From the Episcopal News Service

The Anglican Church of Canada’s Council of General Synod has expressed its dismay and concern over the draft proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently before the Ugandan Parliament.
…
“The proposed bill would severely impede the human rights of Ugandan citizens both at home and abroad by infringing freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, freedom of organization, and legitimate advocacy of civil rights,” the Council of General Synod said Nov. 15. “It would impose excessive and cruel penalties on persons who experience same-sex attraction as well as those who counsel, support, and advise them, including family members and clergy.”
…
Canada’s Council of General Synod called upon the Church of Uganda to oppose the bill. It also called “upon our own Government of Canada, through the minister of external affairs, to convey to the Government of Uganda a deep sense of alarm about this fundamental violation of human rights and, through diplomatic channels, to press for its withdrawal…”

Meanwhile Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has remained too busy to oppose the proposed execution of gays in Uganda. He was in Rome today meeting with the Pope to discuss Rome’s poaching of anti-women and anti-gay Anglicans.

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/11/2...

The Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee combined to spend $30 million in October, the last full month before some key off-year elections on Nov. 3.

According to campaign finance reports filed Friday, the RNC spent $16.7 million last month. It transferred $2.5 million to its state affiliate in Virginia, where Bob McDonnell (R) decisively won the gubernatorial election, Republicans also won races for lieutenant governor and attorney general and also increased their majority in the state House of Delegates.

The RNC gave $630,000 to the Republican Governors Association, which helped the party increase its ranks of governors from 22 to 24 with victories in Virginia and New Jersey, and $500,000 to its state affiliate in Pennsylvania, where the Republicans won a state Supreme Court election.

The RNC gave $230,000 to the state GOP organization in New York, where a split between party organizations and conservative activists helped Bill Owens (D) win a special election in the historically Republican-leaning 23rd district.

The DNC spent $13.4 million in October, according to its report, and transferred nearly $2.9 million to its state affiliate in New Jersey, where Gov. Jon Corzine (D) lost to challenger Chris Christie (R) and Democrats retained their majority in the state General Assembly.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009...

The Service Employees International Union on Sunday reported spending nearly $1 million on an independent expenditure television campaign praising eight House Democrats for backing a health care bill earlier this month.

Here's how the SEIU spent $998,000 among the eight districts: Baron P. Hill, Indiana's 9th district ($162,000); Dina Titus, Nevada's 3rd ($157,000); Paul W. Hodes, New Hampshire's 2nd ($144,000); Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota's at-large ($142,000); Tom Perriello, Virginia's 5th ($126,000); Michael H. Michaud, Maine's 2nd ($119,000); Brad Ellsworth, Indiana's 8th ($90,000); and Joe Donnelly, Indiana's 2nd ($58,000).

It's a pretty diverse group in terms of geography and political security. All are seeking re-election in 2010 except for Hodes, who is running for the Senate. Perriello and Titus are serving their first terms and probably face tougher races than the other five who are seeking re-election.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009...

Not long after she bucked her leaders and voted against the health care bill, freshman Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.) earned a Democratic primary challenger.

But to say former Winter Springs Mayor Paul Partyka is trying to carve liberal votes away from Kosmas might be a bit of a stretch.

In his announcement last week, Partyka discussed the importance of “a practical health insurance program for all,” but he also emphasized tort reform, an issue that isn’t exactly dear to the hearts of liberal voters. Partyka, the managing partner at a commercial real estate firm, made his candidacy announcement at a local chamber of commerce meeting.

But regardless of where Partyka hopes to find traction, it’s an encouraging development for the GOP in east-central Florida’s 24th district.

It’s a true swing seat: The same voters who sent Kosmas to Capitol Hill narrowly favored Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in last year’s presidential contest.

Even if Partyka doesn’t spur Kosmas to adjust her generally moderate voting record, any challenge will force her to spend money in different ways than the campaign might otherwise prefer.

Partyka said Friday that he could put significant personal resources into his race but would prefer to run a more traditional grass-roots campaign.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?doci...

Togo is considering a bill to ban smoking in public. The Ministry of Health of the West African country said tobacco related deaths in the country has reached alarming proportions and it is about time it saves its citizens. Smoking prevalence in the tiny country is 31.3% and civil society organizations are helping to save the situation.

A representative of the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Sadjo-Hetsi Dzrevon said: “Tobacco has killed a lot of people in Togo that is why the ministry of health is concerned and working with NGOs to stop this dangerous trend”.

The National Alliance of Consumers and Environment of Togo said in a document: “Tobacco consumption is spreading more and more, especially among the youth. The tobacco industry is increasingly directing its harmful advertising toward young people by sponsoring youth oriented cultural activities. Even though the state has banned tobacco advertising in public and private media, the advertising still exists in many forms in Togo.”

At the moment there is an ongoing legislative process on tobacco control which is expected to culminate into a national legal document that will support the promotion and implementation of the framework convention on tobacco control.


http://www.africanews.com/site/Togo_to_ban...

AUGUSTA, Maine — Even with state revenues now forecast to come in nearly $400 million lower than previously expected, members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee fear the shortfall could get worse yet.

On Friday the revenue forecasting committee projected state revenues will be about $384 million less over the two-year state budget than they estimated last spring. But legislators are bracing for further accumulation of red ink as they work to adjust the budget.

“I am not confident now about anything to do with the economy,” said Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “This is the best guesses of the best minds,” he said of the forecasting committee.

He said the same group had reprojected revenues down last April, only to have May revenues fall $21.2 million below that new projection. He said revenues have not met estimates since then.

“I am not saying they are not trying,” Diamond said, “or doing anything wrong. Nobody has gotten this recession right, at least not yet.”

Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, agreed. She said the committee will use the new revenue forecast as “a starting point” as it works on a plan to bring the state budget into balance.

“The governor will propose his plan in December and we will hold hearings on that as soon as we can,” she said. “But we will be multitasking as we review what he is proposing because we know we may have to go further than he proposes if revenues do not hold up.”

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/1304...

Clemson University chemistry professor John Huffman was amused the first time someone called to talk about people smoking one of his lab projects to get high.

It's not so funny anymore.

As the use of K2, Spice and other drugs that are considered "fake weed" spreads across the country, Huffman is fielding more calls from police agencies, media and even from people who want instructions on how to make it.

"Quite frankly, it's become sort of a pain," he said.

While local law enforcement said they have not received reports of use in the Midlands, fake marijuana products are available in Columbia.

Legal in South Carolina, they are sold as incense under the names K2 and Spice.

Huffman, who has taught at Clemson since 1960, said he never intended for anyone to smoke his research projects.

Huffman and his students create compounds - known as synthetic cannabinoids - that mimic the effects of marijuana. The creations, he said, are used by other scientists in the pharmaceutical research industry.

http://www.thestate.com/local/story/103925...

Polls are due to open in Romania in the first round of a presidential election, with 12 candidates vying for office.

The frontrunners are the centre-right incumbent, Traian Basescu, and his Social Democrat rival, Mircea Geoana.

The election is expected to put an end to the political crisis which followed the collapse of the centre-right government of Emil Boc in October.

For six weeks recession-hit Romania has been in the hands of a caretaker government.

Sunday's is the country's first presidential election as a member of the EU.

Mr Basescu, who has been president for five years, wants a mandate to overcome what he says is the blocking of his political reforms by opposition parties.

Mr Geoana - a former US ambassador and foreign affairs minister - is offering voters an ambitious economic stimulus package.

Latest polls show the Liberal candidate Crin Antonescu trailing in third place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8372771....

BALTIMORE — A preliminary report commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to investigate the clergy sex abuse scandal has found no evidence that gay priests are more likely than heterosexual clergy to molest children, the lead authors of the study said Tuesday.

The full report by researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice won’t be completed until the end of next year. But the authors said their evidence to date found no data indicating that homosexuality was a predictor of abuse.

“What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse,” said Margaret Smith of John Jay College, in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse from the data that we have right now.”

The question has been raised repeatedly within and outside the church because the overwhelming majority of known victims were boys. As part of the church’s response to the crisis, the Vatican ordered a review of all U.S. seminaries that, among other issues, looked for any “evidence of homosexuality” in the schools.

Yet, many experts on sex offenders reject any link between sexual orientation and committing abuse. Karen Terry, a John Jay researcher, said it was important to distinguish between sexual identity and behavior, and to look at who the offender had access to when seeking victims.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/3...

HOUSTON -- A Langham Creek High School freshman who said he's the victim of a hate crime is speaking out.
Jayron Martin said he begged two principals at his school and his bus driver for help before he was hit repeatedly with a metal pipe.

Martin said the help never came. He said it took a neighbor with a shotgun to stop the beating.

“They didn’t do anything,” said Martin. “They never called me down or nothing.”

The attack happened after school November 12, near the 6100 block of Langham Mist Lane.

According to the 16-year-old, the attack took place off campus. He said a fellow student beat him after school while eight others stood around and watched. Martin believes he was beaten because he’s gay.

“All they kept saying was, ‘We going to get you. We going to fight you,’ and all that and so when they started coming after me they were like, ‘You’re not going to be gay anymore.’ They just kept hitting me,” he said.

http://www.khou.com/home/Student-allegedly...

By now we have all heard about the Manhattan Declaration put out by various religious right figures and groups urging, among other things, non-cooperation with laws that in any way recognize same sex couples.

It has been condemned in many circles and for good reason.

Wayne Besen of Truthwinsout.org said the following:

“This is a disturbing call for anarchy from a group of radical clerics and activists who believe they don’t have play by the same rules as other taxpaying Americans."

And according to the blog Instaputz, there is another reason to not only oppose this document but also raise the alarm about it.

Some of the names those signing the declaration aren't a surprise. They are the usual folks who oppose lgbt equality - Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Maggie Gallagher, Gary Bauer, etc.

But here is a name which you may not be familiar with:


Rev. Peter J. Akinola
Primate, Anglican Church of Nigeria (Abika, Nigeria)

Akinola is the Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also Bishop of Abuja (Nigeria's capital) and Archbishop of Province III, which covers the northern and central parts of the country.

According to Instaputz, he supported a 2006 Nigerian anti-gay bill which:

called for five years imprisonment for anyone who "performs, witnesses, aids, or abets" a same-sex marriage, and anyone who engaged in public advocacy or associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people.

http://holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blog...

Republicans could be getting a break in upstate New York, where state Assemblyman Greg Ball (R) says he will run for state Senate rather than against Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.).

Ball announced Saturday that he would make the switch. His exit clears the primary for ophthalmologist Nan Hayworth, who recently got in the race and has caught the eye of the national party.

Ball, meanwhile, has a flamboyant personal style and political history that rubbed some the wrong way. At the same time, he was raising more money than Hall and looked to be a formidable obstacle to Hayworth.

The timing is interesting, given that Ball released a poll this week making the case for his viability. The poll was eventually revealed to not have sampled all parts of the district, though, leading some to accuse Ball of providing misleading information.

He will now run for the 40th district in the state Senate, a closely divided chamber that has switched control multiple times just this year.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-roo...

Vietnamese officials have denied they are deliberately blocking access to social networking site Facebook.

State internet service provider FPT says it has been working with foreign companies to solve a fault blocking connections to Facebook's US servers.

But many of Vietnam's one million users have been reporting problems accessing Facebook, which recently launched a Vietnamese-language version, for days.

And workers at many web firms say the government ordered them to block it.

The freedom of expression afforded by the internet has certainly preoccupied the authorities in recent months.

They have arrested several bloggers and online journalists, and ordered people to restrict their online writing to personal concerns.

Meanwhile, Facebook has said it would be very disappointed if users in any country were to have difficulties accessing its site.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/83...

Zimbabwe say it is pulling soldiers out of a diamond field in the country's east, after global diamond trade chiefs alleged abuses were taking place there.

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu told state-run media Zimbabwe had complied with 90% of demands made by trade watchdog the Kimberley Process group this month.

Activists had wanted the group to suspend Zimbabwe, saying troops had killed 200 people at the Marange field.

But instead it urged Zimbabwe to reform, giving a June 2010 deadline.

The Herald newspaper quoted Mr Mpofu as saying the government had achieved a lot in its attempts to comply with the Kimberley Process, which regulates trade in so-called blood diamonds

"As is evident at these fields, there are no army officers or police details," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8368103....

Sri Lanka says people held in special camps since the end of the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels will be allowed out for short periods from next month.

An aide to the president also confirmed a pledge to close the facilities, which house more than 130,000 people.

They were set up in the country's north for Tamils fleeing the final stages of the civil war - which ended in May.

Sri Lanka has drawn strong international criticism for holding people in the camps against their will.

The latest government announcement was made by the special adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brother Basil, on a visit to the largest camp, Menik Farm.

On Thursday UN humanitarian chief John Holmes urged Sri Lanka to allow them to leave, following a visit to the camp.

Addressing a group of displaced people, Mr Rajapaksa said that from 1 December the camps would no longer be closed sites. People will now be free to leave them for a day or two at a time, to visit friends and relatives, for example.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8371...