed conservative physician from Oklahoma squared off against a self-described democratic socialist from Vermont who was hoping for a full-throated debate on his proposal to establish a system of “Medicare for all.” The Oklahoman, Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican, had propounded a unanimous-consent request, stipulating that no amendment could be offered unless it had been publicly available for 72 hours, with an estimate of its costs. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/health/policy/17health.html?hpw
The Republicans' war within- In California, repercussions of one vote by legislator illustrate fractured state party By Michael Leahy. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 14, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121303042.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Chicagoland
U.S. Said to Pick Illinois Prison to House Detainees By CHARLIE SAVAGE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/us/15gitmo.html?th&emc=th
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Quinn right to back Thomson. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 16, 2009. There aren't many politicians who would push for transferring suspected terrorists to their state on the eve of a primary election. But Gov. Quinn, to his credit, did just that, showing strong leadership by backing the federal government's proposal to turn the Thomson Correctional Center into a new home for Guantanamo Bay detainees. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1941757,CST-EDT-edit16b.article
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: State needs to put stop to revolving prison door. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 15, 2009. Sometimes, it's tempting to think the biggest bunch of repeat offenders in the state can be found right in our own Capitol. Year after year, various governors and legislators have approved policies that add to our prison populations. And year after year, they ignore the ultimate cost. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1939231,CST-EDT-edit15a.article
Supreme Court delays medical malpractice damage cap ruling By Bruce Japsen Tribune staff reporter. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 9:45 a.m. CST, December 17, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-medical-malpractice-caps-supreme-court-dec17,0,513112.story
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk have big leads in Senate primary, poll says - But 35 percent of Democrats, 46 percent of Republicans are undecided in race to replace Sen. Roland Burris By Rick Pearson. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 14, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elections/chi-poll-senate-14-dec14,0,5398298.story
Silence is the golden rule in city politics BY CAROL MARIN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 19, 2009. Who hired Angelo Torres? Shame on me, I haven't asked in a while. But a headline last week ("City Silence on Misconduct Riles Daley") made me smack my forehead with "I should have had a V8!" clarity. I suddenly remembered what is too important to forget. That for five years, n-o-b-o-d-y at City Hall has ever answered that question. http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1948231,CST-EDT-carol20.article
Judge rules Chicago can acquire Bensenville cemetery for new O'Hare runway - Decision is last of major hurdles for airport expansion By Art Barnum. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 19, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ohare-cemetery-19-dec19,0,2236282.story
Chicago Tribune Editorial: Chicago. Wal-Mart. It's time. Copyright by The Chicago Tribune. December 18, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1218edit1dec18,0,5534026.story
Economy
House Considers Reinstating Glass-Steagall - Looking for ways to pressure banks to lend more, Democrats may revisit the 1999 law that allowed Citigroup and others to combine consumer and investment banking By James Rowley and Christine Harper. Copyright by Bloomberg News. December 15, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/dec2009/pi20091215_324681.htm
Senate Panel Backs Bernanke for a Second Term at Fed By BRIAN KNOWLTON and JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/business/economy/18fed.html?hpw
US consumer prices rise in November - New home construction jumps 8.9% By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 16 2009 14:20 | Last updated: December 16 2009 14:20. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-consumer-prices-rise-in-november-new.html
Producer Prices Jump, Factory Reports Mixed. Copyright By REUTERS. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/15/business/business-us-usa-economy.html?scp=1&sq=US%20producer%20prices%20jump%201.8%&st=cse
US jobless claims show unexpected rise - Labour market remains under pressure By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 17 2009 14:23 | Last updated: December 17 2009 14:23 http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-jobless-claims-show-unexpected-rise.html
Citigroup Reaches Deal to Repay U.S. Bailout Funds By ERIC DASH and JEFF ZELENY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/economy/15bank.html?ref=global-home
U.S. Said to Reconsider Quick Sale of Citigroup Stake By ERIC DASH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/global/17citi.html?hp
New York Times Editorial: Even Bigger Than Too Big to Fail. Copyright by New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009. Asserting that it “is among the strongest banks in the industry,” Citigroup announced on Monday that it would soon repay $20 billion of federal bailout money. This from a bank that has been in the red for most of the past two years, that is expected to limp through 2010 amid a torrent of loan losses, that saw its stock price close after the announcement at a measly $3.70 a share — and that, like other big banks, is still reluctant to lend. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/opinion/15tue1.html?th&emc=th
Exxon’s Natural Gas Holdings Grow With $31 Billion Deal By JAD MOUAWAD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009. In the biggest energy deal in years, Exxon Mobil said on Monday that it had agreed to buy XTO Energy, a domestic producer of natural gas, in an all-stock deal valued at $31 billion to increase its holdings in unconventional resources in the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/energy-environment/15exxon.html?ref=global-home
4 Big Mortgage Backers Swim in Ocean of Debt By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/17wards.html?adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1261073054-N0RASHJtEAk6d0iajvR+bQ
G.M. Plans to Close Saab After Sales Talks Collapse By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 18, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/business/global/19saab.html?ref=global-home
Your Money
Dec. 31 Is a Big Day for Online Charity By STEPHANIE STROM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. For charities that solicit donations online, Dec. 31 is more than New Year’s Eve — it is the most lucrative day of the year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/us/18charity.html?scp=1&sq=Dec.%2031%20Is%20a%20Big%20Day%20for%20Online%20Charity%20&st=cse
Charities Criticize Online Fund-Raising Contest by Chase By STEPHANIE STROM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 18, 2009. JPMorgan Chase & Company is coming under fire for the way it conducted an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 charities. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/us/19charity.html?th&emc=th
Nice Gift, but Ask if You Can Return It By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 18, 2009. So you think you’ve picked out the perfect gift for your loved one. But there’s one more thing you should consider: how hard will it be to return it? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/your-money/household-budgeting/19returns.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Estate Tax Is Expiring, but Death Won’t Last By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. WASHINGTON — A Congressional tax standoff has opened a window of opportunity for wealthy Americans determined to avoid paying up post-mortem. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/us/politics/18cong.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Housing
Interest Rates Are Low, but Banks Balk at Refinancing By DAVID STREITFELD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/economy/13rates.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Commodities
Gold: On the flip side. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 15 2009 20:43. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/gold-on-flip-side.html
December 15, 2009: Prescott Financial Sells Gold, Women & Sheep http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258566/december-15-2009/prescott-financial-sells-gold--women---sheep
Immigration
House Democrats push new comprehensive immigration bill By Ben Pershing. Copyright by The Washington Post. December 15, 2009 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/12/democrats_push_new_immigration.html?hpid=topnews
Immigration bill fails to mention gays. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News update Wed., Dec. 16, 2009. The measure takes major strides toward repairing America's broken immigration system. However, it does not include workers or same-sex couples. http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23864
GLBT
D.C. Council Approves Gay Marriage By IAN URBINA. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009. WASHINGTON — The City Council passed a measure Tuesday legalizing same-sex marriage, making the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction below the Mason-Dixon Line to allow such unions. The bill, which passed by an 11-to-2 vote, may still face obstacles in Congress, among city voters and in the courts, but most advocates say they expect it to become law by the spring. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has said he will sign it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16marriage.html?_r=1&hp
Houston Is Largest City to Elect Openly Gay Mayor By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/us/politics/13houston.html?th&emc=th
Faith, folly and Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill By Michael Gerson. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 18, 2009. It is sad when someone you care about threatens to do a foolish and destructive thing. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/17/AR2009121703673.html
California Companies Fight Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide By JESSE McKINLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009. SAN FRANCISCO — As the political battle over same-sex marriage plays out in state capitals across the country, several California companies have emerged as the go-to players for opponents of the marriages. One of the companies, Mar/Com Services Inc., lists its business address here in San Francisco, a city well known for its large and politically active gay population. When Maine residents opposed to a new law permitting same-sex marriage decided earlier this year to challenge it, they hired Mar/Com to do the production work for the television and radio advertisements. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/us/13marriage.html?hpw
City council adopts Mercado resolution. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-16. The Chicago City Council adopted a resolution Dec. 2 regarding Puerto Rico teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, who was found murdered Nov. 14 in the commonwealth. Mercado, who was gay, was found decapitated, partially burned and dismembered on an isolated street. http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23836
POLITICS: Guide to the Gays. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-16 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23847
Linda Pauel: Hoping to hold court - Extended for the Online Edition of Windy City Times by Blair Mishleau. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-16 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23826
Religion
How to Fight the Religious Right - A guide to defending yourself against Fundamentalist Christians By Brian Elroy McKinley. Copyright © 1995-2008 Brian Elroy McKinle http://www.elroy.net/ehr/fighttheright.html y
New York Times Editorial: A Bishop’s Words. Copyright by New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. In the end it was not the power of repentance or compassion that compelled the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., to release more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests. It was a court order. The diocese had spent seven years fighting a lawsuit brought by The New York Times and three other newspapers to unseal the records in 23 lawsuits involving accusations against seven priests. The diocese, which settled those cases in 2002, was ready to battle all the way to the United States Supreme Court to keep the archive secret. It lost in October, when the justices declined to hear its appeal. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Technology
Will Web anonymity end as Facebook monetizes its gigantic customer profile database to become an "identity medium?" By Douglas MacMillan. Copyright by Business Week. December 14, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2009/tc20091214_734087.htm
F.T.C. Accuses Intel of Trying to Stifle Competition By STEVE LOHR. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/technology/companies/17chip.html?ref=global-home
With a New Phone, Google May Challenge Apple By MIGUEL HELFT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/technology/companies/14gphone.html?th&emc=th
Google Phone May Rankle Android Partners - Marketing its own mobile phone might turn Google into a rival to many companies it now counts as allies in building the Android operating system By Olga Kharif. Copyright by Business Week. December 15, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2009/tc20091215_283413.htm
Google Loses in French Copyright Case. Copyright By REUTERS. Published: December 18, 2009. PARIS (Reuters) — A Paris court on Friday found the Internet giant Google guilty of violating copyright by digitizing books and putting extracts online, following a legal challenge by French publishers. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/technology/companies/19google.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Google Is in Talks to Buy Yelp By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 18, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/technology/companies/19yelp.html?hpw
Forecast for 2010: The Coming Cloud 'Catastrophe' Mark Anderson predicts a big remote-computing service disaster, lost momentum for Microsoft, and growth in consumer payments for online news content By Arik Hesseldahl. Copyright by Business Week. December 11, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2009/tc20091211_347388.htm
Europe Drops Microsoft Antitrust Case Over Browsers By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/global/17msft.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Travel
British Airways Crews Vote to Strike By NICOLA CLARK. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/global/15air.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Court Halts Strike at British Airways By JULIA WERDIGIER. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/business/global/18air.html?ref=global-home
A Takeoff, and Hope, for Boeing Dreamliner By WILLIAM YARDLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16flight.html?ref=global-home
Other
Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in U.S. By MICHAEL LUO and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009. More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work. Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About 4 in 10 parents have noticed behavioral changes in their children that they attribute to their difficulties in finding work. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/us/15poll.html?th&emc=th
Entertainment
Man in the News: James Cameron By Matthew Garrahan. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 18 2009 20:15 | Last updated: December 18 2009 20:15. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/man-in-news-james-cameron.html
‘Up in the Air’ Nabs Some Golden Globe Love By BROOKS BARNES. Copyright by The New York Times. December 15, 2009, 8:58 AM http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/up-in-the-air-nabs-some-golden-globe-love/?ref=global-home
Comcast Introduces a Streaming TV Service By BRIAN STELTER. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/media/16comcast.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Second City Looks Back in Laughter By LARRY ROHTER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/arts/16second.html?th&emc=th
Humor
Canadian Ice Fishing Crazy Canucks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x768VAsOQSw
Billy Dee Williams Tiger Woods Collectible Plates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgiCX_y1BW8
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www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
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“But let’s all take a deep breath, and consider just how much good this bill would do, if passed — and how much better it would be than anything that seemed possible just a few years ago. With all its flaws, the Senate health bill would be the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, greatly improving the lives of millions. Getting this bill would be much, much better than watching health care reform fail.” PAUL KRUGMAN
Pass the Bill By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18krugman.html?th&emc=th
Democrats Clinch a Deal on Health Bill By ROBERT PEAR, DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 19, 2009. WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said on Saturday that they had clinched an agreement on a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system, and that they were on track to approve the legislation by Christmas over fierce Republican opposition. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/health/policy/20health.html?hp
December 15, 2009: For He's a Jowly Good Fellow http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258564/december-15-2009/for-he-s-a-jowly-good-fellow
International
Nearing Arms Pact, U.S. and Russia Look Ahead By PETER BAKER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. WASHINGTON — Eight months, three presidential meetings, countless Geneva negotiating sessions and one missed deadline later, the United States and Russia appear close to agreement on a new arms control treaty that will reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one quarter. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/18arms.html?ref=global-home
In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security By JOHN MARKOFF and ANDREW E. KRAMER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/science/13cyber.html?th&emc=th
Attacker Fractures Berlusconi’s Nose By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO and RACHEL DONADIO. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/world/europe/14italy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Abu Dhabi Gives Dubai $10 Billion for Use on Debt By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and BETTINA WASSENER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/global/15dubai.html?hpw
China
Financial Times Editorial Comment: China’s strong and brittle state. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 14 2009 19:42 | Last updated: December 14 2009 19:42. This year, we have grown accustomed to thinking about China’s strengths. We have been awed by its mountainous foreign exchange reserves and by its ability to power ahead in a global downturn. We have seen its ever-more sophisticated military and naval hardware on display. And we have witnessed its growing confidence on the world stage, to wit, its shrill lectures on the dangers of the US deficit and a weakening dollar. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/financial-times-editorial-comment.html
China’s Rapid Reactor Expansion Raises Concerns By KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/global/16chinanuke.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Mess-o-potamia
New York Times Editorial: A Test for President Karzai. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009. President Hamid Karzai’s inaugural speech last month resonated with high-minded purpose. He vowed to end the “culture of impunity” and “bring to justice” those who threaten Afghanistan’s future with predatory ways. Ministers in his government, he insisted, “must possess integrity and be professionals serving the nation.” Whom Mr. Karzai chooses for his new cabinet will be the first indicator, after his fraud-marred election, of whether he is truly determined to rein in epidemic levels of corruption and incompetence. His speech on Tuesday to an anti-corruption conference in Kabul suggested, ominously, that he still does not get it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16wed3.html?ref=global
New Afghan Cabinet List Draws Ire From Legislators. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 19, 2009. Filed at 11:03 a.m. ET. KABUL (AP) -- Afghan legislators complained Saturday that several members of President Hamid Karzai's proposed Cabinet are inexperienced and beholden to warlords -- opposition that threatens to slow the reform Washington believes essential to beating the Taliban. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/19/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
U. N. Officials Say American Offered Plan to Replace Karzai By JAMES GLANZ and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17galbraith.html?ref=global-home
Suicide Bomb Blast Near Hotel in Kabul. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/15/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?th&emc=th
Pakistan Strikes Down Amnesty for Politicians By JANE PERLEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17pstan.html?hpw
Pakistan Reported to Be Harassing U.S. Diplomats By JANE PERLEZ and ERIC SCHMITT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17visa.html?hpw
Iran Test-Fires Its Most Advanced Missile By MICHAEL SLACKMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/middleeast/17iran.html?ref=global-home
Credit Suisse to Settle Over U.S. Sanctions on Iran By CLAUDIO GATTI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009. Credit Suisse, the second-largest Swiss bank after UBS, is expected to pay a fine of $536 million to settle charges with the federal government and state authorities in New York that it violated sanctions against doing business with Iran and other countries, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/16bank.html?ref=global-home
New York Times Editorial: Iraq, the Kurds and the Americans. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. Four months ago, with little fanfare, the State Department sent a full-time senior diplomat, Alan Misenheimer, to live in Iraq’s disputed oil-rich city Kirkuk. For the Obama administration, which had been hoping to back out of its day-to-day involvement in Iraq’s fractious politics, it was a smart, if belated, call. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18fri1.html?th&emc=th
Weighing Netanyahu as Peace Maker By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/world/middleeast/16mideast.html?ref=global-home
National
Obama presses bank chiefs to lend more - White House to push for greater regulation, curbs on executive pay By Binyamin Appelbaum. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 14, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302760.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics
New York Times Editorial: Guantánamo Must Be Closed. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18fri2.html?th&emc=th
Senate passes defense spending bill, turns attention to health care By Paul Kane and Ben Pershing. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 19, 2009; 11:20 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121900796.html?hpid=topnews
Democrats Stepping Down (and Republicans, Too) By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 19, 2009. Representative Bart Gordon, a 13-term Tennessee Democrat who is chairman of the House science committee, has never lost any of the 15 counties in his conservative district, let alone been in recent danger of losing his House seat. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/us/politics/20cong.html?hp
Morgan Stanley’s Mack gives up on bonus - Move reflects backlash over compensation By Francesco Guerrera and Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 18 2009 19:03 | Last updated: December 18 2009 21:07 http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/morgan-stanleys-mack-gives-up-on-bonus.html
Climate change
Grudging Accord in Climate Talks By ANDREW C. REVKIN and JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 19, 2009. COPENHAGEN — After two weeks of delays, grandstanding and frantic dealmaking, the United Nations climate change talks concluded here early Saturday morning with a grudging agreement by the participants to “take note” of a pact shaped by five major nations. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/science/earth/20accord.html?ref=global-home
U.S. unveils plan to rev up clean technology in poor nations - Nations pledge funds to make renewable energy more accessible By Juliet Eilperin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 14, 2009; 11:03 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121400844.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Local Governments Can Lead Fight Against Climate Change by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Copyright by the Huffington Post. Posted: December 15, 2009 09:42 AM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-arnold-schwarzenegger/local-governments-can-lea_b_392442.html
Health Care
Building a Baby, With Few Ground Rules By STEPHANIE SAUL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009. Unable to have a baby of her own, Amy Kehoe became her own general contractor to manufacture one. For Ms. Kehoe and her husband, Scott, the idea seemed like their best hope after years of infertility. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/us/13surrogacy.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Washington Post Editorial: HIV/AIDS: The incurable epidemic - Two studies show how difficult it is to eradicate HIV/AIDS. Copyright by The Washington Post . Wednesday, December 16, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121504873.html
Overuse of CT scans will lead to new cancer deaths, a study shows - Each year that today's scanners are used, 14,500 deaths could result, researchers say. When healthy people are exposed to the radiation, the imaging may create more problems than it solves. By Thomas H. Maugh II. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. December 15, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-sci-ct-scans15-2009dec15,0,5726817.story
Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma By NATASHA SINGER and DUFF WILSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009. MILLIONS of American women in the 1990s were told they could help their bodies ward off major illness by taking menopausal hormone drugs. Some medical associations said so. Many gynecologists and physicians said so. Respected medical journals said so, too. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/13drug.html?hpw
GOP Bashing
Disaster and Denial By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009. When I first began writing for The Times, I was naïve about many things. But my biggest misconception was this: I actually believed that influential people could be moved by evidence, that they would change their views if events completely refuted their beliefs. And to be fair, it does happen now and then. I’ve been highly critical of Alan Greenspan over the years (since long before it was fashionable), but give the former Fed chairman credit: he has admitted that he was wrong about the ability of financial markets to police themselves. But he’s a rare case. Just how rare was demonstrated by what happened last Friday in the House of Representatives, when — with the meltdown caused by a runaway financial system still fresh in our minds, and the mass unemployment that meltdown caused still very much in evidence — every single Republican and 27 Democrats voted against a quite modest effort to rein in Wall Street excesses. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/opinion/14krugman.html?th&emc=th
In Senate Health Showdown, Round Goes to G.O.P. By ROBERT PEAR. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009. WASHINGTON — On the 17th day of Senate debate on health legislation, it came down to this: A rock-ribbed conservative physician from Oklahoma squared off against a self-described democratic socialist from Vermont who was hoping for a full-throated debate on his proposal to establish a system of “Medicare for all.” The Oklahoman, Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican, had propounded a unanimous-consent request, stipulating that no amendment could be offered unless it had been publicly available for 72 hours, with an estimate of its costs. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/health/policy/17health.html?hpw
The Republicans' war within- In California, repercussions of one vote by legislator illustrate fractured state party By Michael Leahy. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 14, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121303042.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Chicagoland
U.S. Said to Pick Illinois Prison to House Detainees By CHARLIE SAVAGE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/us/15gitmo.html?th&emc=th
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Quinn right to back Thomson. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 16, 2009. There aren't many politicians who would push for transferring suspected terrorists to their state on the eve of a primary election. But Gov. Quinn, to his credit, did just that, showing strong leadership by backing the federal government's proposal to turn the Thomson Correctional Center into a new home for Guantanamo Bay detainees. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1941757,CST-EDT-edit16b.article
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: State needs to put stop to revolving prison door. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 15, 2009. Sometimes, it's tempting to think the biggest bunch of repeat offenders in the state can be found right in our own Capitol. Year after year, various governors and legislators have approved policies that add to our prison populations. And year after year, they ignore the ultimate cost. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1939231,CST-EDT-edit15a.article
Supreme Court delays medical malpractice damage cap ruling By Bruce Japsen Tribune staff reporter. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 9:45 a.m. CST, December 17, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-medical-malpractice-caps-supreme-court-dec17,0,513112.story
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk have big leads in Senate primary, poll says - But 35 percent of Democrats, 46 percent of Republicans are undecided in race to replace Sen. Roland Burris By Rick Pearson. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 14, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elections/chi-poll-senate-14-dec14,0,5398298.story
Silence is the golden rule in city politics BY CAROL MARIN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 19, 2009. Who hired Angelo Torres? Shame on me, I haven't asked in a while. But a headline last week ("City Silence on Misconduct Riles Daley") made me smack my forehead with "I should have had a V8!" clarity. I suddenly remembered what is too important to forget. That for five years, n-o-b-o-d-y at City Hall has ever answered that question. http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1948231,CST-EDT-carol20.article
Judge rules Chicago can acquire Bensenville cemetery for new O'Hare runway - Decision is last of major hurdles for airport expansion By Art Barnum. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 19, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ohare-cemetery-19-dec19,0,2236282.story
Chicago Tribune Editorial: Chicago. Wal-Mart. It's time. Copyright by The Chicago Tribune. December 18, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1218edit1dec18,0,5534026.story
Economy
House Considers Reinstating Glass-Steagall - Looking for ways to pressure banks to lend more, Democrats may revisit the 1999 law that allowed Citigroup and others to combine consumer and investment banking By James Rowley and Christine Harper. Copyright by Bloomberg News. December 15, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/dec2009/pi20091215_324681.htm
Senate Panel Backs Bernanke for a Second Term at Fed By BRIAN KNOWLTON and JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/business/economy/18fed.html?hpw
US consumer prices rise in November - New home construction jumps 8.9% By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 16 2009 14:20 | Last updated: December 16 2009 14:20. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-consumer-prices-rise-in-november-new.html
Producer Prices Jump, Factory Reports Mixed. Copyright By REUTERS. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/15/business/business-us-usa-economy.html?scp=1&sq=US%20producer%20prices%20jump%201.8%&st=cse
US jobless claims show unexpected rise - Labour market remains under pressure By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 17 2009 14:23 | Last updated: December 17 2009 14:23 http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-jobless-claims-show-unexpected-rise.html
Citigroup Reaches Deal to Repay U.S. Bailout Funds By ERIC DASH and JEFF ZELENY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/economy/15bank.html?ref=global-home
U.S. Said to Reconsider Quick Sale of Citigroup Stake By ERIC DASH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/global/17citi.html?hp
New York Times Editorial: Even Bigger Than Too Big to Fail. Copyright by New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009. Asserting that it “is among the strongest banks in the industry,” Citigroup announced on Monday that it would soon repay $20 billion of federal bailout money. This from a bank that has been in the red for most of the past two years, that is expected to limp through 2010 amid a torrent of loan losses, that saw its stock price close after the announcement at a measly $3.70 a share — and that, like other big banks, is still reluctant to lend. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/opinion/15tue1.html?th&emc=th
Exxon’s Natural Gas Holdings Grow With $31 Billion Deal By JAD MOUAWAD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009. In the biggest energy deal in years, Exxon Mobil said on Monday that it had agreed to buy XTO Energy, a domestic producer of natural gas, in an all-stock deal valued at $31 billion to increase its holdings in unconventional resources in the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/energy-environment/15exxon.html?ref=global-home
4 Big Mortgage Backers Swim in Ocean of Debt By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/17wards.html?adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1261073054-N0RASHJtEAk6d0iajvR+bQ
G.M. Plans to Close Saab After Sales Talks Collapse By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 18, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/business/global/19saab.html?ref=global-home
Your Money
Dec. 31 Is a Big Day for Online Charity By STEPHANIE STROM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. For charities that solicit donations online, Dec. 31 is more than New Year’s Eve — it is the most lucrative day of the year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/us/18charity.html?scp=1&sq=Dec.%2031%20Is%20a%20Big%20Day%20for%20Online%20Charity%20&st=cse
Charities Criticize Online Fund-Raising Contest by Chase By STEPHANIE STROM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 18, 2009. JPMorgan Chase & Company is coming under fire for the way it conducted an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 charities. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/us/19charity.html?th&emc=th
Nice Gift, but Ask if You Can Return It By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 18, 2009. So you think you’ve picked out the perfect gift for your loved one. But there’s one more thing you should consider: how hard will it be to return it? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/your-money/household-budgeting/19returns.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Estate Tax Is Expiring, but Death Won’t Last By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 17, 2009. WASHINGTON — A Congressional tax standoff has opened a window of opportunity for wealthy Americans determined to avoid paying up post-mortem. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/us/politics/18cong.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Housing
Interest Rates Are Low, but Banks Balk at Refinancing By DAVID STREITFELD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/economy/13rates.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Commodities
Gold: On the flip side. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 15 2009 20:43. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/gold-on-flip-side.html
December 15, 2009: Prescott Financial Sells Gold, Women & Sheep http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258566/december-15-2009/prescott-financial-sells-gold--women---sheep
Immigration
House Democrats push new comprehensive immigration bill By Ben Pershing. Copyright by The Washington Post. December 15, 2009 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/12/democrats_push_new_immigration.html?hpid=topnews
Immigration bill fails to mention gays. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News update Wed., Dec. 16, 2009. The measure takes major strides toward repairing America's broken immigration system. However, it does not include workers or same-sex couples. http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23864
GLBT
D.C. Council Approves Gay Marriage By IAN URBINA. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009. WASHINGTON — The City Council passed a measure Tuesday legalizing same-sex marriage, making the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction below the Mason-Dixon Line to allow such unions. The bill, which passed by an 11-to-2 vote, may still face obstacles in Congress, among city voters and in the courts, but most advocates say they expect it to become law by the spring. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has said he will sign it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16marriage.html?_r=1&hp
Houston Is Largest City to Elect Openly Gay Mayor By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/us/politics/13houston.html?th&emc=th
Faith, folly and Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill By Michael Gerson. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 18, 2009. It is sad when someone you care about threatens to do a foolish and destructive thing. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/17/AR2009121703673.html
California Companies Fight Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide By JESSE McKINLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 12, 2009. SAN FRANCISCO — As the political battle over same-sex marriage plays out in state capitals across the country, several California companies have emerged as the go-to players for opponents of the marriages. One of the companies, Mar/Com Services Inc., lists its business address here in San Francisco, a city well known for its large and politically active gay population. When Maine residents opposed to a new law permitting same-sex marriage decided earlier this year to challenge it, they hired Mar/Com to do the production work for the television and radio advertisements. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/us/13marriage.html?hpw
City council adopts Mercado resolution. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-16. The Chicago City Council adopted a resolution Dec. 2 regarding Puerto Rico teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, who was found murdered Nov. 14 in the commonwealth. Mercado, who was gay, was found decapitated, partially burned and dismembered on an isolated street. http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23836
POLITICS: Guide to the Gays. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-16 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23847
Linda Pauel: Hoping to hold court - Extended for the Online Edition of Windy City Times by Blair Mishleau. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-16 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23826
Religion
How to Fight the Religious Right - A guide to defending yourself against Fundamentalist Christians By Brian Elroy McKinley. Copyright © 1995-2008 Brian Elroy McKinle http://www.elroy.net/ehr/fighttheright.html y
New York Times Editorial: A Bishop’s Words. Copyright by New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. In the end it was not the power of repentance or compassion that compelled the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., to release more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests. It was a court order. The diocese had spent seven years fighting a lawsuit brought by The New York Times and three other newspapers to unseal the records in 23 lawsuits involving accusations against seven priests. The diocese, which settled those cases in 2002, was ready to battle all the way to the United States Supreme Court to keep the archive secret. It lost in October, when the justices declined to hear its appeal. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Technology
Will Web anonymity end as Facebook monetizes its gigantic customer profile database to become an "identity medium?" By Douglas MacMillan. Copyright by Business Week. December 14, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2009/tc20091214_734087.htm
F.T.C. Accuses Intel of Trying to Stifle Competition By STEVE LOHR. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/technology/companies/17chip.html?ref=global-home
With a New Phone, Google May Challenge Apple By MIGUEL HELFT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/technology/companies/14gphone.html?th&emc=th
Google Phone May Rankle Android Partners - Marketing its own mobile phone might turn Google into a rival to many companies it now counts as allies in building the Android operating system By Olga Kharif. Copyright by Business Week. December 15, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2009/tc20091215_283413.htm
Google Loses in French Copyright Case. Copyright By REUTERS. Published: December 18, 2009. PARIS (Reuters) — A Paris court on Friday found the Internet giant Google guilty of violating copyright by digitizing books and putting extracts online, following a legal challenge by French publishers. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/technology/companies/19google.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Google Is in Talks to Buy Yelp By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 18, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/technology/companies/19yelp.html?hpw
Forecast for 2010: The Coming Cloud 'Catastrophe' Mark Anderson predicts a big remote-computing service disaster, lost momentum for Microsoft, and growth in consumer payments for online news content By Arik Hesseldahl. Copyright by Business Week. December 11, 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2009/tc20091211_347388.htm
Europe Drops Microsoft Antitrust Case Over Browsers By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/global/17msft.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Travel
British Airways Crews Vote to Strike By NICOLA CLARK. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 14, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/global/15air.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Court Halts Strike at British Airways By JULIA WERDIGIER. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/business/global/18air.html?ref=global-home
A Takeoff, and Hope, for Boeing Dreamliner By WILLIAM YARDLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16flight.html?ref=global-home
Other
Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in U.S. By MICHAEL LUO and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 14, 2009. More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work. Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About 4 in 10 parents have noticed behavioral changes in their children that they attribute to their difficulties in finding work. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/us/15poll.html?th&emc=th
Entertainment
Man in the News: James Cameron By Matthew Garrahan. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 18 2009 20:15 | Last updated: December 18 2009 20:15. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/man-in-news-james-cameron.html
‘Up in the Air’ Nabs Some Golden Globe Love By BROOKS BARNES. Copyright by The New York Times. December 15, 2009, 8:58 AM http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/up-in-the-air-nabs-some-golden-globe-love/?ref=global-home
Comcast Introduces a Streaming TV Service By BRIAN STELTER. Published: December 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/media/16comcast.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Second City Looks Back in Laughter By LARRY ROHTER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/arts/16second.html?th&emc=th
Humor
Canadian Ice Fishing Crazy Canucks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x768VAsOQSw
Billy Dee Williams Tiger Woods Collectible Plates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgiCX_y1BW8
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In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
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Saturday, December 12, 2009
"Till death do us part" Newsletter - December 12, 2009
"Till death do us part" Newsletter - December 12, 2009
"We're going to enforce morality in California and then we'll spread from state to state, the same way the Prop 8 backers moved to Maine," Marcotte said. "If you want to protect traditional marriage, don't stop gay people from getting married," he said. "Stop straight people from getting divorced." John Marcotte
Man pushing divorce ban says he's playing it straight By Loretta Kalb. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 4, 2009. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - -- "Till death do us part" is no idle promise to John Marcotte, a Sacramento man bent on banning divorce in California. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-divorce-ban-1203-1204dec04,0,7047934.story
American (Traditional) Marriage By John Marcotte. Published: December 8, 2009. Posted in: Main, Press. http://rescuemarriage.org/2009/12/08/american_marriage/
RescueMarriage.org is the brain-child of concerned Christian and political activist John Marcotte, who felt strongly that Prop 8 did not go far enough in protecting traditional marriage. With the help of attorneys and friends, Marcotte is attempting to ban divorce in the State of California. http://rescuemarriage.org/about-rescue-marriage/
Defending marriage by banning divorce By Meghan Daum. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 11, 2009. I thought of that guy recently when I read that John Marcotte, the Sacramento, Calif., political activist and comedy writer who began campaigning last summer for a statewide ban on divorce and received the go-ahead from the California secretary of state to try to collect about 700,000 signatures to get it on the ballot in March. Marcotte, who is married and says his wife was among the first signers, calls the movement -- the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act -- a natural extension of the 2008 California Marriage Protection Act, aka Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. His Web site is rife with slogans such as "Closing the budget gap -- one marriage at a time" and " 'Till death do us part.' You're not dead yet." You can also buy T-shirts. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped1211daumdec11,0,6843547.column
New York State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson: These Words Need To Be Heard http://www.davidmixner.com/2009/12/new-york-state-senator-ruth-hassellthompson-these-words-need-to-be-heard.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DavidMixnerCom+%28DavidMixner.com%29
Separation of Church and State by Carlos T Mock, MD. December 12, 2009... However, The United States has recently gone from a State in which the balance of separation of Church and State has tipped to a State where religious groups are trying to impose their views on the government. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/separation-of-church-and-state.html
International
In Russia, New Times Are Reason for Debate By CLIFFORD J. LEVY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. MOSCOW — Vadim V. Vodyanitsky runs a fish processing plant in Russia’s Far East, and one question looms over his day, as crucial as the trawler schedules or the Pacific tidal patterns. What time is it in Moscow, 5,000 miles away? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/world/europe/07zones.html?hpw
Collider Sets Record, and Europe Takes U.S.’s Lead By DENNIS OVERBYE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/science/10collide.html?th&emc=th
Europe Pledges Billions for Climate Aid for Poor Nations By JAMES KANTER and ANDREW C. REVKIN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/science/earth/12climate.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Climate Deal Likely to Bear Big Price Tag By JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/science/earth/09cost.html?_r=1&hpw
British Bank Holds Steady on Rates and Buyback Plan By JULIA WERDIGIER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/business/global/11pound.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Bankers fury at UK bonus supertax - City warns of damage of 50% levy By Patrick Jenkins and Brooke Masters in London and Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 Published: December 9 2009 20:15 | Last updated: December 9 2009 23:49. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/bankers-fury-at-uk-bonus-supertax-city.html
China
Recession Elsewhere, but It’s Booming in China. By KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The Associated Press, via Xinhua. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/business/economy/10consume.html?th&emc=th
China’s Economic Power Unsettles the Neighbors By MICHAEL WINES. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/world/asia/10jakarta.html?th&emc=th
Mess-o-potamia
Iran Agrees to Nuclear Fuel Swap. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 12, 2009. Filed at 10:15 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/12/world/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Iran says Saudis seized atom expert By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 8 2009 17:26 | Last updated: December 8 2009 17:55. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/iran-says-saudis-seized-atom-expert.html
Iranian Student Protesters Clash With Police By NAZILA FATHI and ROBERT F. WORTH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/world/middleeast/08iran.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
In Iran, Protests Gaining a Radical Tinge By ROBERT F. WORTH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html?th&emc=th
Amnesty International Assails Iran’s Rights Record By ALAN COWELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html?ref=global-home
Coordinated Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 121 By STEVEN LEE MYERS and MARC SANTORA. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/world/middleeast/09iraq.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
National
Accepting Peace Prize, Obama Evokes ‘Just War’ By JEFF ZELENY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.html?ref=global-home
Poll Finds Slim Majority Back More Afghanistan Troops By ADAM NAGOURNEY and DALIA SUSSMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/world/asia/10poll.html?th&emc=th
McChrystal backs Obama’s Afghan strategy - General vows to beat back Taliban insurgency by mid-2011 By Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 8 2009 14:51 | Last updated: December 8 2009 15:37. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/afghan-war-commander-calls-new-strategy.html
U.S. Will Settle Indian Lawsuit for $3.4 Billion By CHARLIE SAVAGE. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09tribes.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: The ‘Terror Gap’ Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009. Under federal law, people who pose a heightened risk of violence cannot buy or own firearms, including convicted felons, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill and several other categories. Suspected terrorist is not one them. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/opinion/09wed2.html?th&emc=th
New Incidents Test Immunity to Terrorism on U.S. Soil By SCOTT SHANE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/12assess.html?ref=global-home
New Execution Method Is Used in Ohio By IAN URBINA. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 8, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09ohio.html?th&emc=th
House Ban on Acorn Grants Is Ruled Unconstitutional By JANIE LORBER. Published: December 11, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/politics/12acorn.html?th&emc=th
Top Lawyer Wins Primary to Replace Kennedy By ABBY GOODNOUGH. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/politics/09mass.html?th&emc=th
Atlanta Mayor Recount Goes to Reed By ROBBIE BROWN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009. ATLANTA — Kasim Reed, a lawyer and former state legislator, was elected mayor of Atlanta by a margin of 714 votes, according to a recount of last week’s vote that concluded on Wednesday afternoon. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/us/10atlanta.html?hpw
Health Care Reform
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Medical miracle. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 9 2009 20:03 | Last updated: December 9 2009 20:03. Prospects that the Senate will pass a bill to reform US healthcare brightened this week, as a possible compromise emerged over the “public option”. If the Senate can push this new measure through, as it should, Democrats in the House of Representatives must choke down their reservations and go along. Healthcare reform can then reach the president’s desk. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/financial-times-editorial-comment.html
New York Times Editorial: The Non-Public Option. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009. Ten Democratic senators are calling for abandoning the much-maligned “public option” — a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers — and replacing it with two programs that might achieve the same goal of expanding Americans’ choices and providing some competition. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/opinion/10thu1.html?th&emc=th
Health Care
Greenhouse Gases Imperil Health, E.P.A. Announces By JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/science/earth/08epa.html?th&emc=th
Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show By CHARLES DUHIGG. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/energy-environment/08water.html?th&emc=th
Miscarriage grief can haunt new pregnancies - Support group, Still Missed, offers help in Chicago region By Joel Hood. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 7, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-still-missed-07-dec07,0,1318765.story
Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics By DUFF WILSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html?hpw
Medicare Expands List of Covered Preventive Services to Include HIV Screening Tests http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/12/20091208a.html
GOP Bashing
An American triumph at Oslo By Kathleen Parker. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 11, 2009. After Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech, anyone still questioning whether he is really a Christian, rather than a Muslim aligned with fanaticism, needs to seek therapy forthwith. Anyone still unconvinced that Obama is really an American committed to his nation's values, rather than an impostor who doesn't pledge allegiance to his critics' satisfaction, should probably surrender to the asylum. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121003638.html
December 10, 2009: Teapocalypse - The Tea Party Split http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-10-2009/teapocalypse---the-tea-party-split
New York Times Editorial: Senator Bruno’s Legacy. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009. The conviction of Joseph Bruno, the former state senator who once was one of the most powerful state leaders in the country, is an indictment of the entire New York State Legislature. Mr. Bruno was convicted on two felony counts of “theft of honest services” after a trial that showed how he mingled taxpayers’ business with his own — and made it clear to one and all why state leaders have taken care not to clean up their legislative pigpen. There’s just way too much money to be made. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/opinion/09wed1.html?th&emc=th
SC lawmakers nix Sanford impeachment, back rebuke. Copyright by The Associated Press. Wednesday, December 9, 2009; 6:22 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/09/AR2009120903202.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Jenny Sanford files for divorce from S.C. Governor By Philip Rucker. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 11, 2009; 11:45 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121101503.html?wpisrc=newsletter
December 8, 2009: Gretchen Carlson Dumbs Down http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-8-2009/gretchen-carlson-dumbs-down
Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret C.I.A. Raids By JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 10, 2009. WASHINGTON — Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/politics/11blackwater.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
December 10, 2009: Beck - Not So Mellow Gold http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-10-2009/beck---not-so-mellow-gold
Dear Mr. Grim Reaper http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/dear-mr-grim-reaper.html
Chicagoland
Illinois prison likely to house detainees - Despite GOP concerns, facility seen as choice to replace Guantanamo By Peter Slevin and Peter Finn. Copyright by The Washington Post . Sunday, December 6, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/05/AR2009120502795.html?hpid=topnews
Poll shows Gov. Pat Quinn leading Democrats and former Attorney General Jim Ryan leading Republicans - Many voters in both parties undecided on candidate for governor By Rick Pearson. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 13, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gov-poll-13-bdogdec13,0,1579695.story
Todd Stroger a distant 3rd in poll - Dorothy Brown outpaces Cook County Board President Todd Stroger in poll of Democratic primary voters By Hal Dardick and Robert Becker. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 11, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-poll-county-presidentdec11,0,1399687.story Editorial note: Thank God!!!
Chicago parking meters: Some machines freeze up, and motorists fume - Inoperable machines only slightly higher than usual, parking firm says By James Janega. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. Dec ember 11, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-chicago-frozen-parking-meterdec11,0,1092693.story
Woman who died in high-rise fire called 911 By Jeremy Gorner, Carlos Sadovi and Liam Ford. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 10, 2009 10:46 AM http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/extra-alarm-fire-at-gold-coast-high-rise.html
Economy
Report Shows Strong Start to U.S. Retailers’ Holiday Season By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/business/economy/12econ.html?adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1260554444-KdDC1eqFDvr96whvVB7Spw
Obama Offers Help for Small Businesses By JEFF ZELENY and JACKIE CALMES. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 8, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/politics/09jobs.html?hpw
House Passes Far-Reaching Bill Tightening Financial Rules By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/business/12regulate.html?_r=1&hp
Many See the VAT Option as a Cure for Deficits By CATHERINE RAMPELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/business/11vat.html?th&emc=th
Administration slashes bailout loss estimate by $200 billion By David Cho. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 7, 2009; 10:17 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/06/AR2009120603133.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Treasury draws $936m from JPMorgan warrants - Auction ends government investment in the US bank By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 11 2009 17:20 | Last updated: December 11 2009 17:20 http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/treasury-draws-936m-from-jpmorgan.html
Citi Is Eager to Pay Back Bailout Aid By ERIC DASH. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/business/10bank.html?th&emc=th
G.M. Says It Hopes to Repay U.S. by End of 2010 By NICK BUNKLEY. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/business/09auto.html?hpw
Goldman’s Curbs on Bonuses Aim to Quell Uproar By LOUISE STORY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/business/11pay.html?hpw
GE chief attacks executive ‘greed’ By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 9 2009 21:25 | Last updated: December 9 2009 21:25. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/ge-chief-attacks-executive-greed.html
Your Money
Cable Freedom Is a Click Away By NICK BILTON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009... This quest for cable freedom has been a couple of years in the works. Before I called the cable company to bid my farewell I imagined that I would need a vast array of devices to fill the entertainment void: a device for games, something for television shows, a contraption for streaming movies through Netflix and, finally, something to control all of the above. But it turns out a computer can do all those tasks with some software upgrades and a wireless keyboard and mouse. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/personaltech/10basics.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1260464405-sOi/N73bAEXm75RWTOzyQQ
The Lure of Store Credit Cards, and the Hook By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/12cards.html?th&emc=th
Redeem All of Gift Card, or Give Store a Present By RON LIEBER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/12money.html?th&emc=th
Commodities
Weak dollar and oil demand shrink US trade gap - New US jobless claims rise unexpectedly By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 10 2009 14:26 | Last updated: December 10 2009 15:30. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/weak-dollar-and-oil-demand-shrink-us.html
Immigration
New York Times Editorial: An Illegal Immigration Patchwork. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009. States and localities have been taking immigration enforcement into their own hands out of frustration over Washington’s failure to enact comprehensive reform, over misguided and ineffective federal enforcement of existing rules and over a sense that America has lost control of its borders. Numerous states and towns have enacted harsh laws seeking to regulate the employment of undocumented workers, and, in some instances, keep them out of housing. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/opinion/11fri2.html?th&emc=th
Illegal Immigrant Students Publicly Take Up a Cause By JULIA PRESTON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/11student.html?th&emc=th
Immigration Officials Arrest 300 in California By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/12immig.html?th&emc=th
Bill O'Reilly lashes out at 'Law & Order' executive producer. Copyright by Yahoo News. Fri Dec 11, 2009; 1:34 pm ET. Sparking O'Reilly's ire was an episode of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" that aired earlier in the week, in which a crazed anti-immigration activist set out to murder the children of illegal immigrants. In one scene, a character named Randall Carver, played by veteran actor John Larroquette, is sitting on a park bench talking to Fin, the detective played by Ice-T. In defending the actions of the man who killed the immigrants’ children, Larroquette's character says, "Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, all of 'em, they are like a cancer spreading ignorance and hate...They've convinced folks that immigrants are the problem, not corporations that fail to pay a living wage or a broken health care system..." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20091211/en_ynews/ynews_en1030
GLBT
Senate Panel in N.J. Approves Gay Marriage Bill By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/nyregion/08marriage.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: Uphill Toward Equality. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009. The fight in New Jersey to legalize same-sex marriage cleared a crucial hurdle on Monday night, and it is now time for the rest of the state’s lawmakers to end a grievous violation of this nation’s promise of equal rights. The same-sex marriage bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee of the State Senate on Monday night following a day of emotionally charged testimony. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/opinion/10thu3.html?th&emc=th
Pro-GLBT 7th District candidates debate; Steans no-shows By Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. December 10, 2009 http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4141
2nd gay bishop for Episcopal Church, Anglicans By Christopher Weber and Rachel Zoll. Copyright by The Associated Press. December 10, 2009 http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4143
Religion
How to Fight the Religious Right - A guide to defending yourself against Fundamentalist Christians By Brian Elroy McKinley. Copyright © 1995-2008 Brian Elroy McKinle http://www.elroy.net/ehr/fighttheright.html y
New York Times Editorial: A Bishop’s Words. Copyright by New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. In the end it was not the power of repentance or compassion that compelled the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., to release more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests. It was a court order. The diocese had spent seven years fighting a lawsuit brought by The New York Times and three other newspapers to unseal the records in 23 lawsuits involving accusations against seven priests. The diocese, which settled those cases in 2002, was ready to battle all the way to the United States Supreme Court to keep the archive secret. It lost in October, when the justices declined to hear its appeal. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Technology
AT&T to Urge Customers to Use Less Wireless Data By JENNA WORTHAM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/companies/10iphone.html?hpw
Forward These E-Mail Suggestions From Readers By NICK BILTON. Copyright by The New York Times. December 11, 2009, 5:46 PM http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/forward-these-e-mail-suggestions-from-readers/?hpw
Microsoft Is Losing Fight for Consumers, Analyst Says By STEVE LOHR. Copyright by The New York Times. December 10, 2009, 10:00 pm http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/microsoft-is-losing-fight-for-consumers-analyst-says/?th&emc=th
Apple’s Game Changer, Downloading Now By JENNA WORTHAM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 5, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/technology/06apps.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Apple Countersues Nokia Over Patent Infringement. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/technology/12apple.html?th&emc=th
Travel
U.S. and Japan Reach Open Skies Deal. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 11, 2009. Filed at 11:51 p.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/11/business/AP-US-US-Japan-Flights.html?ref=global-home
What’s New, on and Off the Slopes By LIONEL BEEHNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/travel/13journeys.html?hpw
Other
Woods Is Taking ‘Indefinite Break’ By LARRY DORMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/sports/golf/12woods.html?_r=1&hp
Entertainment
New York Times Editorial: Concerns About Comcast-NBC. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. With technology changing Americans’ media experience at breakneck speed, it might seem quaint to worry about the merger of an old-style cable company with a beleaguered broadcast TV company. But there is much to be concerned about in Comcast’s proposed takeover of NBC and its sister company Universal Studios. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon3.html?th&emc=th
Beatles 3000 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI
Humor
‘Afghandyland,’ Where You Can’t Win and You Can’t Quit. Stephen Colbert had a creative use for the the tangled, spaghetti-like COIN strategy flowchart that NBC’s Richard Engel reported on last week: make it a board game, “Afghandyland.” In this video, Mr. Colbert begins with a critique of President Obama’s Nobel acceptance speech and breaks out the board game about 1:30 into the clip. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/afghandyland-where-you-cant-win-and-you-cant-quit/
Osama bin laden http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeKe6O7_zpI
The Power of a Badge..... http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/power-of-badge.html
In a bar... http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/in-bar.html
Ps. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, just go to my website: www.carlostmock.com and go the the subscription link. It will appear in your email every week.
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
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"We're going to enforce morality in California and then we'll spread from state to state, the same way the Prop 8 backers moved to Maine," Marcotte said. "If you want to protect traditional marriage, don't stop gay people from getting married," he said. "Stop straight people from getting divorced." John Marcotte
Man pushing divorce ban says he's playing it straight By Loretta Kalb. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 4, 2009. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - -- "Till death do us part" is no idle promise to John Marcotte, a Sacramento man bent on banning divorce in California. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-divorce-ban-1203-1204dec04,0,7047934.story
American (Traditional) Marriage By John Marcotte. Published: December 8, 2009. Posted in: Main, Press. http://rescuemarriage.org/2009/12/08/american_marriage/
RescueMarriage.org is the brain-child of concerned Christian and political activist John Marcotte, who felt strongly that Prop 8 did not go far enough in protecting traditional marriage. With the help of attorneys and friends, Marcotte is attempting to ban divorce in the State of California. http://rescuemarriage.org/about-rescue-marriage/
Defending marriage by banning divorce By Meghan Daum. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 11, 2009. I thought of that guy recently when I read that John Marcotte, the Sacramento, Calif., political activist and comedy writer who began campaigning last summer for a statewide ban on divorce and received the go-ahead from the California secretary of state to try to collect about 700,000 signatures to get it on the ballot in March. Marcotte, who is married and says his wife was among the first signers, calls the movement -- the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act -- a natural extension of the 2008 California Marriage Protection Act, aka Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. His Web site is rife with slogans such as "Closing the budget gap -- one marriage at a time" and " 'Till death do us part.' You're not dead yet." You can also buy T-shirts. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped1211daumdec11,0,6843547.column
New York State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson: These Words Need To Be Heard http://www.davidmixner.com/2009/12/new-york-state-senator-ruth-hassellthompson-these-words-need-to-be-heard.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DavidMixnerCom+%28DavidMixner.com%29
Separation of Church and State by Carlos T Mock, MD. December 12, 2009... However, The United States has recently gone from a State in which the balance of separation of Church and State has tipped to a State where religious groups are trying to impose their views on the government. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/separation-of-church-and-state.html
International
In Russia, New Times Are Reason for Debate By CLIFFORD J. LEVY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. MOSCOW — Vadim V. Vodyanitsky runs a fish processing plant in Russia’s Far East, and one question looms over his day, as crucial as the trawler schedules or the Pacific tidal patterns. What time is it in Moscow, 5,000 miles away? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/world/europe/07zones.html?hpw
Collider Sets Record, and Europe Takes U.S.’s Lead By DENNIS OVERBYE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/science/10collide.html?th&emc=th
Europe Pledges Billions for Climate Aid for Poor Nations By JAMES KANTER and ANDREW C. REVKIN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/science/earth/12climate.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Climate Deal Likely to Bear Big Price Tag By JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/science/earth/09cost.html?_r=1&hpw
British Bank Holds Steady on Rates and Buyback Plan By JULIA WERDIGIER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/business/global/11pound.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Bankers fury at UK bonus supertax - City warns of damage of 50% levy By Patrick Jenkins and Brooke Masters in London and Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 Published: December 9 2009 20:15 | Last updated: December 9 2009 23:49. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/bankers-fury-at-uk-bonus-supertax-city.html
China
Recession Elsewhere, but It’s Booming in China. By KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The Associated Press, via Xinhua. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/business/economy/10consume.html?th&emc=th
China’s Economic Power Unsettles the Neighbors By MICHAEL WINES. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/world/asia/10jakarta.html?th&emc=th
Mess-o-potamia
Iran Agrees to Nuclear Fuel Swap. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 12, 2009. Filed at 10:15 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/12/world/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Iran says Saudis seized atom expert By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 8 2009 17:26 | Last updated: December 8 2009 17:55. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/iran-says-saudis-seized-atom-expert.html
Iranian Student Protesters Clash With Police By NAZILA FATHI and ROBERT F. WORTH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/world/middleeast/08iran.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
In Iran, Protests Gaining a Radical Tinge By ROBERT F. WORTH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html?th&emc=th
Amnesty International Assails Iran’s Rights Record By ALAN COWELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html?ref=global-home
Coordinated Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 121 By STEVEN LEE MYERS and MARC SANTORA. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/world/middleeast/09iraq.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
National
Accepting Peace Prize, Obama Evokes ‘Just War’ By JEFF ZELENY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.html?ref=global-home
Poll Finds Slim Majority Back More Afghanistan Troops By ADAM NAGOURNEY and DALIA SUSSMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/world/asia/10poll.html?th&emc=th
McChrystal backs Obama’s Afghan strategy - General vows to beat back Taliban insurgency by mid-2011 By Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 8 2009 14:51 | Last updated: December 8 2009 15:37. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/afghan-war-commander-calls-new-strategy.html
U.S. Will Settle Indian Lawsuit for $3.4 Billion By CHARLIE SAVAGE. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09tribes.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: The ‘Terror Gap’ Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009. Under federal law, people who pose a heightened risk of violence cannot buy or own firearms, including convicted felons, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill and several other categories. Suspected terrorist is not one them. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/opinion/09wed2.html?th&emc=th
New Incidents Test Immunity to Terrorism on U.S. Soil By SCOTT SHANE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/12assess.html?ref=global-home
New Execution Method Is Used in Ohio By IAN URBINA. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 8, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09ohio.html?th&emc=th
House Ban on Acorn Grants Is Ruled Unconstitutional By JANIE LORBER. Published: December 11, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/politics/12acorn.html?th&emc=th
Top Lawyer Wins Primary to Replace Kennedy By ABBY GOODNOUGH. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/politics/09mass.html?th&emc=th
Atlanta Mayor Recount Goes to Reed By ROBBIE BROWN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009. ATLANTA — Kasim Reed, a lawyer and former state legislator, was elected mayor of Atlanta by a margin of 714 votes, according to a recount of last week’s vote that concluded on Wednesday afternoon. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/us/10atlanta.html?hpw
Health Care Reform
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Medical miracle. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 9 2009 20:03 | Last updated: December 9 2009 20:03. Prospects that the Senate will pass a bill to reform US healthcare brightened this week, as a possible compromise emerged over the “public option”. If the Senate can push this new measure through, as it should, Democrats in the House of Representatives must choke down their reservations and go along. Healthcare reform can then reach the president’s desk. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/financial-times-editorial-comment.html
New York Times Editorial: The Non-Public Option. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009. Ten Democratic senators are calling for abandoning the much-maligned “public option” — a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers — and replacing it with two programs that might achieve the same goal of expanding Americans’ choices and providing some competition. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/opinion/10thu1.html?th&emc=th
Health Care
Greenhouse Gases Imperil Health, E.P.A. Announces By JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/science/earth/08epa.html?th&emc=th
Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show By CHARLES DUHIGG. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/energy-environment/08water.html?th&emc=th
Miscarriage grief can haunt new pregnancies - Support group, Still Missed, offers help in Chicago region By Joel Hood. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 7, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-still-missed-07-dec07,0,1318765.story
Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics By DUFF WILSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html?hpw
Medicare Expands List of Covered Preventive Services to Include HIV Screening Tests http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/12/20091208a.html
GOP Bashing
An American triumph at Oslo By Kathleen Parker. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 11, 2009. After Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech, anyone still questioning whether he is really a Christian, rather than a Muslim aligned with fanaticism, needs to seek therapy forthwith. Anyone still unconvinced that Obama is really an American committed to his nation's values, rather than an impostor who doesn't pledge allegiance to his critics' satisfaction, should probably surrender to the asylum. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121003638.html
December 10, 2009: Teapocalypse - The Tea Party Split http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-10-2009/teapocalypse---the-tea-party-split
New York Times Editorial: Senator Bruno’s Legacy. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 8, 2009. The conviction of Joseph Bruno, the former state senator who once was one of the most powerful state leaders in the country, is an indictment of the entire New York State Legislature. Mr. Bruno was convicted on two felony counts of “theft of honest services” after a trial that showed how he mingled taxpayers’ business with his own — and made it clear to one and all why state leaders have taken care not to clean up their legislative pigpen. There’s just way too much money to be made. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/opinion/09wed1.html?th&emc=th
SC lawmakers nix Sanford impeachment, back rebuke. Copyright by The Associated Press. Wednesday, December 9, 2009; 6:22 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/09/AR2009120903202.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Jenny Sanford files for divorce from S.C. Governor By Philip Rucker. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 11, 2009; 11:45 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121101503.html?wpisrc=newsletter
December 8, 2009: Gretchen Carlson Dumbs Down http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-8-2009/gretchen-carlson-dumbs-down
Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret C.I.A. Raids By JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 10, 2009. WASHINGTON — Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/politics/11blackwater.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
December 10, 2009: Beck - Not So Mellow Gold http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-10-2009/beck---not-so-mellow-gold
Dear Mr. Grim Reaper http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/dear-mr-grim-reaper.html
Chicagoland
Illinois prison likely to house detainees - Despite GOP concerns, facility seen as choice to replace Guantanamo By Peter Slevin and Peter Finn. Copyright by The Washington Post . Sunday, December 6, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/05/AR2009120502795.html?hpid=topnews
Poll shows Gov. Pat Quinn leading Democrats and former Attorney General Jim Ryan leading Republicans - Many voters in both parties undecided on candidate for governor By Rick Pearson. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 13, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gov-poll-13-bdogdec13,0,1579695.story
Todd Stroger a distant 3rd in poll - Dorothy Brown outpaces Cook County Board President Todd Stroger in poll of Democratic primary voters By Hal Dardick and Robert Becker. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 11, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-poll-county-presidentdec11,0,1399687.story Editorial note: Thank God!!!
Chicago parking meters: Some machines freeze up, and motorists fume - Inoperable machines only slightly higher than usual, parking firm says By James Janega. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. Dec ember 11, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-chicago-frozen-parking-meterdec11,0,1092693.story
Woman who died in high-rise fire called 911 By Jeremy Gorner, Carlos Sadovi and Liam Ford. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 10, 2009 10:46 AM http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/extra-alarm-fire-at-gold-coast-high-rise.html
Economy
Report Shows Strong Start to U.S. Retailers’ Holiday Season By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/business/economy/12econ.html?adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1260554444-KdDC1eqFDvr96whvVB7Spw
Obama Offers Help for Small Businesses By JEFF ZELENY and JACKIE CALMES. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 8, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/politics/09jobs.html?hpw
House Passes Far-Reaching Bill Tightening Financial Rules By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/business/12regulate.html?_r=1&hp
Many See the VAT Option as a Cure for Deficits By CATHERINE RAMPELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/business/11vat.html?th&emc=th
Administration slashes bailout loss estimate by $200 billion By David Cho. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, December 7, 2009; 10:17 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/06/AR2009120603133.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Treasury draws $936m from JPMorgan warrants - Auction ends government investment in the US bank By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 11 2009 17:20 | Last updated: December 11 2009 17:20 http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/treasury-draws-936m-from-jpmorgan.html
Citi Is Eager to Pay Back Bailout Aid By ERIC DASH. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/business/10bank.html?th&emc=th
G.M. Says It Hopes to Repay U.S. by End of 2010 By NICK BUNKLEY. Published: December 8, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/business/09auto.html?hpw
Goldman’s Curbs on Bonuses Aim to Quell Uproar By LOUISE STORY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/business/11pay.html?hpw
GE chief attacks executive ‘greed’ By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 9 2009 21:25 | Last updated: December 9 2009 21:25. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/ge-chief-attacks-executive-greed.html
Your Money
Cable Freedom Is a Click Away By NICK BILTON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009... This quest for cable freedom has been a couple of years in the works. Before I called the cable company to bid my farewell I imagined that I would need a vast array of devices to fill the entertainment void: a device for games, something for television shows, a contraption for streaming movies through Netflix and, finally, something to control all of the above. But it turns out a computer can do all those tasks with some software upgrades and a wireless keyboard and mouse. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/personaltech/10basics.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1260464405-sOi/N73bAEXm75RWTOzyQQ
The Lure of Store Credit Cards, and the Hook By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/12cards.html?th&emc=th
Redeem All of Gift Card, or Give Store a Present By RON LIEBER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/12money.html?th&emc=th
Commodities
Weak dollar and oil demand shrink US trade gap - New US jobless claims rise unexpectedly By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 10 2009 14:26 | Last updated: December 10 2009 15:30. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/weak-dollar-and-oil-demand-shrink-us.html
Immigration
New York Times Editorial: An Illegal Immigration Patchwork. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009. States and localities have been taking immigration enforcement into their own hands out of frustration over Washington’s failure to enact comprehensive reform, over misguided and ineffective federal enforcement of existing rules and over a sense that America has lost control of its borders. Numerous states and towns have enacted harsh laws seeking to regulate the employment of undocumented workers, and, in some instances, keep them out of housing. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/opinion/11fri2.html?th&emc=th
Illegal Immigrant Students Publicly Take Up a Cause By JULIA PRESTON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/11student.html?th&emc=th
Immigration Officials Arrest 300 in California By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/12immig.html?th&emc=th
Bill O'Reilly lashes out at 'Law & Order' executive producer. Copyright by Yahoo News. Fri Dec 11, 2009; 1:34 pm ET. Sparking O'Reilly's ire was an episode of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" that aired earlier in the week, in which a crazed anti-immigration activist set out to murder the children of illegal immigrants. In one scene, a character named Randall Carver, played by veteran actor John Larroquette, is sitting on a park bench talking to Fin, the detective played by Ice-T. In defending the actions of the man who killed the immigrants’ children, Larroquette's character says, "Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, all of 'em, they are like a cancer spreading ignorance and hate...They've convinced folks that immigrants are the problem, not corporations that fail to pay a living wage or a broken health care system..." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20091211/en_ynews/ynews_en1030
GLBT
Senate Panel in N.J. Approves Gay Marriage Bill By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/nyregion/08marriage.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: Uphill Toward Equality. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009. The fight in New Jersey to legalize same-sex marriage cleared a crucial hurdle on Monday night, and it is now time for the rest of the state’s lawmakers to end a grievous violation of this nation’s promise of equal rights. The same-sex marriage bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee of the State Senate on Monday night following a day of emotionally charged testimony. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/opinion/10thu3.html?th&emc=th
Pro-GLBT 7th District candidates debate; Steans no-shows By Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. December 10, 2009 http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4141
2nd gay bishop for Episcopal Church, Anglicans By Christopher Weber and Rachel Zoll. Copyright by The Associated Press. December 10, 2009 http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4143
Religion
How to Fight the Religious Right - A guide to defending yourself against Fundamentalist Christians By Brian Elroy McKinley. Copyright © 1995-2008 Brian Elroy McKinle http://www.elroy.net/ehr/fighttheright.html y
New York Times Editorial: A Bishop’s Words. Copyright by New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. In the end it was not the power of repentance or compassion that compelled the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., to release more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests. It was a court order. The diocese had spent seven years fighting a lawsuit brought by The New York Times and three other newspapers to unseal the records in 23 lawsuits involving accusations against seven priests. The diocese, which settled those cases in 2002, was ready to battle all the way to the United States Supreme Court to keep the archive secret. It lost in October, when the justices declined to hear its appeal. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Technology
AT&T to Urge Customers to Use Less Wireless Data By JENNA WORTHAM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/companies/10iphone.html?hpw
Forward These E-Mail Suggestions From Readers By NICK BILTON. Copyright by The New York Times. December 11, 2009, 5:46 PM http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/forward-these-e-mail-suggestions-from-readers/?hpw
Microsoft Is Losing Fight for Consumers, Analyst Says By STEVE LOHR. Copyright by The New York Times. December 10, 2009, 10:00 pm http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/microsoft-is-losing-fight-for-consumers-analyst-says/?th&emc=th
Apple’s Game Changer, Downloading Now By JENNA WORTHAM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 5, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/technology/06apps.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Apple Countersues Nokia Over Patent Infringement. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/technology/12apple.html?th&emc=th
Travel
U.S. and Japan Reach Open Skies Deal. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 11, 2009. Filed at 11:51 p.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/11/business/AP-US-US-Japan-Flights.html?ref=global-home
What’s New, on and Off the Slopes By LIONEL BEEHNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/travel/13journeys.html?hpw
Other
Woods Is Taking ‘Indefinite Break’ By LARRY DORMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/sports/golf/12woods.html?_r=1&hp
Entertainment
New York Times Editorial: Concerns About Comcast-NBC. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 6, 2009. With technology changing Americans’ media experience at breakneck speed, it might seem quaint to worry about the merger of an old-style cable company with a beleaguered broadcast TV company. But there is much to be concerned about in Comcast’s proposed takeover of NBC and its sister company Universal Studios. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon3.html?th&emc=th
Beatles 3000 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI
Humor
‘Afghandyland,’ Where You Can’t Win and You Can’t Quit. Stephen Colbert had a creative use for the the tangled, spaghetti-like COIN strategy flowchart that NBC’s Richard Engel reported on last week: make it a board game, “Afghandyland.” In this video, Mr. Colbert begins with a critique of President Obama’s Nobel acceptance speech and breaks out the board game about 1:30 into the clip. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/afghandyland-where-you-cant-win-and-you-cant-quit/
Osama bin laden http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeKe6O7_zpI
The Power of a Badge..... http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/power-of-badge.html
In a bar... http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/12/in-bar.html
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In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
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Saturday, December 5, 2009
A right to say 'I do' Newsletter - December 5, 2009
A right to say 'I do' Newsletter - December 5, 2009
“The reasoning in the declaration is so contorted that it brings to mind the dire warnings from years past of what would happen if blacks and whites were allowed to marry -- not to mention similar references to what the Almighty purportedly intended. This sort of comparison irritates many African Americans who oppose same-sex marriage, but I can see no reason why the civil right extended by the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage) is any different than the one sought by gays and lesbians. Marriage has certain economic advantages, and to withhold them based on nothing more than religious preference or, at bottom, a certain disgust entrenched in convention, is clearly a civil rights matter. In the end, the courts will decide this question. That's what they're for. It's doubtful that the voters of Virginia would have allowed Mildred and Richard Loving to tie the knot back in 1967 any more than the public in general approves of same-sex marriage today. Such a legal case, spearheaded by the political odd couple of David Boies and Ted Olson, is likely to reach the Supreme Court in the not-too-distant future. Then, I suspect, wedding bells will ring through the land -- and, after a pause, America will wonder what the fuss was all about.” Richard Cohen
A right to say 'I do' By Richard Cohen. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, December 1, 2009. The truth is that if Maj. Nidal Hasan, the accused killer of 13 people at Fort Hood, had entered the officers club there with a nice handbag on his arm, perhaps a Gucci tote, he would have been out of the Army by the end of the week. Since he was merely antisocial, a misfit, an incompetent psychiatrist and a likely Islamic fanatic, he was retained and promoted. This says something about America. On the subject of gays, we are a tad nuts ourselves. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113003158.html
International
The Dubai Crisis By PATRICK SEALE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 29, 2009. The tragedy of the black hole in Dubai’s finances is that it has dealt a blow not only to its own reputation but to that of the United Arab Emirates — and beyond that to the Arab Gulf as a whole. One might even go so far as to say that it has dealt a painful blow to the entire Arab world. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/opinion/30iht-edseale.html?ref=global
In Wake of Dubai, Trying to Predict the Next Blowup By GRAHAM BOWLEY and CATHERINE RAMPELL. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 30, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/business/global/01debt.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: A Vote for Intolerance. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 30, 2009. Disgraceful. That is the only way to describe the success of a right-wing initiative to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland, where 57 percent of voters cast ballots for a bigoted and mean-spirited measure. Under Switzerland’s system of direct rule, the referendum is binding. Switzerland’s 400,000 or so Muslims, most of whom come from Kosovo and Turkey, are legally barred from building minarets as of now. We can only hope that the ban is quickly challenged, and that the Swiss courts will find a way to get rid of it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/opinion/01Tue3.html?th&emc=th
Russian news reports: 102 die in nightclub in blast, fire caused by pyrotechnics By JIM HEINTZ. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 1:35 a.m. CST, December 5, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-eu-russia-nightclub-blast,0,6202318.story
Italian Jury Convicts U.S. Student of Murder By RACHEL DONADIO. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/world/europe/05italy.html?_r=1&hp
Main Paris Museums Closed Due to Strike. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 2, 2009. Filed at 10:23 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/02/world/AP-EU-France-Museum-Strike.html?ref=global-home
Eurozone unemployment at 11-year high - Employers shed jobs despite signs of recovery By Stanley Pignal in Brussels. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 12:39 | Last updated: December 1 2009 12:39. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/eurozone-unemployment-at-11-year-high.html
European Bank Holds Steady on Rate By MATTHEW SALTMARSH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/global/04euro.html?ref=global-home
Japan’s Central Bank Takes Steps to Lift Economy By HIROKO TABUCHI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/global/02yen.html?ref=global-home
Conservative Appears to Have Won in Honduras By ELISABETH MALKIN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 30, 2009. TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Porfirio Lobo, a longtime conservative politician, appeared to have won on Sunday in the Honduran presidential election, which many hoped could help the country emerge from the crisis caused by last summer’s coup and end its isolation. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
China
Dangers of an Overheated China By TYLER COWEN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/economy/29view.html?hpw
Mess-o-potamia
Obama announces 30,000 additional troops for Afghanistan By William Branigin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, December 1, 2009; 9:09 PM. President Obama outlined a plan Tuesday night to speed the deployment of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan early next year, nearly tripling the force he inherited at the start of his presidency, and then to start withdrawing American personnel in July 2011 as a way to prod the Afghan government to accept greater responsibility for fighting the radical Islamist Taliban movement and securing the country. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120101231.html?hpid=topnews
Before Audience of Cadets, a Sobering Message of War By ALESSANDRA STANLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/arts/television/02watch.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
McChrystal: Strengthening Afghan forces 'most important thing we do' By Joshua Partlow. Copyright By The Washington Post. Wednesday, December 2, 2009; 9:47 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120200624.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Gates Says Afghan Drawdown Timing Is Flexible By DAVID STOUT. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/world/asia/04policy.html?th&emc=th. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/gates-says-afghan-drawdown-timing-is.html
NATO chief: 25 countries to help in Afghan war By Mary Beth Sheridan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 4, 2009; 9:57 AM. BRUSSELS -- NATO leaders said Friday that 25 countries have pledged to back up the U.S. escalation in Afghanistan with 7,000 extra troops, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pressed American allies to firm up their commitments. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120400621.html?hpid=topnews
C.I.A. to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan By SCOTT SHANE. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/world/asia/04drones.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Pakistan’s Leader, Under Pressure, Cedes Nuclear Office By SABRINA TAVERNISE and DAVID E. SANGER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Asif Ali Zardari has ceded his position in Pakistan’s nuclear command structure to his prime minister, in a sudden political maneuver widely seen as a fresh sign of turmoil on the eve of President Obama’s strategy announcement for the region. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/asia/29pstan.html?th&emc=th
Suicide bombers kill 40 at Pakistan mosque By Pamela Constable and Shaiq Hussain. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 4, 2009; 10:08 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120400673.html?hpid=topnews
Iran announces plans for 10 new uranium enrichment plants By Thomas Erdbrink. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009; 12:12 PM. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112900992.html?hpid=topnews
Britain Says Iran Has Freed Five Detained Sailors By ALAN COWELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/world/middleeast/03sailors.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Oil Companies Look to the Future in Iraq By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 30, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/middleeast/01iraqoil.html?hpw
National
Tacoma Suspect Is Killed by Police Officer By WILLIAM YARDLEY and JACK HEALY. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 1, 2009. SEATTLE — A man suspected of fatally shooting four uniformed police officers was shot and killed early Tuesday by a Seattle police officer who chanced upon him during a routine patrol. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/us/02tacoma.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
New York Times Editorial: No Place for (Registered) Lobbyists. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. The Obama administration has roiled Washington’s special-interest galaxy by deciding to unseat hundreds of registered lobbyists from government advisory boards. A precise roster has yet to be done. But lobbyists clearly should have no place on the more than 915 advisory panels (with 60,000 members) laced across 52 federal agencies that seek “outside” expert advice. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04fri4.html?ref=global
House votes to extend tax on wealthy estates By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Thursday, December 3, 2009; 2:44 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120302154.html?hpid=topnews
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: It's time to give wannabe TV stars a taste of reality. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 30, 2009. What's to be done with all these reality TV stars and wannabes littering the American landscape? Jon and Kate were annoying enough, dragging around their eight props -- er, kids. Then there was the balloon boy who wasn't. For several agonizing hours we all thought this 6-year-old kid was flying free above Colorado in a giant balloon, only to learn it was all a hoax by Mom and Dad to "better market" themselves for a reality TV show. And now we have two more aspiring reality TV celebrities, this time crashing a state dinner Tuesday at the White House. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1911139,CST-EDT-edit_30b.article
Aide: Baucus nominated girlfriend for US attorney By THOMAS PEIPERT. Copyright by The Associated Press. Saturday, December 5, 2009; 11:56 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/05/AR2009120500291.html?hpid=topnews
Recount Likely in Atlanta Mayor Race By SHAILA DEWAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/us/03atlanta.html?hpw
Chelsea Clinton Is Engaged By PETER BAKER. Copyright by Reuters. November 30, 2009, 11:34 AM http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/chelsea-clinton-is-engaged/?ref=global-home
Health Care Reform
Senate health bill gets a boost - Measure wouldn't increase insurance costs for most, CBO says By Lori Montgomery. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, December 1, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113004391.html?wpisrc=newsletter
New York Times Editorial; Good News on Premiums. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. The health insurance industry frightened Americans — and gave Republicans a shrill talking point — when it declared in October that proposed reform legislation would drive up insurance costs for virtually everyone by as much as thousands of dollars a year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office persuasively contradicted that claim this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04fri1.html?th&emc=th
Reform or Else By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. Health care reform hangs in the balance. Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible. But if they’re really concerned with fiscal responsibility, they shouldn’t be worried about what would happen if health reform passes. They should, instead, be worried about what would happen if it doesn’t pass. For America can’t get control of its budget without controlling health care costs — and this is our last, best chance to deal with these costs in a rational way. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04krugman.html?th&emc=th
New Hopes on Health Care for American Indians By PAM BELLUCK. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/health/02indian.html?th&emc=th
Health Care
N.I.H. Expands Stem Cells Lines Available for Research By NICHOLAS WADE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/science/03stem.html?hpw
Abortion Battle Shifts to Clinic in Nebraska By MONICA DAVEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. BELLEVUE, Neb. — The national battle over abortion, for decades firmly planted outside the Kansas clinic of Dr. George R. Tiller, has erupted here in suburban Omaha, where a longtime colleague has taken up the cause of late-term abortions. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/us/04abortion.html?hpw
When perfume becomes a nuisance (or a health issue) By Susan Carpenter. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. November 29, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/style/la-igw-perfumeetiquette29-2009nov29,0,1196014.story
GOP Bashing
A party both united and divided - Opposition to Obama is strong, but Republicans are split on GOP's direction and leaders By Jon Cohen and Dan Balz. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, November 30, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112902935.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
South Carolina Rift Highlights Debate Over G.O.P. By SHAILA DEWAN. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 28, 2009. CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Senator Lindsey Graham joined forces last month with Senator John Kerry on a compromise to the climate change legislation known as cap and trade, it was the last straw for the Charleston County Republican Party. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/politics/29senators.html?th&emc=th
Palin needlessly fans 'birther' flames BY ALEX KOPPELMAN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 5, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1922654,editorial-palin-fans-birther-flames-120509.article
In wake of Wash. shootings, Huckabee facing hard questions about parole record By Perry Bacon Jr. and Garance Franke-Ruta. Monday, November 30, 2009; 7:09 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113002017.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics
Invading Iraq was not just a disaster: it was illegal By Johan Steyn. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 30 2009 19:56 | Last updated: November 30 2009 19:56. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/invading-iraq-was-not-just-disaster-it.html
Chicagoland
Quinn vs. Hynes: Two very different men BY CAROL MARIN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 5, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1922527,CST-EDT-carol06.article
Cook County Board votes to cut sales tax despite Stroger plea by Hal Dardick at 10:57 a.m.; last updated at 2:55 p.m. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 1, 2009 http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/12/cook-county-showdown-on-stroger-tax-veto.html
County board candidates vie for gay vote by Meghan Streit. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-02 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23694
New area code rings up unexpected charges for some condo boards - Security entrances may need upgrade to cope with '872' By Kristen Mack. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 30, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-new-area-codenov30,0,1429175.story
Economy
U.S. Economy Lost Only 11,000 Jobs in November By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by the New York Times. Published: December 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/business/economy/05jobs.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Surprising jobs strength provides some promise By Gail MarksJarvis. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 5, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-tc-biz-jobs-1204-1205-dec05,0,4676030.column
US factory orders rise in October By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 4 2009 16:01 | Last updated: December 4 2009 16:01. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-factory-orders-rise-in-october.html
November retail sales slip 0.3%, a gloomy surprise - 5% to 8% growth originally predicted, after two months of year-over-year gains By Andrea Chang. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 11:32 a.m. CST, December 3, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-retail-sales-dec3,0,1662775.story
Across U.S., Food Stamp Use Soars and Stigma Fades By JASON DePARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
The right reform for the Fed By Ben Bernanke. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702322.html
Washington Post Editorial: Nibbling at Mr. Bernanke - The Fed chairman has earned a second term, whatever his cranky critics think. Copyright by the Washington Post. Friday, December 4, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120304086.html
Fears grow about overheated US debt market - Controversial financial deals make comeback By Henny Sender in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 22:00 | Last updated: December 1 2009 22:00. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/fears-grow-about-overheated-us-debt.html
Treasury secretary challenges Goldman aid claims - Geithner says all banks risked being wiped out By Tom Braithwaite in Washington and Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 5 2009 00:49 | Last updated: December 5 2009 00:49. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/treasury-secretary-challenges-goldman.html
Move to Repay Aid Helps Bank of America Shed Stigma By LOUISE STORY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/business/03bank.html?th&emc=th
Citigroup Stands Alone By ANDREW MARTIN and ERIC DASH. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009. Life just got harder for Vikram S. Pandit. A day after Bank of America announced that it would repay its federal bailout money, Citigroup and Mr. Pandit, its chief executive, were left in the uncomfortable position of being the last of the Wall Street giants to remain tethered to the state. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/04bank.html?th&emc=th
G.M. Asks Its Chief to Resign By BILL VLASIC. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/02motors.html?th&emc=th
Housing
October pending home sales rise for ninth straight month to highest level since March 2006. J.W. ELPHINSTONE. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 11:32 a.m. CST, December 1, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-pending-home-sales,0,838554.story
US commercial mortgage default rate at 3.4% By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 05:01 | Last updated: December 1 2009 05:01 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/285da848-de1b-11de-b8e2-00144feabdc0.html
U.S. Will Push Mortgage Firms to Reduce More Loan Payments By PETER S. GOODMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/economy/29modify.html?th&emc=th
Average rates on 30-year mortgages drop to 4.71 percent, setting new all-time low BY ALAN ZIBEL. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 11:13 a.m. CST, December 3, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-mortgage-rates,0,7764598.story
Commodities
Gold soars past $1,200 to new record high - Wall Street hits fresh peak for year as traders shrug off jobs data By Jamie Chisholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 2 2009 07:07 | Last updated: December 2 2009 16:52. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/gold-soars-past-1200-to-new-record-high.html
GLBT
D.C. council votes for same-sex marriage by Lisa Keen ©2009 Keen News Service. News update Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23662
Washington Post Editorial: Washington Post Editorial: Can this marriage be saved? A potential compromise between the District and the Archdiocese is already at work at Georgetown and in San Francisco. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 5, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404166.html
Web site to out priests who are gay but anti-gay By William Wan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 5, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404097.html?hpid=topnews. Editorial comment: I think the time has come to show the catholic Church for what it is—Hypocrites
New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill By JEREMY W. PETERS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/nyregion/03marriage.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial; Voting for Discrimination. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009. The New York State Senate held an emotional debate on Wednesday in which there was talk of belief and conscience and eloquent reminders of earlier civil rights struggles. It then took a stand against equality and fairness. By a 38-to-24 vote, lawmakers chose to continue the state’s discrimination against couples who want to get married and simply happen to be the same sex. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/opinion/03thu2.html?th&emc=th
Gaywatch - Meredith Baxter & New York State Senate http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-3-2009/gaywatch---meredith-baxter---new-york-state-senate
Gay, lesbian judges in Cook County note their progress - New alliance is raising profile of gay judges By Steve Schmadeke. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 6, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gay-judges-bd-06dec06,0,4383922.story
Some black youth feel more at home in Boystown, but get chilly reception. By Dawn Turner Trice. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 30, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-trice-30nov30,0,6401978.column
Technology
Don’t Take This Bait (but You’re Safe if You Do) By RANDALL STROSS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009. THE e-mail message from the bank looks real. It isn’t. Law enforcement agencies that oversee computer security are well versed in the many permutations of “phishing,” the scam in which fraudsters try to lure people to a counterfeit replica of their bank’s Web site, for example, and have them part with their user names and passwords. But even the professionally wary can be gulled — or close to it. Just ask Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/29digi.html?th&emc=th
Comcast Gets NBC From G.E. in Deal That Reshapes TV By TIM ARANGO. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04nbc.html?_r=1&hp
Apple Strikes Deal to Buy the Music Start-Up Lala By BRAD STONE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/technology/companies/05apple.html?th&emc=th
Religion
The Marriage-Go-Round - Across the United States, adults are partnering and re-partnering at unprecedented rates. Sociologist Andrew Cherlin is alarmed by the impact this “marriage-go-round” is having on America’s children. By Maria Blackburn. Copyright by The Johns Hopkins University Arts and Sciences Magazine. Fall 2009. http://krieger.jhu.edu/magazine/f09/f1.html
Web site to out priests who are gay but anti-gay By William Wan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 5, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404097.html?hpid=topnews. Editorial comment: I think the time has come to show the catholic Church for what it is—Hypocrites
Other
Murdoch calls for relaxation of US rules - Government should allow papers to fail By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Kenneth Li in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 20:13 | Last updated: December 1 2009 20:16. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/murdoch-calls-for-relaxation-of-us.html
Dozens of rescued dogs arrive on Long Island. Copyright by The Associated Press. November 29, 2009 7:54 AM http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/dozens-of-rescued-dogs-arrive-on-long-island.html
Organizing the Chaos of Online Travel Tips By RIVA RICHMOND. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/technology/personaltech/03basics.html?th&emc=th
Humor
What's with shoppers being treated like royalty? By Jim Sollisch. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 27, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped1127kingnov27,0,2841189.story
WEAKLY HUMERUS NEWS 12-05-09 AIMED AT YOUR FUNNY BONE http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/weakly-humerus-news-12-05-09.html
WEAKLY HUMERUS NEWS 12-05-09 TIGER WOODS EDITION AIMED AT YOUR FUNNY BONE http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/weakly-humerus-news-12-05-09-tiger.html
Night Flight A Little Irony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyQUm0A5QGg&feature=email
Up Time America by Kimberly Alyn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXeCAeACmJE
It has come to my attention that you can only read 2 articles per month at the Financial Times if you haven't registered. If you would like to read more of the articles for free, simply sign up for the free account and you can read 10 articles per month. That should be enough. I'll try to keep the FT links to a minimum. - I used a link that will open the Financial Times articles this week. CTM
Ps. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, just go to my website: www.carlostmock.com and go the the subscription link. It will appear in your email every week.
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
“The reasoning in the declaration is so contorted that it brings to mind the dire warnings from years past of what would happen if blacks and whites were allowed to marry -- not to mention similar references to what the Almighty purportedly intended. This sort of comparison irritates many African Americans who oppose same-sex marriage, but I can see no reason why the civil right extended by the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage) is any different than the one sought by gays and lesbians. Marriage has certain economic advantages, and to withhold them based on nothing more than religious preference or, at bottom, a certain disgust entrenched in convention, is clearly a civil rights matter. In the end, the courts will decide this question. That's what they're for. It's doubtful that the voters of Virginia would have allowed Mildred and Richard Loving to tie the knot back in 1967 any more than the public in general approves of same-sex marriage today. Such a legal case, spearheaded by the political odd couple of David Boies and Ted Olson, is likely to reach the Supreme Court in the not-too-distant future. Then, I suspect, wedding bells will ring through the land -- and, after a pause, America will wonder what the fuss was all about.” Richard Cohen
A right to say 'I do' By Richard Cohen. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, December 1, 2009. The truth is that if Maj. Nidal Hasan, the accused killer of 13 people at Fort Hood, had entered the officers club there with a nice handbag on his arm, perhaps a Gucci tote, he would have been out of the Army by the end of the week. Since he was merely antisocial, a misfit, an incompetent psychiatrist and a likely Islamic fanatic, he was retained and promoted. This says something about America. On the subject of gays, we are a tad nuts ourselves. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113003158.html
International
The Dubai Crisis By PATRICK SEALE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 29, 2009. The tragedy of the black hole in Dubai’s finances is that it has dealt a blow not only to its own reputation but to that of the United Arab Emirates — and beyond that to the Arab Gulf as a whole. One might even go so far as to say that it has dealt a painful blow to the entire Arab world. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/opinion/30iht-edseale.html?ref=global
In Wake of Dubai, Trying to Predict the Next Blowup By GRAHAM BOWLEY and CATHERINE RAMPELL. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 30, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/business/global/01debt.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: A Vote for Intolerance. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 30, 2009. Disgraceful. That is the only way to describe the success of a right-wing initiative to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland, where 57 percent of voters cast ballots for a bigoted and mean-spirited measure. Under Switzerland’s system of direct rule, the referendum is binding. Switzerland’s 400,000 or so Muslims, most of whom come from Kosovo and Turkey, are legally barred from building minarets as of now. We can only hope that the ban is quickly challenged, and that the Swiss courts will find a way to get rid of it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/opinion/01Tue3.html?th&emc=th
Russian news reports: 102 die in nightclub in blast, fire caused by pyrotechnics By JIM HEINTZ. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 1:35 a.m. CST, December 5, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-eu-russia-nightclub-blast,0,6202318.story
Italian Jury Convicts U.S. Student of Murder By RACHEL DONADIO. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/world/europe/05italy.html?_r=1&hp
Main Paris Museums Closed Due to Strike. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: December 2, 2009. Filed at 10:23 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/02/world/AP-EU-France-Museum-Strike.html?ref=global-home
Eurozone unemployment at 11-year high - Employers shed jobs despite signs of recovery By Stanley Pignal in Brussels. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 12:39 | Last updated: December 1 2009 12:39. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/eurozone-unemployment-at-11-year-high.html
European Bank Holds Steady on Rate By MATTHEW SALTMARSH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/global/04euro.html?ref=global-home
Japan’s Central Bank Takes Steps to Lift Economy By HIROKO TABUCHI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/global/02yen.html?ref=global-home
Conservative Appears to Have Won in Honduras By ELISABETH MALKIN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 30, 2009. TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Porfirio Lobo, a longtime conservative politician, appeared to have won on Sunday in the Honduran presidential election, which many hoped could help the country emerge from the crisis caused by last summer’s coup and end its isolation. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
China
Dangers of an Overheated China By TYLER COWEN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/economy/29view.html?hpw
Mess-o-potamia
Obama announces 30,000 additional troops for Afghanistan By William Branigin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, December 1, 2009; 9:09 PM. President Obama outlined a plan Tuesday night to speed the deployment of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan early next year, nearly tripling the force he inherited at the start of his presidency, and then to start withdrawing American personnel in July 2011 as a way to prod the Afghan government to accept greater responsibility for fighting the radical Islamist Taliban movement and securing the country. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120101231.html?hpid=topnews
Before Audience of Cadets, a Sobering Message of War By ALESSANDRA STANLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/arts/television/02watch.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
McChrystal: Strengthening Afghan forces 'most important thing we do' By Joshua Partlow. Copyright By The Washington Post. Wednesday, December 2, 2009; 9:47 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120200624.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Gates Says Afghan Drawdown Timing Is Flexible By DAVID STOUT. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/world/asia/04policy.html?th&emc=th. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/gates-says-afghan-drawdown-timing-is.html
NATO chief: 25 countries to help in Afghan war By Mary Beth Sheridan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 4, 2009; 9:57 AM. BRUSSELS -- NATO leaders said Friday that 25 countries have pledged to back up the U.S. escalation in Afghanistan with 7,000 extra troops, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pressed American allies to firm up their commitments. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120400621.html?hpid=topnews
C.I.A. to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan By SCOTT SHANE. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/world/asia/04drones.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Pakistan’s Leader, Under Pressure, Cedes Nuclear Office By SABRINA TAVERNISE and DAVID E. SANGER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Asif Ali Zardari has ceded his position in Pakistan’s nuclear command structure to his prime minister, in a sudden political maneuver widely seen as a fresh sign of turmoil on the eve of President Obama’s strategy announcement for the region. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/asia/29pstan.html?th&emc=th
Suicide bombers kill 40 at Pakistan mosque By Pamela Constable and Shaiq Hussain. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, December 4, 2009; 10:08 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120400673.html?hpid=topnews
Iran announces plans for 10 new uranium enrichment plants By Thomas Erdbrink. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009; 12:12 PM. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112900992.html?hpid=topnews
Britain Says Iran Has Freed Five Detained Sailors By ALAN COWELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/world/middleeast/03sailors.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Oil Companies Look to the Future in Iraq By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 30, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/middleeast/01iraqoil.html?hpw
National
Tacoma Suspect Is Killed by Police Officer By WILLIAM YARDLEY and JACK HEALY. Copyright by Reuters. Published: December 1, 2009. SEATTLE — A man suspected of fatally shooting four uniformed police officers was shot and killed early Tuesday by a Seattle police officer who chanced upon him during a routine patrol. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/us/02tacoma.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
New York Times Editorial: No Place for (Registered) Lobbyists. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. The Obama administration has roiled Washington’s special-interest galaxy by deciding to unseat hundreds of registered lobbyists from government advisory boards. A precise roster has yet to be done. But lobbyists clearly should have no place on the more than 915 advisory panels (with 60,000 members) laced across 52 federal agencies that seek “outside” expert advice. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04fri4.html?ref=global
House votes to extend tax on wealthy estates By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Thursday, December 3, 2009; 2:44 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120302154.html?hpid=topnews
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: It's time to give wannabe TV stars a taste of reality. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 30, 2009. What's to be done with all these reality TV stars and wannabes littering the American landscape? Jon and Kate were annoying enough, dragging around their eight props -- er, kids. Then there was the balloon boy who wasn't. For several agonizing hours we all thought this 6-year-old kid was flying free above Colorado in a giant balloon, only to learn it was all a hoax by Mom and Dad to "better market" themselves for a reality TV show. And now we have two more aspiring reality TV celebrities, this time crashing a state dinner Tuesday at the White House. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1911139,CST-EDT-edit_30b.article
Aide: Baucus nominated girlfriend for US attorney By THOMAS PEIPERT. Copyright by The Associated Press. Saturday, December 5, 2009; 11:56 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/05/AR2009120500291.html?hpid=topnews
Recount Likely in Atlanta Mayor Race By SHAILA DEWAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/us/03atlanta.html?hpw
Chelsea Clinton Is Engaged By PETER BAKER. Copyright by Reuters. November 30, 2009, 11:34 AM http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/chelsea-clinton-is-engaged/?ref=global-home
Health Care Reform
Senate health bill gets a boost - Measure wouldn't increase insurance costs for most, CBO says By Lori Montgomery. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, December 1, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113004391.html?wpisrc=newsletter
New York Times Editorial; Good News on Premiums. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. The health insurance industry frightened Americans — and gave Republicans a shrill talking point — when it declared in October that proposed reform legislation would drive up insurance costs for virtually everyone by as much as thousands of dollars a year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office persuasively contradicted that claim this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04fri1.html?th&emc=th
Reform or Else By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. Health care reform hangs in the balance. Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible. But if they’re really concerned with fiscal responsibility, they shouldn’t be worried about what would happen if health reform passes. They should, instead, be worried about what would happen if it doesn’t pass. For America can’t get control of its budget without controlling health care costs — and this is our last, best chance to deal with these costs in a rational way. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04krugman.html?th&emc=th
New Hopes on Health Care for American Indians By PAM BELLUCK. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/health/02indian.html?th&emc=th
Health Care
N.I.H. Expands Stem Cells Lines Available for Research By NICHOLAS WADE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/science/03stem.html?hpw
Abortion Battle Shifts to Clinic in Nebraska By MONICA DAVEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 3, 2009. BELLEVUE, Neb. — The national battle over abortion, for decades firmly planted outside the Kansas clinic of Dr. George R. Tiller, has erupted here in suburban Omaha, where a longtime colleague has taken up the cause of late-term abortions. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/us/04abortion.html?hpw
When perfume becomes a nuisance (or a health issue) By Susan Carpenter. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. November 29, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/style/la-igw-perfumeetiquette29-2009nov29,0,1196014.story
GOP Bashing
A party both united and divided - Opposition to Obama is strong, but Republicans are split on GOP's direction and leaders By Jon Cohen and Dan Balz. Copyright by The Washington Post. Monday, November 30, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112902935.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
South Carolina Rift Highlights Debate Over G.O.P. By SHAILA DEWAN. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 28, 2009. CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Senator Lindsey Graham joined forces last month with Senator John Kerry on a compromise to the climate change legislation known as cap and trade, it was the last straw for the Charleston County Republican Party. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/politics/29senators.html?th&emc=th
Palin needlessly fans 'birther' flames BY ALEX KOPPELMAN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 5, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1922654,editorial-palin-fans-birther-flames-120509.article
In wake of Wash. shootings, Huckabee facing hard questions about parole record By Perry Bacon Jr. and Garance Franke-Ruta. Monday, November 30, 2009; 7:09 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113002017.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics
Invading Iraq was not just a disaster: it was illegal By Johan Steyn. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 30 2009 19:56 | Last updated: November 30 2009 19:56. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/invading-iraq-was-not-just-disaster-it.html
Chicagoland
Quinn vs. Hynes: Two very different men BY CAROL MARIN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. December 5, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1922527,CST-EDT-carol06.article
Cook County Board votes to cut sales tax despite Stroger plea by Hal Dardick at 10:57 a.m.; last updated at 2:55 p.m. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 1, 2009 http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/12/cook-county-showdown-on-stroger-tax-veto.html
County board candidates vie for gay vote by Meghan Streit. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-12-02 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23694
New area code rings up unexpected charges for some condo boards - Security entrances may need upgrade to cope with '872' By Kristen Mack. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 30, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-new-area-codenov30,0,1429175.story
Economy
U.S. Economy Lost Only 11,000 Jobs in November By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by the New York Times. Published: December 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/business/economy/05jobs.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Surprising jobs strength provides some promise By Gail MarksJarvis. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 5, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-tc-biz-jobs-1204-1205-dec05,0,4676030.column
US factory orders rise in October By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 4 2009 16:01 | Last updated: December 4 2009 16:01. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-factory-orders-rise-in-october.html
November retail sales slip 0.3%, a gloomy surprise - 5% to 8% growth originally predicted, after two months of year-over-year gains By Andrea Chang. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 11:32 a.m. CST, December 3, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-retail-sales-dec3,0,1662775.story
Across U.S., Food Stamp Use Soars and Stigma Fades By JASON DePARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
The right reform for the Fed By Ben Bernanke. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702322.html
Washington Post Editorial: Nibbling at Mr. Bernanke - The Fed chairman has earned a second term, whatever his cranky critics think. Copyright by the Washington Post. Friday, December 4, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120304086.html
Fears grow about overheated US debt market - Controversial financial deals make comeback By Henny Sender in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 22:00 | Last updated: December 1 2009 22:00. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/fears-grow-about-overheated-us-debt.html
Treasury secretary challenges Goldman aid claims - Geithner says all banks risked being wiped out By Tom Braithwaite in Washington and Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 5 2009 00:49 | Last updated: December 5 2009 00:49. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/treasury-secretary-challenges-goldman.html
Move to Repay Aid Helps Bank of America Shed Stigma By LOUISE STORY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/business/03bank.html?th&emc=th
Citigroup Stands Alone By ANDREW MARTIN and ERIC DASH. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009. Life just got harder for Vikram S. Pandit. A day after Bank of America announced that it would repay its federal bailout money, Citigroup and Mr. Pandit, its chief executive, were left in the uncomfortable position of being the last of the Wall Street giants to remain tethered to the state. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/04bank.html?th&emc=th
G.M. Asks Its Chief to Resign By BILL VLASIC. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/02motors.html?th&emc=th
Housing
October pending home sales rise for ninth straight month to highest level since March 2006. J.W. ELPHINSTONE. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 11:32 a.m. CST, December 1, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-pending-home-sales,0,838554.story
US commercial mortgage default rate at 3.4% By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 05:01 | Last updated: December 1 2009 05:01 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/285da848-de1b-11de-b8e2-00144feabdc0.html
U.S. Will Push Mortgage Firms to Reduce More Loan Payments By PETER S. GOODMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/economy/29modify.html?th&emc=th
Average rates on 30-year mortgages drop to 4.71 percent, setting new all-time low BY ALAN ZIBEL. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 11:13 a.m. CST, December 3, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-mortgage-rates,0,7764598.story
Commodities
Gold soars past $1,200 to new record high - Wall Street hits fresh peak for year as traders shrug off jobs data By Jamie Chisholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 2 2009 07:07 | Last updated: December 2 2009 16:52. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/gold-soars-past-1200-to-new-record-high.html
GLBT
D.C. council votes for same-sex marriage by Lisa Keen ©2009 Keen News Service. News update Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23662
Washington Post Editorial: Washington Post Editorial: Can this marriage be saved? A potential compromise between the District and the Archdiocese is already at work at Georgetown and in San Francisco. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 5, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404166.html
Web site to out priests who are gay but anti-gay By William Wan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 5, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404097.html?hpid=topnews. Editorial comment: I think the time has come to show the catholic Church for what it is—Hypocrites
New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill By JEREMY W. PETERS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/nyregion/03marriage.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial; Voting for Discrimination. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009. The New York State Senate held an emotional debate on Wednesday in which there was talk of belief and conscience and eloquent reminders of earlier civil rights struggles. It then took a stand against equality and fairness. By a 38-to-24 vote, lawmakers chose to continue the state’s discrimination against couples who want to get married and simply happen to be the same sex. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/opinion/03thu2.html?th&emc=th
Gaywatch - Meredith Baxter & New York State Senate http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-3-2009/gaywatch---meredith-baxter---new-york-state-senate
Gay, lesbian judges in Cook County note their progress - New alliance is raising profile of gay judges By Steve Schmadeke. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. December 6, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gay-judges-bd-06dec06,0,4383922.story
Some black youth feel more at home in Boystown, but get chilly reception. By Dawn Turner Trice. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 30, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-trice-30nov30,0,6401978.column
Technology
Don’t Take This Bait (but You’re Safe if You Do) By RANDALL STROSS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009. THE e-mail message from the bank looks real. It isn’t. Law enforcement agencies that oversee computer security are well versed in the many permutations of “phishing,” the scam in which fraudsters try to lure people to a counterfeit replica of their bank’s Web site, for example, and have them part with their user names and passwords. But even the professionally wary can be gulled — or close to it. Just ask Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/29digi.html?th&emc=th
Comcast Gets NBC From G.E. in Deal That Reshapes TV By TIM ARANGO. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: December 3, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04nbc.html?_r=1&hp
Apple Strikes Deal to Buy the Music Start-Up Lala By BRAD STONE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/technology/companies/05apple.html?th&emc=th
Religion
The Marriage-Go-Round - Across the United States, adults are partnering and re-partnering at unprecedented rates. Sociologist Andrew Cherlin is alarmed by the impact this “marriage-go-round” is having on America’s children. By Maria Blackburn. Copyright by The Johns Hopkins University Arts and Sciences Magazine. Fall 2009. http://krieger.jhu.edu/magazine/f09/f1.html
Web site to out priests who are gay but anti-gay By William Wan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, December 5, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404097.html?hpid=topnews. Editorial comment: I think the time has come to show the catholic Church for what it is—Hypocrites
Other
Murdoch calls for relaxation of US rules - Government should allow papers to fail By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Kenneth Li in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: December 1 2009 20:13 | Last updated: December 1 2009 20:16. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/murdoch-calls-for-relaxation-of-us.html
Dozens of rescued dogs arrive on Long Island. Copyright by The Associated Press. November 29, 2009 7:54 AM http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/dozens-of-rescued-dogs-arrive-on-long-island.html
Organizing the Chaos of Online Travel Tips By RIVA RICHMOND. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: December 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/technology/personaltech/03basics.html?th&emc=th
Humor
What's with shoppers being treated like royalty? By Jim Sollisch. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 27, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped1127kingnov27,0,2841189.story
WEAKLY HUMERUS NEWS 12-05-09 AIMED AT YOUR FUNNY BONE http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/weakly-humerus-news-12-05-09.html
WEAKLY HUMERUS NEWS 12-05-09 TIGER WOODS EDITION AIMED AT YOUR FUNNY BONE http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/weakly-humerus-news-12-05-09-tiger.html
Night Flight A Little Irony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyQUm0A5QGg&feature=email
Up Time America by Kimberly Alyn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXeCAeACmJE
It has come to my attention that you can only read 2 articles per month at the Financial Times if you haven't registered. If you would like to read more of the articles for free, simply sign up for the free account and you can read 10 articles per month. That should be enough. I'll try to keep the FT links to a minimum. - I used a link that will open the Financial Times articles this week. CTM
Ps. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, just go to my website: www.carlostmock.com and go the the subscription link. It will appear in your email every week.
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
Saturday, November 28, 2009
World AIDS Day Newsletter - November 28, 2009
World AIDS Day Newsletter - November 28, 2009
World AIDS day is December 1 http://bethegeneration.nih.gov/
World AIDS Day Events http://www.examiner.com/x-26847-SF-Holidays-Examiner~y2009m11d28-World-AIDS-Day-2009-Events
Chicago World AIDS Day 2009 events. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. November 26, 2009 http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4118
International
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Mr Obama goes to Copenhagen. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 26 2009 20:15 | Last updated: November 26 2009 20:15. Barack Obama is right to visit the Copenhagen climate talks. The meeting will achieve less than was once hoped for, and Mr Obama’s hands, to be sure, are tied by domestic politics. But his personal commitment is still valuable. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/financial-times-editorial-comment-mr.html
Obama to Offer Firm Pledge on Emissions Cuts in Copenhagen By JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/us/politics/26climate.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
China Joins U.S. in Pledge of Hard Targets on Emissions By EDWARD WONG and KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/science/earth/27climate.html?hpw
New York Times Editorial: The Senate’s Duty on Climate. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009. The news that world leaders have abandoned hope for a comprehensive, legally binding climate change treaty in Copenhagen next month inspired no end of finger-pointing. Environmentalists blamed eight years of inaction under George W. Bush. The Europeans noted that the Chinese and several other big developing nations had done little to move the ball forward. Our own candidate for criticism is the United States Senate. We cannot rewrite the Bush years any more than we can persuade the Chinese of the merits of a binding treaty to control greenhouse gases. What the United States can do is assume responsibility for its own emissions, and this the Senate has manifestly failed to do. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22sun2.html?_r=1&ref=global
Bomb Causes Derailment of Russian Train, Killing 25 By CLIFFORD J. LEVY and ELLEN BARRY. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/europe/29russia.html?ref=global-home
Eurozone PMI growth at two-year high By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 23 2009 11:43 | Last updated: November 23 2009 11:43. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/eurozone-pmi-growth-at-two-year-high.html
Sweden rules out state bail-out for Saab - New parties show interest in GM unit By Andrew Ward in Stockholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 17:40 | Last updated: November 27 2009 17:40. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/sweden-rules-out-state-bail-out-for.html
Philippines Declares Emergency After Killings By CARLOS H. CONDE. Copyright by The New York Times and The Associated Press. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/asia/25phils.html?ref=global-home
Region Finds U.S. Lacking on Honduras By GINGER THOMPSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009. WASHINGTON — Drug cartels are running amok in Mexico, Raúl Castro is tightening his grip on Cuba and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is making mischief with Russia and Iran, but it is a relatively obscure backwater, Honduras, that has provided the Obama administration with its first test in Latin America. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/americas/28honduras.html?ref=global-home
China
Washington Post Editorial: The currency quarrel - China won't change on command. America must retake control of its own financial destiny. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, November 24, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/23/AR2009112303039.html
Mess-o-potamia
Britain failed to establish ‘legitimacy’ of Iraq invasion - Former ambassador to UN gives evidence By Alex Barker. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 13:23 | Last updated: November 27 2009 18:08. The US and UK launched a war to topple Saddam Hussein in spite of failing to “establish the legitimacy” of the invasion, according to Britain’s former ambassador to the United Nations./‘Tougher’ Blair could have shaped Iraq plan - PM committed to war prematurely, inquiry told By Alex Barker, Political Correspondent. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 26 2009 23:14 | Last updated: November 26 2009 23:14 http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/tougher-blair-could-have-shaped-iraq.html. Editorial Note: I prefer the British version
Britain Begins Hearings in Iraq War Inquiry By JOHN F. BURNS and ALAN COWELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/europe/25britain.html?ref=global-home
Iraq’s January Elections Face Near Certain Delay By STEVEN LEE MYERS. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/world/middleeast/24iraq.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1259082011-TWXCLtc6MChhalyMIqzsuQ
Iran Expanding Effort to Stifle the Opposition By ROBERT F. WORTH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/world/middleeast/24iran.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Iran’s Death Penalty Is Seen as a Political Tactic By MICHAEL SLACKMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/world/middleeast/23iran.html?th&emc=th
U.N. Nuclear Agency Calls Iran Inquiry ‘Dead End’ By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD. Published: November 26, 2009. The director general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog declared in unusually blunt language on Thursday that Iran had stonewalled investigators about evidence that the country had worked on nuclear weapons design, and that his efforts to reveal the truth had “effectively reached a dead end.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/middleeast/27nuke.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
China's backing on Iran followed dire predictions - Before Obama's visit, NSC warned leaders of Mideast turmoil By John Pomfret and Joby Warrick. Copyright by The Washington Post. Thursday, November 26, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112504112.html?hpid=topnews
Russia and China Endorse Agency’s Rebuke of Iran By HELENE COOPER and WILLIAM J. BROAD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009. WASHINGTON — The United Nations nuclear watchdog demanded Friday that Iran immediately freeze operations at a once secret uranium enrichment plant, a sharp rebuke that bore added weight because it was endorsed by Russia and China. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/28nuke.html?th&emc=th
Obama to Speak From West Point Tuesday on Afghanistan By HELENE COOPER and ERIC SCHMITT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/us/politics/26afghan.html?hpw
Afghans Offer Jobs to Taliban Rank and File if They Defect By DEXTER FILKINS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/asia/28militias.html?th&emc=th
U.S. Still Running Secret Prison in Afghanistan By ALISSA J. RUBIN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/asia/29bagram.html?ref=global-home
Pakistan warns US on Afghan troop surge By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 26 2009 17:49 | Last updated: November 26 2009 17:49. Pakistan’s prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani warned on Thursday that a US military surge in Afghanistan could further destabilise his country and urged the Obama administration to consult before making any decision on troop numbers. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/pakistan-warns-us-on-afghan-troop-surge.html
Pakistan Charges 7 in Mumbai Attacks By SAHAR HABIB GHAZI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/asia/26mumbai.html?ref=global-home
Israel Offers a Pause in Building New Settlements By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/middleeast/26israel.html?ref=global-home
Hopes Grow as Israel and Hamas Discuss Prisoner Swap By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/world/middleeast/24mideast.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
National
Change has come to the national debate By Georgie Anne Geyer. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 26, 2009. This Thanksgiving, coming in the good year of Our Lord 2009, wears a cloak of indecision as it strolls around these gray city streets, topped off by a droopy hat of disappointment and a scarf of desolation. This Thanksgiving, you might say, is not exactly a "Yes, we can" holiday. The predominant hues are gray and brown; the voices, hushed to whispers. Will the cranberries even be red this year? The Republicans are in a festive mood, happy to be full-on attacking the new president. But even some of President Barack Obama's own Democrats and independents are critical -- they feel that their savior/president has let them down by not being more activist in pursuit of his campaign promises. With your permission, of course, I will once again defy popular suppositions. For while the free-floating disappointment with President Obama, not the thinker but the actor, is all too real, the fact is that in less than one short year, he has wrought change so profound in the American scene that one would barely recognize today's country compared to that of 2006 and 2007. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped1126geyernov26,0,4782020.column
Washington Post Editorial: The jobs jam - Political grandstanding never put anyone to work. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 22, 2009. ONE OUT OF 10 American workers will not have a job for which to express gratitude this Thanksgiving. If you add what the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls "marginally attached workers" and those who want to work full time but can find only part-time jobs, then the true employment picture looks even bleaker: 17.5 percent of the labor force is now either unemployed or underemployed. This is a disastrous situation, and you would expect voters to pressure the White House and Congress to address it. You would also expect the federal government to respond. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/21/AR2009112101939.html
The Phantom Menace By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009. A funny thing happened on the way to a new New Deal. A year ago, the only thing we had to fear was fear itself; today, the reigning doctrine in Washington appears to be “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” What happened? To be sure, “centrists” in the Senate have hobbled efforts to rescue the economy. But the evidence suggests that in addition to facing political opposition, President Obama and his inner circle have been intimidated by scare stories from Wall Street. Consider the contrast between what Mr. Obama’s advisers were saying on the eve of his inauguration, and what he himself is saying now. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/opinion/23krugman.html
Modern Flourishes at Obamas’ State Dinner By RACHEL L. SWARNS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/politics/25dinner.html?th&emc=th
Texas marriages in legal limbo because of constitutional amendment, candidate says BY DAVE MONTGOMERY dmontgomery@star-telegram.com. Copyright by The Star-Telegram. Posted Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married? Maybe not. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state. The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares: "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages. http://www.star-telegram.com/local_news/story/1770445.html
Terrorism Trial May Point Way for 9/11 Cases By BENJAMIN WEISER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/nyregion/23ghailani.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1258996560-btdmaTSaLetgX64pJD81Rg
Charges Detail Road to Terror for 20 in U.S. By ANDREA ELLIOTT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009. Federal officials on Monday unsealed terrorism-related charges against men they say were key actors in a recruitment effort that led roughly 20 young Americans to join a violent insurgent group in Somalia with ties to Al Qaeda. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/us/24terror.html?th&emc=th
Race haunts politics - Will it ever be OK to go there without name-calling? By Clarence Page. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped1125pagenov25,0,936143.column
Mass. GOP gov. candidate chooses running mate By Glen Johnson © Copyright 2009 Associated Press. November 23, 2009. BOSTON—Gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker followed a Massachusetts Republican tradition on Monday by selecting a veteran state legislator to be his running mate in next year's election. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/23/mass_gop_gov_candidate_chooses_running_mate/
Looking for a Leader in the Post-Oprah Landscape By BRIAN STELTER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/business/media/23oprah.html?th&emc=th
Health Care Reform
“The good news is that the bill just approved by the House and a bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee would implement or test many reforms that should help slow the rise in medical costs over the long term. As a report in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded, ‘Pretty much every proposed innovation found in the health policy literature these days is encapsulated in these measures.’ Medical spending, which typically rises faster than wages and the overall economy, is propelled by two things: the high prices charged for medical services in this country and the volume of unnecessary care delivered by doctors and hospitals, which often perform a lot more tests and treatments than a patient really needs.” New York Times Editorial
New York Times Editorial: Reform and Medical Costs. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 14, 2009. Americans are deeply concerned about the relentless rise in health care costs and health insurance premiums. They need to know if reform will help solve the problem. The answer is that no one has an easy fix for rising medical costs. The fundamental fix — reshaping how care is delivered and how doctors are paid in a wasteful, dysfunctional system — is likely to be achieved only through trial and error and incremental gains. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/opinion/15sun1.html?th&emc=th
ER death's sticker shock By Bobby Caina Calvan. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 13, 2009. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - -- For five frantic minutes, emergency room doctors at the University of California Davis Medical Center tried to revive Scott Hawkins. Hospital officials said the 23-year-old beating victim was given the highest level of emergency care, with a phalanx of specialists and nurses at hand. His parents called the effort "heroic." Five minutes later, doctors pronounced him dead. Few question the extent to which doctors tried to save the student's life Oct. 21, but the amount billed for his emergency care has provoked outrage -- evidence, critics said, of health costs spun out of control. The charge for those five minutes: $29,186.50 -- including a single-ticket item for $18,900.50, described on the itemized bill as "Trauma Rescue Service." http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-tc-nw-er-bill-1111-1112nov13,0,2322411.story
From the Hospital to Bankruptcy Court By KEVIN SACK. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009. NASHVILLE — Some of the debtors sitting forlornly in this city’s old stone bankruptcy court have lost a job or gotten divorced. Others have been summoned to face their creditors because they spent mindlessly beyond their means. But all too often these days, they are there merely because they, or their children, got sick. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/health/policy/25bankruptcy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Senate Votes to Open Health Care Debate By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR. Copyright by the New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/health/policy/22health.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Health Care
Trying to Explain a Drop in Infant Mortality By ERIK ECKHOLM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/us/27infant.html?hpw
GOP Bashing
“The so-called purity test is a 10-point checklist -- a suicide pact, really -- of alleged Republican positions. Anyone hoping to play on Team GOP would have to sign off on eight of the 10 -- through their voting records, public statements or a questionnaire. The test will be put up for consideration before the Republican National Committee when it meets early next year in Hawaii.” Kathleen Parker
The GOP's suicide pact By Kathleen Parker. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009. Some people can't stand prosperity, my father used to say. Today, he might be talking about Republicans, who, in the midst of declining support for President Obama's hope-and-change agenda, are considering a "purity" pledge to weed out undesirables from their ever-shrinking party. Just when independents and moderates were considering revisiting the GOP tent. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702325.html
Enthusiasm for Palin, and Echoes of 2008 Divide By KATE ZERNIKE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/us/politics/22palin.html?th&emc=th
Lou Dobbs Weighs Senate Run, as a Steppingstone By DAVID M. HALBFINGER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/nyregion/25dobbs.html?th&emc=th
Glenn Beck Stakes Out Activist Role in Politics By BRIAN STELTER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/media/22beck.html?th&emc=th
Sanford Impeachment Considered By SHAILA DEWAN. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 24, 2009. COLUMBIA, S.C. — Over the protests of Gov. Mark Sanford’s lawyers, South Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday began the preliminary steps of a process that could lead to the governor’s impeachment and removal from office. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/25sanford.html?th&emc=th
From Shadow to Limelight for a Governor’s Wife By ROBBIE BROWN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009. As the political standing of Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina continues to crumble, the career of his wife, Jenny Sanford, seems to be taking off. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/us/politics/28jenny.html?th&emc=th
Immigration
New York Times Editorial: Immigrants, Criminalized. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009. A bedrock premise of smart immigration reform is the sharp distinction it draws between criminal aliens and Americans-in-waiting. While it acknowledges that illegal immigrants need to get right with the law, it treats illegal status as a civil matter to be resolved by the machinery of naturalization, not by the police and prisons. To hard-line opponents of legalization, illegal immigrants are irredeemable lawbreakers by definition, and the only thing they should be waiting for is deportation. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/opinion/27fri2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Chicagoland
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Why are we still paying their salaries?. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 24, 2009. Gov. Quinn, consider how the following negative political ad might play out on television. An action shot of federal subpoenas being slapped down on the governor's desk. Then sinister close-ups of an inspector general's report recommending the firing of specific state employees "for unethical and fraudulent activity." Followed by a shot of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the current poster boy for state corruption. Quickly fading to a shot of you, governor. Then the voiceover: "Pat Quinn promised to 'fumigate' state government of Blagojevich appointees and his big-salary hires. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1901012,CST-EDT-edit24a.article
Illinois' Gitmo could bring 3,000 jobs: White House BY LYNN SWEET. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 22, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1898018,CST-NWS-sweet22.article
Thomson prison: State moving to clear decks on possible sale - Illinois lawmaker wants to speed up federal takeover By Ray Long. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 27, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-thomson-prison27nov27,0,1666098.story
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: It's your call, Cook County. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 24, 2009. To no one's surprise, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger once again on Monday did his one-two punch on taxpayers. He worked to block efforts to give residents a little sales tax relief, by vetoing a half-cent sale tax rollback. And he did his best to frighten our neediest residents that their county health care is at risk. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1901010,CST-EDT-edit24b.article
Ministers, activists exploit Scott's death BY LAURA WASHINGTON. Copyright by The Chicago Sun times. November 23, 2009. 'Are the Ministers Meddling?" blared the headline on a local cable TV talk show. An investigation into the controversial death of Michael Scott has morphed into a political opportunity for political opportunists. Scott, the Chicago Board of Education president and the mayor's go-to guy, was an irreplaceable city asset and singular link between the city's grass roots and downtown towers. After his death, the Rev. Jesse Jackson put it best when he told WMAQ-Channel 5 that Scott "had a real roots connection to Chicago, from the very low zone of pain and poverty to the high zone of the upper echelon of Chicago." http://www.suntimes.com/news/washington/1898952,CST-EDT-laura23.article
Economy
Dubai Fund Asks for Stay on Debt Payments By LANDON THOMAS Jr. Copyright by Bloomberg News. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/global/26dubai.html?ref=global-home
Asian Stocks Fall Amid Dubai Fears. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: November 27, 2009. Filed at 2:43 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/27/business/AP-World-Markets.html?ref=global-home
Dubai Debt Woes Raise Fear of Wider Problem By LANDON THOMAS Jr. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/business/global/28dubai.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Vietnam Devalues Currency and Raises Interest Rates By BETTINA WASSENER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/global/26devalue.html?hpw
Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government By EDMUND L. ANDREWS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/business/23rates.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
U.S. Fund for Bank Deposit Insurance Falls Into the Red By ERIC DASH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25fdic.html?hpw
Third-Quarter U.S. Growth Revised Lower By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25econ.html?hpw
US GDP growth revised down to 2.8% - Home prices grow for fifth month running By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 24 2009 14:03 | Last updated: November 24 2009 16:27. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/us-gdp-growth-revised-down-to-28-home.html Editorial Note: I prefer the British version
The right reform for the Fed By Ben Bernanke. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702322.html
Savers squeezed by low bank, CD, money market rates - Saving is back, but it's hardly paying off; here's how to boost your results By Tom Petruno. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 6:18 a.m. CST, November 24, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tc-biz-savings-1123-1124-nov24,0,1293501.story
On Wall Street: Apocalypse how? - Conflicting bets on inflation or deflation By Spencer Jakab. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 17:11 | Last updated: November 27 2009 17:11. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/on-wall-street-apocalypse-how.html
Data show rise in consumer spending, drop in jobless claims By Neil Irwin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, November 25, 2009; 10:09 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112500273.html?hpid=topnews
Price War Brews Between Amazon and Wal-Mart By BRAD STONE and STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM. Copyright by Bloomberg News. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24shop.html?th&emc=th
US retailers report strong ‘Black Friday’ crowds - Strong emphasis on sales of practical items By Jonathan Birchall in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 18:05 | Last updated: November 27 2009 18:0. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/us-retailers-report-strong-black-friday.html
Credit card delinquencies down to 1% By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY. Copyright by The Associated Press. 10:53 a.m. CST, November 23, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-credit-card-delinquencies-nov23,0,318861.story
U.S. Looks to Australia on Credit Card Fees By KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/25card.html?hpw
Retailers Extend Deals Beyond Black Friday By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM and CLAIRE CAIN MILLER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/26friday.html
Cadbury warms to Hershey tie-up - US group seen as better cultural fit than Kraft By Jenny Wiggins. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 23:30 | Last updated: November 27 2009 23:30. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/cadbury-warms-to-hershey-tie-up-us.html
Housing
October Home Sales Far Exceeded Expectations By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html?hpw
Buyers throw a house party in October - Tax credit, low prices and interest rates credited for upsurge, but some say it could be short-lived By Mary Ellen Podmolik. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 24, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-home-sales-1124nov24,0,7399950.story
New-home sales rise 6.2%. Copyright by The Associated Press. 9:07 a.m. CST, November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-new-homes-sales-nov25,0,2212321.story
Home Prices Rise at a Slower Pace By DAVID STREITFELD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25home.html?hpw
Mortgage rates back at record low Copyright by The Associated Press. 10:42 a.m. CST, November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-mortgage-rates-nov25,0,6137582.story
Wall St. Finds Profits Again, Now by Reducing Mortgages By LOUISE STORY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/22loans.html?th&emc=th
More than 18 percent of Illinois mortgages are underwater By Mary Ellen Podmolik. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 10:09 a.m. CST, November 24, 2009. Almost 410,000 Illinois mortgages, or 18.4 percent of home loans, were underwater in September, meaning homeowners owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-underwater-homeowners-1124-,0,7503564.story
Commodities
Dollar lurches to 16-month low - European and US equities challenge year’s highs By Jamie Chisholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 25 2009 07:09 | Last updated: November 25 2009 16:56. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/dollar-lurches-to-16-month-low-european.html
Wall Street Takes Off as Dollar Retreats By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24markets.html?hpw
Dollar and government bonds rally as investors seek havens - European bourses stabilise after early sell-off By Jamie Chisholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 07:13 | Last updated: November 27 2009 22:32. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/dollar-and-government-bonds-rally-as.html
Japan Shows Concern as Dollar Slides By BETTINA WASSENER and HIROKO TABUCHI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/business/global/28iht-dollar.html?hpw
GLBT
Hate Crimes Based on Sexual Orientation Up in 2008. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News update Nov. 22, 2009 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23588
New York Times Editorial: The Church and the Capital. Copyright by the New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009. Gay people will eventually win full civil rights — including the right to marry — throughout the United States. Between now and then, there will be many more disputes like the one unfolding between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the District of Columbia City Council over a bill recognizing same-sex marriages that could be voted on as soon as next week. City lawmakers who are negotiating with the archdiocese over the language of the bill should try to settle it without acrimony — but not by abandoning the District’s equal-rights tradition or by selling out same-sex couples. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/opinion/23mon1.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: New Jersey’s Marriage Moment. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009. There can come a moment in a politician’s career when doing the right thing requires summoning the courage to buck strong voter sentiment. The drama over same-sex marriage in a lame-duck session of the New Jersey State Legislature is not that kind of moment. Doing the right thing — promptly enacting legislation discarding inadequate civil unions in favor of full marriage equality for same-sex couples — requires no gargantuan amount of courage or risk-taking on the part of rank-and-file New Jersey legislators or their leaders. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/opinion/26thur3.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1259231319-zqYlisqyCuodkbtC+BcPHA
N. Y. Gay Spouses Due Benefits in the State, Court Finds By DANNY HAKIM. Published: November 19, 2009. ALBANY — The state’s highest court on Thursday upheld policies giving some government benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married outside the state, but did not rule on whether gay marriage should be legal in New York, leaving that issue for the Legislature to decide. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/nyregion/20marriage.html?scp=1&sq=ny%20gay%20ouples%20get%20recognition&st=cse
Same-sex marriage legalized in Buenos Aires. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-11-25 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23594
Adam Lambert By Jennifer Vanasco. Copyright by the Chicago Free Press. November 26, 2009. Hiphop artists and women get away with salacious performances all the time without an uproar. Of course, there was that famous Madonna-and-Britney kiss that caused a stir, but that was likely because the artists were—well, Madonna and Britney. And yes, Adam Lambert, your performance on ABC’s American Music Awards this week was not really all that raunchy. A kiss is a kiss, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I could have done without you sticking a guy’s head in your crotch spontaneously, but it happened so quickly, and in the midst of so many other things, that if the dancer didn’t mind, I’m not sure “offensive” is what I’d call it. What I’d call it, instead, is misguided. http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4125
Midlife Crisis No. 290: Pussy Wussy Prissy Sissies By St. Sukie de la Croix. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. November 26, 2009. The leaves are crispy brown and dropping from the trees as fall turns to winter and that means two things–1) I slip into my Snuggie and 2) I suffer an attack of vagina flu. Every year about this time my labia gets the sniffles and I prescribe myself a few days on the sofa re-watching old black and white movies and diving headfirst into the Godiva chocolates. Now I’m back at work in time to read the headline: “Prince Harry Kisses Gay Man For a Beer.” http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4135
Windy City Times releases gay news iPhone application. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-11-25 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23612
Technology
A Permanent Outpost on the Moon? By SASWATO R. DAS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/opinion/25iht-eddas.html?ref=global
Near Geneva, Particles Finally Come Together With a Bang By DENNIS OVERBYE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/science/24collide.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: Keeping Personal Data Private. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/opinion/25weds2.html?th&emc=th
Group of Magazine Publishers Is Said to Be Building an Online Newsstand By BRIAN STELTER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/media/25mag.html?th&emc=th
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Murdoch attempts to weaken Google. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 24 2009 19:47 | Last updated: November 24 2009 19:47. Rupert Murdoch’s effort to change the economics of the internet by stopping Google linking to stories in his newspapers looks, at first glance, like an act of self-destruction. That is how News Corp’s negotiations on a deal to favour Microsoft’s search engine Bing instead is viewed by many rivals and technology experts. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/financial-times-editorial-comment.html
Facebook Will Form 2 Classes of Stock By BRAD STONE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/technology/internet/25facebook.html?th&emc=th
Religion
“The cover-ups spanned the tenures of four Dublin archbishops and continued through to the mid-1990s and beyond, even after the church was beginning to admit to its failings and had professed that it was confronting abuse by its priests. But rather than helping the victims, the church was concerned only with ‘the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets,’ said the 700-page report, prepared by a group appointed by the Irish government and called the Commission of Investigation Into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.” SARAH LYALL
Report Says Irish Bishops and Police Hid Abuse By SARAH LYALL. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 26, 2009. LONDON — The Roman Catholic Church and the police in Ireland systematically colluded in covering up decades of child sex abuse by priests in Dublin, according to a scathing report released Thursday. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/europe/27ireland.html?ref=global-home
Obama can't let bishops set U.S. Policy BY CAROL MARIN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 25, 2009. Barack Obama, the unapologetic pro-choice presidential candidate, needs to find his strong voice again on the issue now that he is president. And he needs to stand up to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a tax-exempt religious organization, declaring that reproductive rights of women will not be sacrificed in the fight over a universal health-care bill. Time is running out. http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1903920,CST-EDT-carol25.article
Other
Toyota Will Fix or Replace 4 Million Accelerator Pedals By NICK BUNKLEY. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/26toyota.html?ref=global-home
Romancing the Road http://growingbolder.com/media/technology/vehicles/romancing-the-road-259598.html#content_tabs
2.1 Million Cribs Are Recalled in U.S. and Canada By SARAH WHEATON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24crib.html?scp=1&sq=crib%20recall&st=cse
Toys deemed dangerous: Research group lists Trouble in Toyland report - Lunchbox, picture book among perilous playthings, group says By Cynthia Dizikes. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-dangerous-toys-25nov25,0,7557481.story
Humor
Mom is Santa! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQDt7jVdXQ
Silent Monks Singing Halleluia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU&feature=related
Weakly Humerus News 11-28-09 http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/weakly-humerus-news-11-28-09.html
It has come to my attention that you can only read 2 articles per month at the Financial Times if you haven't registered. If you would like to read more of the articles for free, simply sign up for the free account and you can read 10 articles per month. That should be enough. I'll try to keep the FT links to a minimum. - I used a link that will open the Financial Times articles this week. CTM
Ps. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, just go to my website: www.carlostmock.com and go the the subscription link. It will appear in your email every week.
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
World AIDS day is December 1 http://bethegeneration.nih.gov/
World AIDS Day Events http://www.examiner.com/x-26847-SF-Holidays-Examiner~y2009m11d28-World-AIDS-Day-2009-Events
Chicago World AIDS Day 2009 events. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. November 26, 2009 http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4118
International
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Mr Obama goes to Copenhagen. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 26 2009 20:15 | Last updated: November 26 2009 20:15. Barack Obama is right to visit the Copenhagen climate talks. The meeting will achieve less than was once hoped for, and Mr Obama’s hands, to be sure, are tied by domestic politics. But his personal commitment is still valuable. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/financial-times-editorial-comment-mr.html
Obama to Offer Firm Pledge on Emissions Cuts in Copenhagen By JOHN M. BRODER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/us/politics/26climate.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
China Joins U.S. in Pledge of Hard Targets on Emissions By EDWARD WONG and KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/science/earth/27climate.html?hpw
New York Times Editorial: The Senate’s Duty on Climate. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009. The news that world leaders have abandoned hope for a comprehensive, legally binding climate change treaty in Copenhagen next month inspired no end of finger-pointing. Environmentalists blamed eight years of inaction under George W. Bush. The Europeans noted that the Chinese and several other big developing nations had done little to move the ball forward. Our own candidate for criticism is the United States Senate. We cannot rewrite the Bush years any more than we can persuade the Chinese of the merits of a binding treaty to control greenhouse gases. What the United States can do is assume responsibility for its own emissions, and this the Senate has manifestly failed to do. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22sun2.html?_r=1&ref=global
Bomb Causes Derailment of Russian Train, Killing 25 By CLIFFORD J. LEVY and ELLEN BARRY. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/europe/29russia.html?ref=global-home
Eurozone PMI growth at two-year high By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 23 2009 11:43 | Last updated: November 23 2009 11:43. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/eurozone-pmi-growth-at-two-year-high.html
Sweden rules out state bail-out for Saab - New parties show interest in GM unit By Andrew Ward in Stockholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 17:40 | Last updated: November 27 2009 17:40. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/sweden-rules-out-state-bail-out-for.html
Philippines Declares Emergency After Killings By CARLOS H. CONDE. Copyright by The New York Times and The Associated Press. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/asia/25phils.html?ref=global-home
Region Finds U.S. Lacking on Honduras By GINGER THOMPSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009. WASHINGTON — Drug cartels are running amok in Mexico, Raúl Castro is tightening his grip on Cuba and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is making mischief with Russia and Iran, but it is a relatively obscure backwater, Honduras, that has provided the Obama administration with its first test in Latin America. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/americas/28honduras.html?ref=global-home
China
Washington Post Editorial: The currency quarrel - China won't change on command. America must retake control of its own financial destiny. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, November 24, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/23/AR2009112303039.html
Mess-o-potamia
Britain failed to establish ‘legitimacy’ of Iraq invasion - Former ambassador to UN gives evidence By Alex Barker. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 13:23 | Last updated: November 27 2009 18:08. The US and UK launched a war to topple Saddam Hussein in spite of failing to “establish the legitimacy” of the invasion, according to Britain’s former ambassador to the United Nations./‘Tougher’ Blair could have shaped Iraq plan - PM committed to war prematurely, inquiry told By Alex Barker, Political Correspondent. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 26 2009 23:14 | Last updated: November 26 2009 23:14 http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/tougher-blair-could-have-shaped-iraq.html. Editorial Note: I prefer the British version
Britain Begins Hearings in Iraq War Inquiry By JOHN F. BURNS and ALAN COWELL. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/europe/25britain.html?ref=global-home
Iraq’s January Elections Face Near Certain Delay By STEVEN LEE MYERS. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/world/middleeast/24iraq.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1259082011-TWXCLtc6MChhalyMIqzsuQ
Iran Expanding Effort to Stifle the Opposition By ROBERT F. WORTH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/world/middleeast/24iran.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Iran’s Death Penalty Is Seen as a Political Tactic By MICHAEL SLACKMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/world/middleeast/23iran.html?th&emc=th
U.N. Nuclear Agency Calls Iran Inquiry ‘Dead End’ By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD. Published: November 26, 2009. The director general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog declared in unusually blunt language on Thursday that Iran had stonewalled investigators about evidence that the country had worked on nuclear weapons design, and that his efforts to reveal the truth had “effectively reached a dead end.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/middleeast/27nuke.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
China's backing on Iran followed dire predictions - Before Obama's visit, NSC warned leaders of Mideast turmoil By John Pomfret and Joby Warrick. Copyright by The Washington Post. Thursday, November 26, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112504112.html?hpid=topnews
Russia and China Endorse Agency’s Rebuke of Iran By HELENE COOPER and WILLIAM J. BROAD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009. WASHINGTON — The United Nations nuclear watchdog demanded Friday that Iran immediately freeze operations at a once secret uranium enrichment plant, a sharp rebuke that bore added weight because it was endorsed by Russia and China. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/28nuke.html?th&emc=th
Obama to Speak From West Point Tuesday on Afghanistan By HELENE COOPER and ERIC SCHMITT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/us/politics/26afghan.html?hpw
Afghans Offer Jobs to Taliban Rank and File if They Defect By DEXTER FILKINS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/asia/28militias.html?th&emc=th
U.S. Still Running Secret Prison in Afghanistan By ALISSA J. RUBIN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/asia/29bagram.html?ref=global-home
Pakistan warns US on Afghan troop surge By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 26 2009 17:49 | Last updated: November 26 2009 17:49. Pakistan’s prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani warned on Thursday that a US military surge in Afghanistan could further destabilise his country and urged the Obama administration to consult before making any decision on troop numbers. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/pakistan-warns-us-on-afghan-troop-surge.html
Pakistan Charges 7 in Mumbai Attacks By SAHAR HABIB GHAZI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/asia/26mumbai.html?ref=global-home
Israel Offers a Pause in Building New Settlements By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/middleeast/26israel.html?ref=global-home
Hopes Grow as Israel and Hamas Discuss Prisoner Swap By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/world/middleeast/24mideast.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
National
Change has come to the national debate By Georgie Anne Geyer. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 26, 2009. This Thanksgiving, coming in the good year of Our Lord 2009, wears a cloak of indecision as it strolls around these gray city streets, topped off by a droopy hat of disappointment and a scarf of desolation. This Thanksgiving, you might say, is not exactly a "Yes, we can" holiday. The predominant hues are gray and brown; the voices, hushed to whispers. Will the cranberries even be red this year? The Republicans are in a festive mood, happy to be full-on attacking the new president. But even some of President Barack Obama's own Democrats and independents are critical -- they feel that their savior/president has let them down by not being more activist in pursuit of his campaign promises. With your permission, of course, I will once again defy popular suppositions. For while the free-floating disappointment with President Obama, not the thinker but the actor, is all too real, the fact is that in less than one short year, he has wrought change so profound in the American scene that one would barely recognize today's country compared to that of 2006 and 2007. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped1126geyernov26,0,4782020.column
Washington Post Editorial: The jobs jam - Political grandstanding never put anyone to work. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 22, 2009. ONE OUT OF 10 American workers will not have a job for which to express gratitude this Thanksgiving. If you add what the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls "marginally attached workers" and those who want to work full time but can find only part-time jobs, then the true employment picture looks even bleaker: 17.5 percent of the labor force is now either unemployed or underemployed. This is a disastrous situation, and you would expect voters to pressure the White House and Congress to address it. You would also expect the federal government to respond. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/21/AR2009112101939.html
The Phantom Menace By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009. A funny thing happened on the way to a new New Deal. A year ago, the only thing we had to fear was fear itself; today, the reigning doctrine in Washington appears to be “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” What happened? To be sure, “centrists” in the Senate have hobbled efforts to rescue the economy. But the evidence suggests that in addition to facing political opposition, President Obama and his inner circle have been intimidated by scare stories from Wall Street. Consider the contrast between what Mr. Obama’s advisers were saying on the eve of his inauguration, and what he himself is saying now. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/opinion/23krugman.html
Modern Flourishes at Obamas’ State Dinner By RACHEL L. SWARNS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/politics/25dinner.html?th&emc=th
Texas marriages in legal limbo because of constitutional amendment, candidate says BY DAVE MONTGOMERY dmontgomery@star-telegram.com. Copyright by The Star-Telegram. Posted Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married? Maybe not. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state. The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares: "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages. http://www.star-telegram.com/local_news/story/1770445.html
Terrorism Trial May Point Way for 9/11 Cases By BENJAMIN WEISER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/nyregion/23ghailani.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1258996560-btdmaTSaLetgX64pJD81Rg
Charges Detail Road to Terror for 20 in U.S. By ANDREA ELLIOTT. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009. Federal officials on Monday unsealed terrorism-related charges against men they say were key actors in a recruitment effort that led roughly 20 young Americans to join a violent insurgent group in Somalia with ties to Al Qaeda. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/us/24terror.html?th&emc=th
Race haunts politics - Will it ever be OK to go there without name-calling? By Clarence Page. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped1125pagenov25,0,936143.column
Mass. GOP gov. candidate chooses running mate By Glen Johnson © Copyright 2009 Associated Press. November 23, 2009. BOSTON—Gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker followed a Massachusetts Republican tradition on Monday by selecting a veteran state legislator to be his running mate in next year's election. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/23/mass_gop_gov_candidate_chooses_running_mate/
Looking for a Leader in the Post-Oprah Landscape By BRIAN STELTER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/business/media/23oprah.html?th&emc=th
Health Care Reform
“The good news is that the bill just approved by the House and a bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee would implement or test many reforms that should help slow the rise in medical costs over the long term. As a report in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded, ‘Pretty much every proposed innovation found in the health policy literature these days is encapsulated in these measures.’ Medical spending, which typically rises faster than wages and the overall economy, is propelled by two things: the high prices charged for medical services in this country and the volume of unnecessary care delivered by doctors and hospitals, which often perform a lot more tests and treatments than a patient really needs.” New York Times Editorial
New York Times Editorial: Reform and Medical Costs. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 14, 2009. Americans are deeply concerned about the relentless rise in health care costs and health insurance premiums. They need to know if reform will help solve the problem. The answer is that no one has an easy fix for rising medical costs. The fundamental fix — reshaping how care is delivered and how doctors are paid in a wasteful, dysfunctional system — is likely to be achieved only through trial and error and incremental gains. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/opinion/15sun1.html?th&emc=th
ER death's sticker shock By Bobby Caina Calvan. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 13, 2009. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - -- For five frantic minutes, emergency room doctors at the University of California Davis Medical Center tried to revive Scott Hawkins. Hospital officials said the 23-year-old beating victim was given the highest level of emergency care, with a phalanx of specialists and nurses at hand. His parents called the effort "heroic." Five minutes later, doctors pronounced him dead. Few question the extent to which doctors tried to save the student's life Oct. 21, but the amount billed for his emergency care has provoked outrage -- evidence, critics said, of health costs spun out of control. The charge for those five minutes: $29,186.50 -- including a single-ticket item for $18,900.50, described on the itemized bill as "Trauma Rescue Service." http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-tc-nw-er-bill-1111-1112nov13,0,2322411.story
From the Hospital to Bankruptcy Court By KEVIN SACK. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009. NASHVILLE — Some of the debtors sitting forlornly in this city’s old stone bankruptcy court have lost a job or gotten divorced. Others have been summoned to face their creditors because they spent mindlessly beyond their means. But all too often these days, they are there merely because they, or their children, got sick. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/health/policy/25bankruptcy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Senate Votes to Open Health Care Debate By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR. Copyright by the New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/health/policy/22health.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Health Care
Trying to Explain a Drop in Infant Mortality By ERIK ECKHOLM. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/us/27infant.html?hpw
GOP Bashing
“The so-called purity test is a 10-point checklist -- a suicide pact, really -- of alleged Republican positions. Anyone hoping to play on Team GOP would have to sign off on eight of the 10 -- through their voting records, public statements or a questionnaire. The test will be put up for consideration before the Republican National Committee when it meets early next year in Hawaii.” Kathleen Parker
The GOP's suicide pact By Kathleen Parker. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009. Some people can't stand prosperity, my father used to say. Today, he might be talking about Republicans, who, in the midst of declining support for President Obama's hope-and-change agenda, are considering a "purity" pledge to weed out undesirables from their ever-shrinking party. Just when independents and moderates were considering revisiting the GOP tent. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702325.html
Enthusiasm for Palin, and Echoes of 2008 Divide By KATE ZERNIKE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/us/politics/22palin.html?th&emc=th
Lou Dobbs Weighs Senate Run, as a Steppingstone By DAVID M. HALBFINGER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/nyregion/25dobbs.html?th&emc=th
Glenn Beck Stakes Out Activist Role in Politics By BRIAN STELTER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/media/22beck.html?th&emc=th
Sanford Impeachment Considered By SHAILA DEWAN. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 24, 2009. COLUMBIA, S.C. — Over the protests of Gov. Mark Sanford’s lawyers, South Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday began the preliminary steps of a process that could lead to the governor’s impeachment and removal from office. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/25sanford.html?th&emc=th
From Shadow to Limelight for a Governor’s Wife By ROBBIE BROWN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 27, 2009. As the political standing of Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina continues to crumble, the career of his wife, Jenny Sanford, seems to be taking off. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/us/politics/28jenny.html?th&emc=th
Immigration
New York Times Editorial: Immigrants, Criminalized. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009. A bedrock premise of smart immigration reform is the sharp distinction it draws between criminal aliens and Americans-in-waiting. While it acknowledges that illegal immigrants need to get right with the law, it treats illegal status as a civil matter to be resolved by the machinery of naturalization, not by the police and prisons. To hard-line opponents of legalization, illegal immigrants are irredeemable lawbreakers by definition, and the only thing they should be waiting for is deportation. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/opinion/27fri2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Chicagoland
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Why are we still paying their salaries?. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 24, 2009. Gov. Quinn, consider how the following negative political ad might play out on television. An action shot of federal subpoenas being slapped down on the governor's desk. Then sinister close-ups of an inspector general's report recommending the firing of specific state employees "for unethical and fraudulent activity." Followed by a shot of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the current poster boy for state corruption. Quickly fading to a shot of you, governor. Then the voiceover: "Pat Quinn promised to 'fumigate' state government of Blagojevich appointees and his big-salary hires. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1901012,CST-EDT-edit24a.article
Illinois' Gitmo could bring 3,000 jobs: White House BY LYNN SWEET. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 22, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1898018,CST-NWS-sweet22.article
Thomson prison: State moving to clear decks on possible sale - Illinois lawmaker wants to speed up federal takeover By Ray Long. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 27, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-thomson-prison27nov27,0,1666098.story
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: It's your call, Cook County. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 24, 2009. To no one's surprise, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger once again on Monday did his one-two punch on taxpayers. He worked to block efforts to give residents a little sales tax relief, by vetoing a half-cent sale tax rollback. And he did his best to frighten our neediest residents that their county health care is at risk. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1901010,CST-EDT-edit24b.article
Ministers, activists exploit Scott's death BY LAURA WASHINGTON. Copyright by The Chicago Sun times. November 23, 2009. 'Are the Ministers Meddling?" blared the headline on a local cable TV talk show. An investigation into the controversial death of Michael Scott has morphed into a political opportunity for political opportunists. Scott, the Chicago Board of Education president and the mayor's go-to guy, was an irreplaceable city asset and singular link between the city's grass roots and downtown towers. After his death, the Rev. Jesse Jackson put it best when he told WMAQ-Channel 5 that Scott "had a real roots connection to Chicago, from the very low zone of pain and poverty to the high zone of the upper echelon of Chicago." http://www.suntimes.com/news/washington/1898952,CST-EDT-laura23.article
Economy
Dubai Fund Asks for Stay on Debt Payments By LANDON THOMAS Jr. Copyright by Bloomberg News. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/global/26dubai.html?ref=global-home
Asian Stocks Fall Amid Dubai Fears. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: November 27, 2009. Filed at 2:43 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/27/business/AP-World-Markets.html?ref=global-home
Dubai Debt Woes Raise Fear of Wider Problem By LANDON THOMAS Jr. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/business/global/28dubai.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Vietnam Devalues Currency and Raises Interest Rates By BETTINA WASSENER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/global/26devalue.html?hpw
Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government By EDMUND L. ANDREWS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/business/23rates.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
U.S. Fund for Bank Deposit Insurance Falls Into the Red By ERIC DASH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25fdic.html?hpw
Third-Quarter U.S. Growth Revised Lower By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25econ.html?hpw
US GDP growth revised down to 2.8% - Home prices grow for fifth month running By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 24 2009 14:03 | Last updated: November 24 2009 16:27. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/us-gdp-growth-revised-down-to-28-home.html Editorial Note: I prefer the British version
The right reform for the Fed By Ben Bernanke. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, November 29, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702322.html
Savers squeezed by low bank, CD, money market rates - Saving is back, but it's hardly paying off; here's how to boost your results By Tom Petruno. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 6:18 a.m. CST, November 24, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tc-biz-savings-1123-1124-nov24,0,1293501.story
On Wall Street: Apocalypse how? - Conflicting bets on inflation or deflation By Spencer Jakab. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 17:11 | Last updated: November 27 2009 17:11. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/on-wall-street-apocalypse-how.html
Data show rise in consumer spending, drop in jobless claims By Neil Irwin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, November 25, 2009; 10:09 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112500273.html?hpid=topnews
Price War Brews Between Amazon and Wal-Mart By BRAD STONE and STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM. Copyright by Bloomberg News. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24shop.html?th&emc=th
US retailers report strong ‘Black Friday’ crowds - Strong emphasis on sales of practical items By Jonathan Birchall in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 18:05 | Last updated: November 27 2009 18:0. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/us-retailers-report-strong-black-friday.html
Credit card delinquencies down to 1% By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY. Copyright by The Associated Press. 10:53 a.m. CST, November 23, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-credit-card-delinquencies-nov23,0,318861.story
U.S. Looks to Australia on Credit Card Fees By KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/25card.html?hpw
Retailers Extend Deals Beyond Black Friday By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM and CLAIRE CAIN MILLER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/26friday.html
Cadbury warms to Hershey tie-up - US group seen as better cultural fit than Kraft By Jenny Wiggins. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 23:30 | Last updated: November 27 2009 23:30. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/cadbury-warms-to-hershey-tie-up-us.html
Housing
October Home Sales Far Exceeded Expectations By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html?hpw
Buyers throw a house party in October - Tax credit, low prices and interest rates credited for upsurge, but some say it could be short-lived By Mary Ellen Podmolik. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 24, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-home-sales-1124nov24,0,7399950.story
New-home sales rise 6.2%. Copyright by The Associated Press. 9:07 a.m. CST, November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-new-homes-sales-nov25,0,2212321.story
Home Prices Rise at a Slower Pace By DAVID STREITFELD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25home.html?hpw
Mortgage rates back at record low Copyright by The Associated Press. 10:42 a.m. CST, November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-mortgage-rates-nov25,0,6137582.story
Wall St. Finds Profits Again, Now by Reducing Mortgages By LOUISE STORY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 21, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/22loans.html?th&emc=th
More than 18 percent of Illinois mortgages are underwater By Mary Ellen Podmolik. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 10:09 a.m. CST, November 24, 2009. Almost 410,000 Illinois mortgages, or 18.4 percent of home loans, were underwater in September, meaning homeowners owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-underwater-homeowners-1124-,0,7503564.story
Commodities
Dollar lurches to 16-month low - European and US equities challenge year’s highs By Jamie Chisholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 25 2009 07:09 | Last updated: November 25 2009 16:56. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/dollar-lurches-to-16-month-low-european.html
Wall Street Takes Off as Dollar Retreats By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24markets.html?hpw
Dollar and government bonds rally as investors seek havens - European bourses stabilise after early sell-off By Jamie Chisholm. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 27 2009 07:13 | Last updated: November 27 2009 22:32. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/dollar-and-government-bonds-rally-as.html
Japan Shows Concern as Dollar Slides By BETTINA WASSENER and HIROKO TABUCHI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/business/global/28iht-dollar.html?hpw
GLBT
Hate Crimes Based on Sexual Orientation Up in 2008. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News update Nov. 22, 2009 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23588
New York Times Editorial: The Church and the Capital. Copyright by the New York Times. Published: November 22, 2009. Gay people will eventually win full civil rights — including the right to marry — throughout the United States. Between now and then, there will be many more disputes like the one unfolding between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the District of Columbia City Council over a bill recognizing same-sex marriages that could be voted on as soon as next week. City lawmakers who are negotiating with the archdiocese over the language of the bill should try to settle it without acrimony — but not by abandoning the District’s equal-rights tradition or by selling out same-sex couples. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/opinion/23mon1.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: New Jersey’s Marriage Moment. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 25, 2009. There can come a moment in a politician’s career when doing the right thing requires summoning the courage to buck strong voter sentiment. The drama over same-sex marriage in a lame-duck session of the New Jersey State Legislature is not that kind of moment. Doing the right thing — promptly enacting legislation discarding inadequate civil unions in favor of full marriage equality for same-sex couples — requires no gargantuan amount of courage or risk-taking on the part of rank-and-file New Jersey legislators or their leaders. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/opinion/26thur3.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1259231319-zqYlisqyCuodkbtC+BcPHA
N. Y. Gay Spouses Due Benefits in the State, Court Finds By DANNY HAKIM. Published: November 19, 2009. ALBANY — The state’s highest court on Thursday upheld policies giving some government benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married outside the state, but did not rule on whether gay marriage should be legal in New York, leaving that issue for the Legislature to decide. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/nyregion/20marriage.html?scp=1&sq=ny%20gay%20ouples%20get%20recognition&st=cse
Same-sex marriage legalized in Buenos Aires. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-11-25 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23594
Adam Lambert By Jennifer Vanasco. Copyright by the Chicago Free Press. November 26, 2009. Hiphop artists and women get away with salacious performances all the time without an uproar. Of course, there was that famous Madonna-and-Britney kiss that caused a stir, but that was likely because the artists were—well, Madonna and Britney. And yes, Adam Lambert, your performance on ABC’s American Music Awards this week was not really all that raunchy. A kiss is a kiss, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I could have done without you sticking a guy’s head in your crotch spontaneously, but it happened so quickly, and in the midst of so many other things, that if the dancer didn’t mind, I’m not sure “offensive” is what I’d call it. What I’d call it, instead, is misguided. http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4125
Midlife Crisis No. 290: Pussy Wussy Prissy Sissies By St. Sukie de la Croix. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. November 26, 2009. The leaves are crispy brown and dropping from the trees as fall turns to winter and that means two things–1) I slip into my Snuggie and 2) I suffer an attack of vagina flu. Every year about this time my labia gets the sniffles and I prescribe myself a few days on the sofa re-watching old black and white movies and diving headfirst into the Godiva chocolates. Now I’m back at work in time to read the headline: “Prince Harry Kisses Gay Man For a Beer.” http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/4135
Windy City Times releases gay news iPhone application. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-11-25 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23612
Technology
A Permanent Outpost on the Moon? By SASWATO R. DAS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/opinion/25iht-eddas.html?ref=global
Near Geneva, Particles Finally Come Together With a Bang By DENNIS OVERBYE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/science/24collide.html?th&emc=th
New York Times Editorial: Keeping Personal Data Private. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/opinion/25weds2.html?th&emc=th
Group of Magazine Publishers Is Said to Be Building an Online Newsstand By BRIAN STELTER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/media/25mag.html?th&emc=th
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Murdoch attempts to weaken Google. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: November 24 2009 19:47 | Last updated: November 24 2009 19:47. Rupert Murdoch’s effort to change the economics of the internet by stopping Google linking to stories in his newspapers looks, at first glance, like an act of self-destruction. That is how News Corp’s negotiations on a deal to favour Microsoft’s search engine Bing instead is viewed by many rivals and technology experts. http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/financial-times-editorial-comment.html
Facebook Will Form 2 Classes of Stock By BRAD STONE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 24, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/technology/internet/25facebook.html?th&emc=th
Religion
“The cover-ups spanned the tenures of four Dublin archbishops and continued through to the mid-1990s and beyond, even after the church was beginning to admit to its failings and had professed that it was confronting abuse by its priests. But rather than helping the victims, the church was concerned only with ‘the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets,’ said the 700-page report, prepared by a group appointed by the Irish government and called the Commission of Investigation Into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.” SARAH LYALL
Report Says Irish Bishops and Police Hid Abuse By SARAH LYALL. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 26, 2009. LONDON — The Roman Catholic Church and the police in Ireland systematically colluded in covering up decades of child sex abuse by priests in Dublin, according to a scathing report released Thursday. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/europe/27ireland.html?ref=global-home
Obama can't let bishops set U.S. Policy BY CAROL MARIN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. November 25, 2009. Barack Obama, the unapologetic pro-choice presidential candidate, needs to find his strong voice again on the issue now that he is president. And he needs to stand up to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a tax-exempt religious organization, declaring that reproductive rights of women will not be sacrificed in the fight over a universal health-care bill. Time is running out. http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1903920,CST-EDT-carol25.article
Other
Toyota Will Fix or Replace 4 Million Accelerator Pedals By NICK BUNKLEY. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: November 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/26toyota.html?ref=global-home
Romancing the Road http://growingbolder.com/media/technology/vehicles/romancing-the-road-259598.html#content_tabs
2.1 Million Cribs Are Recalled in U.S. and Canada By SARAH WHEATON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: November 23, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24crib.html?scp=1&sq=crib%20recall&st=cse
Toys deemed dangerous: Research group lists Trouble in Toyland report - Lunchbox, picture book among perilous playthings, group says By Cynthia Dizikes. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. November 25, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-dangerous-toys-25nov25,0,7557481.story
Humor
Mom is Santa! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQDt7jVdXQ
Silent Monks Singing Halleluia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU&feature=related
Weakly Humerus News 11-28-09 http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/11/weakly-humerus-news-11-28-09.html
It has come to my attention that you can only read 2 articles per month at the Financial Times if you haven't registered. If you would like to read more of the articles for free, simply sign up for the free account and you can read 10 articles per month. That should be enough. I'll try to keep the FT links to a minimum. - I used a link that will open the Financial Times articles this week. CTM
Ps. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, just go to my website: www.carlostmock.com and go the the subscription link. It will appear in your email every week.
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Cuba Libre, “Mentirita” The book is out. you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Libre-Carlos-T-Mock/dp/1888205164/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259453902&sr=1-4
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