Breaking News Events

[AtLast]

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/14...090d3cb6312f,0

King defends Muslim 'radicalization' hearing, saying critics are 'in denial'
By Jordy Yager - 03/10/11 01:53 PM ET

Republicans pushed back on Democratic objections Thursday at a controversial hearing on whether American Muslims should be investigated for radicalized tendencies.

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Pete King (R-N.Y.), defended his decision to hold the hearing, saying his panel “could not live in denial.”

“I am well-aware that the announcement of these hearings has generated considerable controversy and opposition,” King said at the hearing.



“The committee cannot live in denial, which is what some would have us do when they suggest that this hearing dilute its focus by investigating threats unrelated to al Qaeda.”

But Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the ranking Democrat on King's committee, said Thursday he was concerned the hearing could be used to further radicalize people to attack the U.S. and that it unfairly singled out Muslim Americans.

“The U.S. is accused of engaging in a modern-day crusade against Islam,” said Thompson in his opening remarks. “We cannot give this lie a place to rest.

“I cannot help but wonder how propaganda about this hearing’s focus on the American Muslim community will be used by those who seek to inspire a new generation of suicide bombers.”

In preparation for the hearing, bomb-sniffing dogs swept the outside of the Cannon House Office Building on Thursday morning.

Several demonstrators stood silently outside the building with signs reading, “Today I am a Muslim too” and “Pluralism or perish.”

More than 100 people filled the cramped hearing room on Cannon’s third floor. The audience was largely quiet, save for a few outbursts of applause, and a demonstrator from Code Pink who sat silently throughout.

The atmosphere was more tense than normal as U.S. Capitol Police officers stood posted near the hearing room. One officer at a screening entrance to Cannon told a man to remove his trench coat. When he turned his back to the police officer and went to unbutton it, she said, "Turn toward me, sir!" He complied.

In the days leading up to the hearing, King received threatening phone calls, pleas from more than 60 of his House colleagues and denunciations from civil liberty and religious groups, all trying to persuade him to cancel Thursday’s hearing.

Instead, members pushed King to broaden the scope of the hearing, titled “The extent of radicalization in the American Muslim community and that community's response,” to encompass extremist environmental and neo-Nazi groups.

King said he is fulfilling his congressional duty and probing one of the most serious threats to national security.

“There is no equivalency of threat between al Qaeda and neo-Nazis, environmental extremists or other isolated madmen,” said King. “Only al Qaeda and its Islamist affiliates in this country are part of an international threat to our nation.”

King’s critics argue that the hearing unfairly targets Muslim Americans and will likely widen the divide between them and law enforcement.

A group of 56 Democratic lawmakers wrote to King on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to get him to call the hearing off. They said “the stated narrow scope and underlying premises of these hearings unfairly stigmatizes and alienates Muslim Americans.”

In a separate letter Wednesday evening, nine other Democratic lawmakers also pushed King to cancel the proceeding. They pointed to the shooting in January of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, neither of which has been linked to Islamic extremism, as evidence that other extremists deserve scrutiny.

Thompson last month asked King to broaden the scope of the hearing to encompass other extremists. King said he “will not allow political correctness to obscure a real and dangerous threat to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States.”

The hearing has sparked a furor in the media and among Islamic and civil-liberty groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which — along with 40 other groups — maintained in a letter Tuesday that the “committee can carry out its important function in a wide variety of ways without trampling on the constitutional rights of American Muslims.”

King announced plans for the hearing in December and has never wavered since. He said he has received threatening phone calls, some from overseas. He’s receiving increased protection and authorities are investigating the matter, he said.


In defending the hearing, King said he doesn’t want to feel guilty for not going forward in case another attack, like that of Sept. 11, 2001, takes place. Instead, he has blamed the mainstream media for inciting the public over an issue he says is vital to the national security — and which has not been adequately addressed so far.

“What are they afraid of? What are they hiding from? Why are they attacking me in such a rabid way?” King told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier this week. “I can take the hits, that doesn’t bother me at all.

“I don’t ever want it on my conscience that if another attack comes, I wake up the next morning and say, ‘I backed down to political correctness, I backed down to The Washington Post, or the left-wing New York Times, because I was afraid of political retribution.’ I’m going to do what I have to do, and I’m going to do it.”

But some in the intelligence community are concerned that the hearing — which is aimed at investigating recruitment tactics — could be used by ideological extremists as a recruitment tool.

“If the Islamic community feels that they’re being targeted, it could fuel the fire of people who are recruiting [and] saying, ‘This is discrimination, this is why we want you to join our side, this is why we want you to attack,’ ” Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview. “And unfortunately, they could use the religion to get to the endgame of an attack.”

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper voiced similar concerns in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last month, saying terrorist recruiters could attempt to exploit “anti-Islamic incidents, legislation and activities, such as threat of Koran burning and restrictions on Muslim attire.”

King told The Hill he was somewhat surprised by the public outcry; the Senate Homeland Security panel has held multiple hearings of the same nature in recent years, with little or no opposition, he said.

Hearings before the Senate panel have included titles such as: “Violent Islamist Extremism: Al-Shabab Recruitment in America,” “The Roots of Violent Islamist Extremism and Efforts to Counter It” and “Violent Islamist Extremism: Government Efforts to Defeat It.”

But unlike King’s hearing, the Senate panel’s hearings have always included either experts or government officials. The first Muslim member of Congress, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), is scheduled to testify at Thursday’s hearing, as is Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

Also scheduled to appear are Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a group that argues for the separation of mosque and state; Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center, which focuses heavily on youth in Minneapolis, where some young people have reportedly been recruited overseas to the militant Islamist group Al-Shabab; L.A. County Sheriff Leroy Baca; and Melvin Bledsoe, the father of a man who claims to be a part of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and stands accused of killing a man at an Arkansas military recruiting center.

For all of the opposition to the hearing, King does have his supporters. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called it essential to understanding the evolving domestic terrorist threat against the U.S.

“That’s where the war is going,” Graham told The Hill. “The more we know about what’s out there and how we can prevent it, the better off we are. No one’s suggesting putting anyone in jail, but Peter is suggesting that we try to find out what is being used out there by our enemies directed toward young Americans. I think that’s a good thing to inquire into.”

The White House, sensing the damage the hearing could do to relations with the Muslim-American community, sent President Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough, to address the All Dulles Area Muslim Society on Sunday in Northern Virginia.

“Our challenge, and the goal that President Obama has insisted that we also focus on, is on the front end [of] preventing al Qaeda from recruiting and radicalizing people in America in the first place,” McDonough said. “And we know this isn’t the job of government alone. It has to be a partnership with you.”

[MsTinkerbelly]

Omg japan 8.9 earthquake tsunami Omg

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

Omg japan 8.9 earthquake tsunami Omg

Here is a link-

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapc...pt=T1&iref=BN1

[AtLast]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/wo...ncMZfKoM24bUDQ


Whew!

Who else remembers Chernobyl and Three Mile Island?

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by AtLastHome

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/wo...ncMZfKoM24bUDQ


Whew!

Who else remembers Chernobyl and Three Mile Island?

I remember both of them. I grew up in a town with a nuclear reactor. One of the things I considered when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do in the military was as a nuclear technician. As I thought about the field I read everything I could get my hands on and grasp on Three Mile Island. (This was the early 80s so a number of post-mortems had been written.) As it turned out, cryptography sounded more interesting.

I remember Chernobyl because I was on duty when we started getting all of this traffic about an emergency in Pripyat. I remember, as it became clear what was happening, this feeling of us going into terra incognita.

Once again we're in unknown territory. That said, the model is closer to TMI than Chernobyl. For one, the Chernobyl reactor wasn't mediated with water it was mediated with graphite. Graphite burns and once it starts burning you pretty much can't put it out. Because this is a liquid mediated reactor, they have the option of just pumping sea water into the reactor. Water will not *stop* the reaction but it slows things down. It buys time. The other difference is that Chernobyl was not in a containment building. Containment buildings are those big cement buildings that, in the United States, look like cans. They are designed to keep the reactor safely encased so that even in a serious event, there should be a minimal release of radiation. Japanese reactors are encased in containment buildings. Now the explosion was not *in* the reactor is was in the out wall.

Cheers
Aj

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by dreadgeek

I remember both of them. I grew up in a town with a nuclear reactor. One of the things I considered when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do in the military was as a nuclear technician. As I thought about the field I read everything I could get my hands on and grasp on Three Mile Island. (This was the early 80s so a number of post-mortems had been written.) As it turned out, cryptography sounded more interesting.

I remember Chernobyl because I was on duty when we started getting all of this traffic about an emergency in Pripyat. I remember, as it became clear what was happening, this feeling of us going into terra incognita.

Once again we're in unknown territory. That said, the model is closer to TMI than Chernobyl. For one, the Chernobyl reactor wasn't mediated with water it was mediated with graphite. Graphite burns and once it starts burning you pretty much can't put it out. Because this is a liquid mediated reactor, they have the option of just pumping sea water into the reactor. Water will not *stop* the reaction but it slows things down. It buys time. The other difference is that Chernobyl was not in a containment building. Containment buildings are those big cement buildings that, in the United States, look like cans. They are designed to keep the reactor safely encased so that even in a serious event, there should be a minimal release of radiation. Japanese reactors are encased in containment buildings. Now the explosion was not *in* the reactor is was in the out wall.

Cheers
Aj

There seems to be conflicting reports about exactly how much radiation is being released. And not much by experts weighing in. My guess is that this will change and hopefully some factual information will come out instead of speculation.

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by AtLastHome

There seems to be conflicting reports about exactly how much radiation is being released. And not much by experts weighing in. My guess is that this will change and hopefully some factual information will come out instead of speculation.

That is exactly how it was with the Three Mile Island *accident*.It took days before we really knew the severity of the situation. Keep in mind, cell phones and social media did not exist, and we really only had news media to rely on. The steam was releasing radiation. That was all we knew. We knew nothing about a melt down, as I am recalling, for close to a week. It seemed as if everything was a secret. Far more people were affected than the 100,000 they estimated. Years later....the numbers were still acrueing. One thing I can recall, in hindsight, they said you can't alarm while informing.....

[dreadgeek]

Current state of things:

At noon local time (0400 GMT), Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which operates the plant, gave this status report:

Reactor 1 - shut down, under inspection because of Saturday's explosion, sea water and boric acid being pumped in

Reactor 2 - water level "lower than normal", but stable

Reactor 3 - high pressure coolant injection was "interrupted"; but injection of sea water and boric acid were under way.

Later, officials said seawater and boric acid were also being pumped into reactor 2.

Materials for talking people down:

In the middle of such a confused and changing picture, what can safely be said?

Firstly, the reactors involved will not operate again, even if there has not been a meltdown.

Seawater is corrosive. But it clearly appears to the operators that it is the only available medium for keeping the cores cool.

(Comment: This is actually a fairly encouraging sign. I would be FAR more worried if the operators were trying to salvage the reactors. At this point, they are going to bring these things down and stop the reactions (thus the boron, see below)

Boric acid, meanwhile, is used because it absorbs neutrons, slowing down the residual nuclear activity. The term "acid" is not really relevant - it is the atoms of boron in the acid that do the job.

Secondly, the release of radioactive materials, whatever the route, is so far of only local importance.

Russian authorities, with territory to the north and west within 1,000km of the plant, say they have detected nothing abnormal.

Thirdly, levels of radioactivity - although above safe limits - are far lower than were detected during the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine, for example.

(Comment: We are not out of the woods yet. But the simple fact of them pumping sea water in gives us both a sense of how serious they are taking this (VERY seriously) and how critical the situation is (VERY). Like I said above, that they are willing to let the reactors die means that their *first* priority is preventing a meltdown, not salvaging the huge sums of money that the reactor cores represent. I'll feel better about it if by Tuesday it's clear that the sea water/boric acid combination has kept the reactors cool and slowed down the rate of reaction.)

Cheers
Aj

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

That is exactly how it was with the Three Mile Island *accident*.It took days before we really knew the severity of the situation. Keep in mind, cell phones and social media did not exist, and we really only had news media to rely on. The steam was releasing radiation. That was all we knew. We knew nothing about a melt down, as I am recalling, for close to a week. It seemed as if everything was a secret. Far more people were affected than the 100,000 they estimated. Years later....the numbers were still acrueing. One thing I can recall, in hindsight, they said you can't alarm while informing.....

There seems to be a difference in the reporting. Although, politicians have sounded off about future nuke plants in the US and I do feel that coverage has been throwing out words like catastrophic, meltdown, and explosion in a way that isn't informing, but causing fear.

Just feels like there is a lack of truely explaning things like the role of containment structures and the types of filters that are used when steam is let out as part of the attempts at cooling. Finally, today a prof from Georgia Tech was on CNN that addressed the events and possibilities along with the systems for safety and how these work. he also did not try to deny that this is serious and he was not condescending.

Of course this is a serious event and worrisome and I want sound information, not fear laced reporting. And yes, I recall what you are talking about here with 3MI. many more people were affected than was reported- and data is still being collected. We need to have this information as well to make decisions or stands on nuclear power.

[AtLast]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapc...ex.html?hpt=T1

New blast causes fresh trouble at Japanese nuclear plantBy the CNN Wire Staff
March 14, 2011 7:54 p.m. EDT


Tokyo (CNN) -- A new explosion rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan early Tuesday from a reactor that workers had struggled to keep under control since a blast at a neighboring unit, the plant's owner announced.

The "explosive impact" took place shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday (5 p.m. Monday ET) inside the housing of the plant's No. 2 reactor, and pressure readings indicated some damage to the reactor's containment structure, officials of the Tokyo Electric Power Company reported at a news conference. No further details were immediately released, but TEPCO said some of its workers were evacuated following the blast due to elevated radiation levels.

Workers have been trying to keep sea water pouring into the No. 2 reactor since Monday, when a hydrogen explosion at reactor No. 3 damaged the cooling system at unit 2 and injured 11 people, Japanese authorities said. A similar hydrogen explosion on Saturday blew the roof off the containment structure around the No. 1 reactor.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Tuesday that up to 2.7 meters (8.8 feet) of the No. 2 reactor's control rods -- about half -- have been uncovered. And Yukio Edano, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, said he could not rule out the possibility of a meltdown at all three troubled reactors at the plant.


Explainer: Producing nuclear energy While sea water was being pumped into the reactors in an effort to prevent further damage, "It cannot necessarily be called a stable situation," Edano said early Tuesday.

The buildup of hydrogen in the reactor vessels is "the first sign that things are going haywire," said Kenneth Bergeron, a physicist who used to work at the Energy Department's Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. The release of radioactive material such as cesium, a reactor byproduct that has been detected outside the Fukushima Daiichi plant, is another, he said.

"What is fairly clear, from the release of hydrogen and the fission products, is that all of these reactors have probably had fuel rods exposed for significant periods of time over a portion of their length," Bergeron told CNN.Authorities began pumping a mix of sea water and boron into the No. 2 reactor after Monday's explosion, as they have been doing with units 1 and 3. But the pump ran low on fuel when workers left it unattended, and the water soon burned off and exposed the reactor's fuel rods, allowing them to emit levels of heat and steam that can melt the reactor's core.

When that problem was resolved, Edano said, a new problem sent the water levels plummeting again. A valve that was supposed to be open to allow the heat and steam to escape was closed, causing pressure to build up inside the reactor building, according to TEPCO. But pumping had resumed by early Tuesday, Edano said.

Officials earlier said that they were operating on the presumption that there may be a partial meltdown in the No. 3 and No. 1 nuclear reactors at the Daiichi plant. Authorities have not yet been able to confirm a meltdown, because it is too hot inside the affected reactors to check.

While steam was being released from reactor No. 2, officials took readings of the radiation level just outside the power plant's front gate and found it to be twice the maximum level previously detected, though only briefly. At 9:35 p.m. Monday, the level was at 760 microsieverts per hour; two minutes later it was up to 3,130 microsieverts. The level dropped to 431 microsieverts per hour at 10:15 p.m., and 321 microsieverts at 10:35 p.m., TEPCO said.

A microsievert is an internationally recognized unit measuring radiation dosage. People typically are exposed during an entire year to a total of about 2,400 microsieverts, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency -- and a CT scan produces nearly 3,000 microsieverts in a matter of minutes, said David J. Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University in New York.

If the effort to cool the nuclear fuel inside the reactor fails completely -- a scenario that experts who have spoken to CNN say is unlikely -- the resulting release of radiation could cause enormous damage to the plant, and possibly release radiation into the atmosphere or water. That could lead to widespread cancer and other health problems, experts say.

But Bergeron said that while it is likely the reactor cores have been damaged, "it will have to get a lot hotter" for the dense uranium in the reactor's fuel rods to melt down. That would give authorities and the surrounding population time to prepare."I believe they would be able to tell from various signals having to do with release of radioactivity and other things that things were a lost cause, you might say, and they might start initiating additional evacuations," Bergeron said.

"There would be warning, but we're talking massive, massive responses required," he added.

About 200,000 people have evacuated the area following a government order over the weekend. And after Monday's blast, authorities ordered at least 500 residents remaining within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the plant to stay inside, Edano said.

And low levels of radiation were detected at least as far as 100 miles (about 160 kilometers) northeast of the plant, according to the U.S. Navy, which repositioned ships and planes after detecting low-level "airborne radioactivity." Tests also detected low levels of radioactivity on 17 U.S. Navy helicopter crew members when they returned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, but no further contamination was detected after the crew members washed with soap and water, the Navy said.



Physicist: 'Wide range' of possibilities

Nuclear expert: This is no Chernobyl
Anatomy of a meltdown

Radioactive leak? What to do The Navy said the maximum potential radiation dose received by any ship personnel when it passed through the area was "less than the radiation exposure received from about one month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil, and the sun."

The United States has sent a team of experts to assist Japan at the nuclear site, including two cooling experts. U.S. officials are also "assembling a team of experts that would be dispatched in the near future," Greg Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday.

Japan has asked for additional types of equipment that will help provide water and keep the reactors cool, he said.

Based on the reactor design and nature of the accident, there is very low probability of any harmful radiation levels reaching the United Sates, including Hawaii and U.S. territories, Jaczko said.

[suebee]

Wisconsin GOP Denies Legislative Democrats Voting Rights link

[AtLast]

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/gree...:on:share:blog

[AtLast]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/wor...ion.cnn?hpt=C2

[Julie]

[AtLast]

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/03/k...-stoning-gays/

Killer stoned his victim to death because Bible refers to stoning gays

LANSDOWNE, Pa. — Police in suburban Philadelphia have arrested a man and charged him with murder in the brutal beating of an elderly man. The suspect told police he killed his victim using a sock stuffed with rocks because the Old Testament refers to stoning homosexuals.

John Joe Thomas, 28, of Sunshine Road in Upper Darby, spent almost every day with 70-year-old Murray Seidman at Seidman’s Lansdowne home, police say. Days before Seidman’s body was found on Jan. 12, Thomas allegedly beat Seidman to death with a sock full of rocks.

Thomas told authorities that he read in the Old Testament that homosexuals should be stoned to death. When Seidman allegedly made homosexual advances toward him over a period of time, Thomas said he received a message in his prayers that he must end Seidman’s life, according to court documents.
.
Murray Seidman
Though the relationship between the two men is still unknown, Thomas was
the sole executor of Seidman’s will and knew how much money was in Seidman’s bank accounts, police say.

Thomas also told police he had spent nearly every day with Seidman, and he had the power of attorney over Seidman’s affairs.

Lansdowne police Chief Daniel Kortan said the break in the investigation
came when Thomas allegedly told a witness he beat an older man to death.

Thomas allegedly described for the witness how he placed batteries and rocks in a sock, and hit Seidman in the head at least 10 times.

[Jesse]

This is unreal!


http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/181...ke-Wales-mayor

[AtLast]

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar...e-nrc-20110318

Japan nuclear crisis could last for weeks, U.S. nuclear official says

[AtLast]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42164455...ica/?gt1=43001


Allies launch first attacks against Gadhafi forces in Libya
Four Libyan tanks destroyed in French airstrikes, Al Jazeera reported; US preparing to launch missiles

[Greyson]

Finally, a modicum of justice specific to Immigration laws in the USA and Same Sex Couples / Queer Families.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________



Bi-National Lesbian Couple Can Press US Marriage Claim
In unprecedented move, Immigration Judge adjourns deportation proceeding amidst DOMA litigation

BY PAUL SCHINDLER

Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 2:22 PM CDT

It what appears to be the first such action of its type, an Immigration Judge in Manhattan has adjourned deportation proceedings for the Argentine lesbian spouse of an American citizen to allow the couple to proceed with their application to have their marriage recognized for purposes of federal immigration law.

Monica Alcota, 35, who came to the US a decade ago, married her partner of nearly three years, 25-year-old Cristina Ojeda, last August in Connecticut.

The couple’s attorneys, Lavi Soloway and Noemi Masliah, argue that their clients’ marital status should qualify Alcota for permanent residency, as would be the case with any different-sex couple.

A 2010 US court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of federal recognition for legal same-sex marriages, they say –– coupled with the Justice Department’s recent decision that it could not and would not defend DOMA’s constitutionality on that point –– opens up the real possibility that Alcota and Ojeda may be accorded recognition.

In a March 22 hearing in the US courthouse at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, Immigration Judge Terry A. Bain gave the couple the go-ahead to press their claim with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) –– a unit of the Department of Homeland Security –– through what is known as Form I-130, a petition to have Alcota recognized as “the spouse of USC.”

For now, the couple’s case has been adjourned until December, a decision supported by the government's attorney.

“It is almost impossible to overstate the significance of what happened in there,” Soloway said immediately after the hearing. “An adjournment based on an I-130. It would never have happened a year ago. I don’t think I even would have filed it.”

Describing the development as “huge,” Soloway also credited Bain with being “very kind, very generous” in her handling of the case.

Masliah echoed her law partner’s assessment, terming Bain’s action “benevolent”; she added, however, that it is also “realistic in light of recent developments.”

On July 8 last year, US District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in Boston struck down the DOMA provision that bars federal recognition of legal same-sex marriages, finding that it violated the equal protection rights of such couples and impermissibly interfered with prerogatives of the state of Massachusetts to accord recognition under joint state-federal benefit programs.

The Department of Justice appealed that ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, where the established precedent regarding claims of sexual orientation discrimination is that plaintiffs must show there is no rational basis for the distinction in law they are challenging.

However, when confronted with similar lawsuits brought in Connecticut and New York –– courts in the 2nd Circuit, where there is no existing precedent on anti-gay bias claims –– Attorney General Eric Holder, with the support of the White House, concluded that such claims should appropriately be held to a heightened level of scrutiny, and that under that type of review, DOMA’s constitutionality could not be justified.The Department of Justice (DOJ) concurred with Tauro that denial of federal recognition was a violation of the equal protection rights of same-sex couples. The government, Holder announced, would no longer defend DOMA in federal court.

Steve Ralls, a spokesman for Immigration Equality, which advocates on behalf of bi-national gay and lesbian couples whose right to stay together in the US is threatened, agreed with the assessments by Soloway and Masliah that Bain’s action was both significant and appropriate in the current context.

“It sounds like what happened in this case is what should have happened,” Ralls said. “We hope it will set a precedent for future rulings. We have other families planning to file I-130s, and this should be good news for them.”

Ralls noted that his use of the word precedent was intended in an informal way –– as in example –– rather than as any suggestion that Bain’s action has legally binding impact on other Immigration Judges. He said that to the best of his group’s knowledge, Bain’s move was unprecedented.

Last week, Immigration Equality wrote to Holder asking that proceedings against immigrant same-sex spouses facing deportation be placed on hold while the DOMA issue remains in the courts.

“We write to request that until there is a final resolution in the DOMA litigation, you instruct the Board of Immigration Appeals to hold in abeyance the appeals of immigrant visa petitions (I-130) filed by American citizens or lawful permanent residents on behalf of their lesbian or gay spouses,” Rachel B. Tiven and Victoria F. Neilson, the group’s executive director and legal director, wrote on March 16. “We ask further that you instruct the Executive Office for Immigration Review to grant long continuances in removal proceedings where the foreign national could adjust status based on his or her marriage.”

Tiven and Neilson acknowledged that Holder said the government would continue to enforce DOMA pending resolution of court challenges, but they emphasized their suggestions represented the only way to maintain the status quo for bi-national families during that process.

For Alcota and Ojeda, the legal developments of the last eight months –– in Boston, Washington, and now Manhattan –– represent some respite from what has been “hanging over our heads,” Ojeda explained –– “that I would lose her.”

That’s exactly what happened to Ojeda –– for three months at least –– in 2009. As the couple traveled through upstate New York by bus to bring Ojeda’s belongings from Buffalo, where she had just finished up a master’s degree in social work, to Queens, where the two women now live, a spot border control check resulted in Alcota being detained by immigration officials. She ended up in a privately-run detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, from which she could have been deported at any time.

Finally, an Immigration Judge — a woman, the couple noted — saw Alcota and determined she had “a reasonable fear” of persecution should she be returned to Argentina. She had fled her home country, where she lived in a region near the Chilean border, with her then-partner because the two believed their lives were at risk.

Soloway noted that should the court challenges to DOMA ultimately proved unsuccessful, he will argue Alcota deserves asylum based on her provable fear of persecution back home.After the ten-minute hearing, Alcota remained nervous, the adrenalin apparently not yet having worked its way through her system. Still, she expressed relief that she will have the chance to fight for the validity of her marriage.

“Now I feel relieved,” Alcota’s spouse Ojeda said. “That they are going to give us a chance to argue our case.”

Ojeda said Bain’s action “acknowledged our marriage,” and she added that when DOJ changed its posture on DOMA, she felt that President Barack Obama had “definitely” moved into the couple’s corner in their fight.

There is no way of knowing how long the DOMA litigation will go on, but it certainly will still be alive in December. It is also likely Ojeda’s I-130 application on Alcota’s behalf will still be working its way through USCIS –– or potentially through appeal of an adverse decision. In that event, Alcota’s next appearance before Judge Bain could amount to nothing more than a perfunctory status update and a further adjournment.

Of course, every day the couple can stay together is precious in their lives.


http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2011/03/22/gay_city_news/news/doc4d88e4f2b3e0a156734109.txt

[betenoire]

First Official Republican 2012 Candidate Is Gay

Oh hi, we are the Republican Party. We want to trick you into giving us the gay vote. Then we will fuck you up the ass, but not in the way that y'all generally like it.

The very first Republican officially to declare his candidacy for president is gay. Fred Karger, who has worked on several presidential campaigns, including Ronald Reagan's, has been indicating his intention to run for some time, but many in the Republican establishment don't want him to. His filling with the Federal Elections Commission Wednesday will help Karger pry his way into the primary debates.