More Americans oppose gay 'marriage,' poll finds

By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
From the Nation/Politics section

Public opposition to "marriages" between homosexuals is at an all-time high, according to a poll released yesterday.

When asked whether they thought same-sex "marriages" should be recognized by the law as valid and come with the same rights as traditional marriages, 68 percent of the respondents in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll said they should not.

Twenty-eight percent said same-sex "marriages" should be valid and 4 percent had no opinion. The survey of 443 adults was conducted March 18 to 20.

A similar poll by Gallup last year found that 55 percent thought homosexual "marriages" should not be valid, while 42 percent said they should be recognized.

In addition, 466 adults were asked in the same time period what marital arrangements they thought should be recognized for homosexual couples.

The poll found that 20 percent favored same-sex "marriage," 27 percent said civil unions, and 45 percent said "neither."

When asked whether they favored a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as "between a man and a woman," 57 percent said yes, while 37 percent were opposed. Last year, 48 percent favored the amendment and 46 percent opposed it.

Currently, 43 states have laws that bar recognition of same-sex "marriages," according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Twenty-six states have only statutes defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, and 17 have constitutional language. Seven states -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin -- have neither.

Kansas voters will decide Tuesday whether their state should amend its constitution to outlaw same-sex "marriage." Voters in Alabama, South Dakota and Tennessee will weigh in on the issue next year.

The debate is a complex one. The South Carolina state Senate will vote on a bill Thursday that would place the question on the state's 2006 ballot.

One economist told the lawmakers that the state will lose "money, talent and opportunity" if it gains a reputation as being intolerant. The economist cited a 1993 study that found anti-homosexual attitudes in Cincinnati cost the city $46 million in convention business.

Meanwhile, Connecticut's state Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee approved a bill Wednesday granting same-sex couples the same rights as traditional married couples. The General Assembly will vote on the matter next month.

Things differ in one corner of the consumer realm, however. "Same-sex marriage might have polarized lawmakers, but it has galvanized advertisers in the gay press," the Gay Press Report said March 21. The survey from New York-based Rivendell Media found that spending on advertising in 139 homosexual publications reached $207 million last year, an increase of 28 percent from 2003. Fifteen percent of ads for services were for same-sex "wedding" consultants, the analysis found."

EMPHASIS ADDED

ISRAEL: British Commando Ship Drops Anchor off Lebanon

NEWS FROM STRATEGYPAGE
April 1, 2005

The British amphibious ship Albion has joined the French commando support ship Var off the Lebanese coast. Although operating independently of the French vessel, it's been conducting evacuation exercises and acting like it's preparing to support commando operations in Lebanon. Like the French ship, the Albion can also support troops, serve as a headquarters and, in general, allow for intervention if Lebanon collapses into civil disorder. Unlike France, Britain does not have a large number of its citizens living in Lebanon. Many Lebanese believe that Syria, and their Lebanese allies, will not allow an anti-Syrian government to gain control in Lebanon. It's feared that the Syrians, and their Lebanese collaborators, are willing to risk another civil war in Lebanon in order to maintain Syrian economic advantages in Lebanon. The United States (and many European nations, and the UN) are telling Syria that this won't work, and would result in military action against Syria.

Michael Schiavo's Attorney Felos Specializes in Right-to-Die Law

The Associated Press has a fairly glowing report on George Felos, who represented Michael Schiavo.

According to the report, he has a "cool courtroom demeanor (that) belies an inner spiritual intensity" and is "a devoted practitioner of yoga and meditation, and a classical pianist."

Heavyhanded says, "Well, how nice - a nice, cool, calm lawyer that is engulfed in a sea of tranquility and is cultured to boot."

Felos wrote a book in 2002, I believe, entitled "Litigation as Spiritual Practice." In this book he wrote about what he is best known for now, his claim for "having been able to communicate with the soul of Estelle Browning."

According to this AP story:

Browning had suffered a stroke and could not speak, but Felos said he was able to sense that her soul was in agony.

"As she screamed, I heard her say in confusion, 'Why am I still here?'" Felos wrote in his book. "My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked to her body, I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for."

Heavyhanded needs to know: How does one go about getting their soul "to touch" anothers? While at her bedside, was he in a yoga position and in a state of meditation when this occurred?

Felos also has been quoted as saying,"Well, what we are in essence can't be described by words. The mind is finite, and what we are is infinite. We know what we're not. We're not the body. We're not the mind. We're not our thoughts. We're not our emotions. In essence we're spiritual beings."

Who does he sound like? The Daili Lama? Deepak Chopra? You decide.

And another thing. After Terry Schaivo passed away, Feros spoke to reporters. It was somewhat odd in that it really wasn't a Q & A session; he just got on his soap box and droned on and on. I took away a couple of things from this soap box sermon. One, I got the feeling that this was a man who was in love with himself and loved to hear himself talk. Two, this was a man infatuated with death. And three, this was a man who exaggerates his importance and significance.

Shortly after his pitiful speech to the press, I read this:
In his book

Felos describes himself as a “crusader” for the “right-to-die” in chapter 21, where he also admits to enjoying his status as a news celebrity, describing it as “exhilarating” to see himself on television. (pg. 217) Later he writes, “I was getting pretty good at trying my case in the media and shaping public opinion."

And also in his book

Felos illustrates this power in his own life by describing an incident while on a plane during a time when he was engaged in a “right-to-die” case and had become very involved in the hospice movement. He pondered, “I wonder what it would be like to die right now?” and “indulged the thought by imagining the plane starting to lose it trajectory and descend.” The plane did, creating chaos in the cabin as people began to realize the plane was going to crash. “Needless to say, the juxtaposition of my imagined death and the possibility of a real demise heightened for me my different reactions. I assure you, my hubris in assuming that I would meet a life-ending crash with equanimity was not lost on me.” (pgs. 181-182) The pilot later explained to the passengers that there was an unexplained problem with the auto pilot which caused the momentary descent. “At that instant a clear, distinctly independent and slightly stern voice said to me, ‘Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize.’ In quick succession I was startled, humbled and blessed by God’s admonishment.” (pg. 182)

I feel my gut instincts about this guy has been affirmed. Oh, I almost forgot. This too is from his book

"As these unprocessed experiences entered my throat, I often felt absolute, unimaginable terror—like I was being murdered, hacked to bits. One time I could actually feel a long blade plunging into my chest; another time I could smell the dank, putrid odor of an attacker. Other dark cells brought on indescribably intense grief and its accompanying pain, as if a beloved child of mine were dying. … "

Yep, this is one odd character, folks. My family and I will be keeping a significant amount of distance between him and us.

New Poll Results From Iraq

First I want to say happy anniversary to one of my favorite bloggers. He is truly one of the best in the business. Arthur Chrenkoff is a daily read for me. Please go to his site Chrenkoff and peruse it if you are not familiar with it; and wish him happy birthday. I have dubbed him as "The Great Chrenkoff." And I think this Polish Australian deserves the title.

This is from Arthur's site:

Once again, thanks to our special correspondent and translator Haider Ajina, this one was conducted by the school of political science at the Najaf University, polling 790 people between the ages 18-65 of both sexes and of different educational and socioeconomic backgrounds (and published in yesterday's edition of "Almendhar"):

"62% of those polled said they wanted Islam to be one of the sources of the constitution.

"38% wanted Islam to be the only source for the Iraqi constitution.

"49% support a federal government.

"50% support allowing those who boycotted the election to have input in writing the constitution.

"63% support the multi national forces staying in Iraq for the current time.

"85% expect the new transitional government to succeed in its goals.

"78% expect the new national assembly to successfully write a constitution by the dead line.

"1% said they expect civil war to break out."

As Haider reminds us, Najaf is the most religiously conservative city in Iraq, the home of Ayatollah Sistani and the Shia establishment. It's encouraging that even here, then, the popular opinion is a lot more moderate than all the talk about the "coming theocracy" would suggest.

IG for U.N. cites how oil probe blocked

By Betsy Pisik
U.N. inspector-general Dileep Nair yesterday accused the second-ranking official at the United Nations of impeding his efforts to take his concerns about the Iraqi oil-for-food program to the Security Council.
Read the rest here.

Send Dick Cheney to the Border ?

From the editorial section of The Washington Times

President Bush should dispatch Vice President Dick Cheney for some immediate high-level attention to the border-control problem. We don't normally presume to tell the president how to deploy his top advisers, much less his vice president, but the conclusion seems inescapable after this week's chaos on the border.

The Department of Homeland Security released hasty-sounding plans this week to dispatch 150 Border Patrol agents to Arizona in the next few days. The move is a short-term, ad-hoc fix that coincides with Project Minuteman's deployment this weekend and follows the president's abnegation of border-control promises. The move is welcome, but it is not nearly enough. "Right now, things are so out of control we have no idea who's crossing our borders," T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council union, told the Associated Press. "It's going to take more than a couple of hundred agents to seal those gaps."

There is some consolation that the move to bolster the number of agents on patrol is unintended acknowledgement of the severity of the problem. However, that hardly alleviates the problem created by Mr. Bush's failure to fund 2,000 new agents -- as promised in the December intelligence-overhaul bill.

This isn't the fault of DHS or the Border Patrol; it's a lack of policy guidance. The United States needs concise direction from the White House. It cannot rely on the bureaucracies to resolve matters; bureaucracies are, by their very nature, incapable of making the kind of policy departure necessary to improve border-control. Sending a high-level official to diagnose the country's border-enforcement ailments and return to Washington with a set of recommendations is the only way to handle the matter at this point. There is a demonstrable need for such action and ample precedent to do so.

The last few weeks have seen considerable public debate over the Arizona border, and debates serve their own purpose. Now, the prime season for illegals heading north begins. The president needs to take action to stop the illegal activity from worsening. We cannot rely on ad hoc, last-minute solutions to the border-control problem. We need real leadership from the White House."

Indeed we do!

Time for media to come clean?

"Evidence mounts that ABC News, The Washington Post and other mainstream media were taken in by a fake Republican "talking points memo" on the Terri Schiavo case. Yet the media react by stonewalling.

The unsigned memo, which had no letterhead, suggested that the congressional GOP intervened for purely partisan political reasons. ABC and The Post reported that the memo was distributed to Republican senators. But Republican senators say they never saw such a document.

Is it any wonder that various polls have found that a majority of the public thinks congressional Republicans were insincere in their attempt to save this woman's life?

This is, if anything, worse than Dan Rather and CBS using fake documents to try to bring down President Bush. The New York Times reports that the memo was distributed to reporters by Democratic staffers on the Hill. Isn't it time for the media to come clean?"

-- Greg Pierce, "Inside Politics" columnist

To read more on why this memo may have been fake, read here, here, and here.

However, John Byrne at the RAWSTORY, seems to think otherwise. He thinks staffers from Republican Senator Mel Martinez of Florida were behind the memo. (What? Not Karl Rove?)

Ex-D.C. school official charged in terror plots

By Matthew Cella
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A former high-level D.C. schools official has been charged with plotting global terrorist acts while also struggling to renovate classrooms and rid city schools of asbestos.

Kifah Waed Jayyousi, the former facilities director for D.C. public schools, was ordered held in Detroit yesterday after he was arrested for providing material support to terrorists and plotting acts of terrorism outside the United States.

Read the article here.

Jesse Jackson Blasts Terri's 'Violent' Death

Rev. Jackson has been speaking out on the Terry Schiavo case. He has called it a "violent" execution of Terri Schiavo, and that it is "a great moral and ethical crisis that we should address."

Jackson also was quoted as saying it is "worse - more violent and wrong than the convicted's executions."

He also said:

"This woman's being starved and dehydrated to death."

"Eleven days - no food and no water. This is not right."

"She is not brain dead. She is brain impaired. All her vital signs are working."

"And to cut off her food and water his heartless."

I commend him for speaking out. There is not much I agree on with Rev. Jackson but yet he is speaking out while the main players in the Democratic party like Hillary and John Kerry have been mum on this subject.

Pakistani Sees Results From U.S. Push for Democracy

Pakistani sees results from U.S. push for democracy
Pakistan's ambassador said yesterday the U.S. push for democracy is forcing countries around the world to re-examine their governmental and human rights practices and that Pakistan too will be strongly affected. (From The Washington Times)

College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds

By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer

College faculties, long assumed to be a liberal bastion, lean further to the left than even the most conspiratorial conservatives might have imagined, a new study says.

Do-It-Yourself Border Patrol

From Time Magazine
By Brian Bennett

More than 500,000 illegal aliens were caught last year in southern Arizona alone, accounting for 52% of all undocumented migrants detained in the U.S. in 2004.

State police arrest 13 undocumented Mexicans in West Michigan

HARTFORD, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan State Police say they have arrested 13 undocumented Mexican immigrants who entered the United States at Nogales, Ariz., bound for New York.

Violent Gang versus The Minutemen

Gang will target Minuteman vigil on Mexico border From The Washington Times

Members of a violent Central America-based gang have been sent to Arizona to target Minuteman Project volunteers, who will begin a monthlong border vigil this weekend to find and report foreigner sneaking into the United States, project officials say.

Newsworthy

Joe Lieberman Backs Life for Terry Schiavo
Starvation is Considered a War Crime Per Geneva Convention

THE SOCIAL SECURITY DEBATE

Wow. The Washington Post criticizes the Democrats for Dishonest Debate on the Social Security issue.

The 'Lull' Serves a Purpose

Hamas Gaza Strip leader a-Zahar says his organization is using the recent lull in terror attacks for reorganizing. He says Israel knows that they are capable of “making the earth shake” should thousands of Jews visit Temple Mount.

What's the Point Here?

CNN has a story about President Bush honoring the fallen security guard at Red Lake school where he among others were killed by a student who went on a shooting rampage before killing himself. The article then goes on to say:

Some American Indians have complained that Bush did not respond publicly to the shooting for four days. His first communication with the community came Friday morning in a five-minute telephone call to Floyd Jourdain Jr., chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa."

Interestingly enough they made sure they pointed this out to everybody:

In contrast, President Clinton publicly expressed his condolences within hours of the shootings that left 15 dead at Columbine High School in 1999. He also proposed new gun control measures and school safety projects in a radio address a few days later."

I knew that this (gun control) would be an angle that the left would be bandying about after this most recent tragedy. Come on folks, wise up. This has nothing to do with gun control.

KOFI ANNAN THINKING OF QUITTING ?

Some are reporting that Mr. Annan is depressed over the UN scandals and his sons' involvement in the Oil-for-Food scandal that he is giving some thought of stepping down. Read the story here at Timesonline.co.uk