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Old 03-22-2010, 06:00 PM   #21
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Default I don't remember Deerfield Beach being this violent....*sigh*....

A 15-year-old Florida girl is in a medically-induced coma after being brutally beaten by a 13-year-old boy, an incident that allegedly stemmed from a text-message exchange.

Wayne Treacy was reportedly trying to reach his ex-girlfriend -- 13-year-old Kayla Manson, who didn't have a text-message-enabled phone -- through her friend, Josie Lou Ratley. Treacy allegedly became enraged after Ratley reportedly told him that she didn't approve of the relationship and made disparaging remarks about Treacy's brother, who'd committed suicide last year, the Today show reports.

According to CBS4, Treacy rode his bike to Deerfield Beach Middle School to confront Ratley. Since he'd never met her face-to-face before, he reportedly asked Manson to point her out. When he found Ratley, the boy, wearing steel-toed boots, began kicking and stomping her, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti tells CBS 4.

According to an affidavit, "Upon knocking her to the ground the defendant stood over her and began to strike her head on the ground, face down five or six times. While the victim lay defenseless and motionless, the defendant stood over her and kicked her in the head five to seven times with steel-toed boots," CBS 4 reports

Treacy and Manson, who is being charged as an accessory in the attempted murder of Ratley, are being held in a juvenile detention center. Treacy has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, CBS4 reports.

"She is in an induced coma. Part of her skull has been removed to allow the swelling in her brain to go down, and she's black and blue from head to toe," says Rick Freedman, the Ratley family's attorney.

This is the second time in recent months that tragedy has struck Deerfield Beach Middle School. Michael Brewer, 15, was set on fire by classmates last October.
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Old 03-23-2010, 06:56 AM   #22
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I am stunned. What kind of society have we participated in fostering? When is enough enough? Some how we, yes we, all of us have created, let happen, did nothing to change it.

Somewhere this 13 year old boy got the idea that it is acceptable to beat the life out of another human being. It does not escape my attention that he assaulted a girl. Also, the other girl stood by passively and identified the other young girl to her "boyfriend."

I believe all of us as a part of a society have some amount of responsibility to advance the well being of civilization in some way. We can no longer just lament how terrible things are and do nothing.

How do I conduct myself?
Am I part of the solution?
Do I offer any of my time, money or other resources to the betterment of others?
Do I work on my own personal fears, resentments and prejudices or do I just point the finger of judgement at others and go about my life with no thought of the state of the rest of the world?



Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemme View Post
A 15-year-old Florida girl is in a medically-induced coma after being brutally beaten by a 13-year-old boy, an incident that allegedly stemmed from a text-message exchange.

Wayne Treacy was reportedly trying to reach his ex-girlfriend -- 13-year-old Kayla Manson, who didn't have a text-message-enabled phone -- through her friend, Josie Lou Ratley. Treacy allegedly became enraged after Ratley reportedly told him that she didn't approve of the relationship and made disparaging remarks about Treacy's brother, who'd committed suicide last year, the Today show reports.

According to CBS4, Treacy rode his bike to Deerfield Beach Middle School to confront Ratley. Since he'd never met her face-to-face before, he reportedly asked Manson to point her out. When he found Ratley, the boy, wearing steel-toed boots, began kicking and stomping her, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti tells CBS 4.

According to an affidavit, "Upon knocking her to the ground the defendant stood over her and began to strike her head on the ground, face down five or six times. While the victim lay defenseless and motionless, the defendant stood over her and kicked her in the head five to seven times with steel-toed boots," CBS 4 reports

Treacy and Manson, who is being charged as an accessory in the attempted murder of Ratley, are being held in a juvenile detention center. Treacy has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, CBS4 reports.

"She is in an induced coma. Part of her skull has been removed to allow the swelling in her brain to go down, and she's black and blue from head to toe," says Rick Freedman, the Ratley family's attorney.

This is the second time in recent months that tragedy has struck Deerfield Beach Middle School. Michael Brewer, 15, was set on fire by classmates last October.
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Old 03-25-2010, 10:33 AM   #23
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Pentagon changes rules for discharging gays
By ANNE FLAHERTY and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, March 25, 2010

(03-25) 07:47 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday approved new rules that will make it harder to discharge gays from the military, calling the changes a matter of "common sense and common decency."

Gates announced new guidelines for how the Pentagon carries out the 1993 law banning gays from serving openly in the military — rules which essentially put higher-ranking officers in charge of discharge proceedings and impose tougher requirements for evidence used against gays.

The new guidelines go into effect immediately and will apply to cases already open. They are considered a stopgap measure until Congress decides whether to go along with President Barak Obama's call for a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law.

"I believe these changes represent an important improvement in the way the current law is put into practice, above all by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency for handling what are complex and difficult issues for all involved," Gates told a Pentagon news conference.

The changes raise the level of officer authorized to initiate a fact-finding inquiry into a case, the level of officer who can conduct an inquiry and of the one that can authorize a dismissal.

To discourage the use of overheard statements or hearsay, from now on any evidence given in third-party outings must be given under oath, Gates said. Cases of third-party outings also have included instances in which male troops have turned in women who rejected their romantic advances or jilted partners in relationship have turned in a former lover.

Some kinds of confidential information also will no longer be allowed, including statements gays make to their lawyers, clergy, psychotherapists or medical professionals in the pursuit of health care.

The individual service branches will have 30 days to change their regulations to conform to the new rules.

Military officials, Republicans and even some conservative Democrats have been reluctant to embrace a change in the existing law. They say they support Gates' review of the policy but that no changes should be made if they might undermine military cohesion and effectiveness.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and other Democrats say the time has come to repeal the ban and have called for an immediate moratorium on dismissals.

Nathaniel Frank, a senior research fellow with the Palm Center, which supports a repeal of the ban, said it is unclear how much of an impact the new guidelines would have because regulations already restrict third-party allegations.

"Anything that continues to allow the discharge of service members for something that research shows has no bearing on military effectiveness will not go far enough," Frank said.

An estimated 13,000 have been discharged under the law. The Pentagon didn't officially begin tallying discharges until a few years after the law was implemented, and official figures show roughly 11,000 discharged since 1997 with the peak in 2001 before the military became strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

___

AP Broadcast Correspondent Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/03/23/national/w113110D52.DTL
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Old 03-25-2010, 11:04 AM   #24
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Good its about time that the military woke up and smelled the coffee, its not like gays havent always been i nthe military anyway and at this point they need everyone they can get including us
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Old 03-25-2010, 01:45 PM   #25
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Gemme,

What happened to the young boy who was set on fire from the same school? Is he doing ok?

I just worry about my great nephews going to school nowadays. The hate and discrimination is so high lately. You try to raise kids right, but once out in the public, you just don't know anymore. Heck, I don't know myself.
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Old 03-25-2010, 02:11 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr. View Post

Gemme,

What happened to the young boy who was set on fire from the same school? Is he doing ok?

I just worry about my great nephews going to school nowadays. The hate and discrimination is so high lately. You try to raise kids right, but once out in the public, you just don't know anymore. Heck, I don't know myself.
I honestly don't know, Andrew. The news dropped the story once the shock of it decreased and I haven't heard anything since. I might be able to do some research and see if I can find anything else about his current condition.
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Old 03-25-2010, 02:20 PM   #27
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Default This is the latest article I could find and it's months old...

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Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr. View Post

Gemme,

What happened to the young boy who was set on fire from the same school? Is he doing ok?

I just worry about my great nephews going to school nowadays. The hate and discrimination is so high lately. You try to raise kids right, but once out in the public, you just don't know anymore. Heck, I don't know myself.

POMPANO BEACH - Touched by the plight of the Deerfield Beach teenager who was recently surrounded by schoolmates and set on fire, donors continue to come forward to support Michael Brewer and his family.

In one night this week, patrons and staff at Galuppi's in Pompano Beach raised more than $10,000 for the fund set up by Neighbors 4 Neighbors. Organizers of that event said it would seem minor compared to what they're planning for Nov. 21, when the restaurant will host a benefit featuring Miami Dolphins players and cheerleaders, along with silent auctions and raffles for sports memorabilia, Florida Panthers hockey skybox tickets, and, the grand prize, a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise for two.

Joe Kessling, a Broward Sheriff's detective acting independently to organize the fundraiser, said he's lost sleep ever since hearing about what happened to Michael, a seventh-grader at Deerfield Beach Middle School. The last time he set his mind to fundraising, he helped raise $30,000 to send a dying firefighter on a trip to China.

Michael's great-aunt, Patti Gendron, said the 15-year-old's mother, Valerie Brewer, told her that she intends to send a thank-you note to everyone who has sent a donation to the family. "You're going to have to buy about 20,000 thank-you cards," Gendron quipped.

Valerie Brewer also is putting a scrapbook together to show her son how concern for his recovery easily expanded beyond the boundaries of South Florida.

Michael remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Burn Center in Miami. The five teenagers accused of accosting him at an apartment complex on Oct. 12, dousing him with rubbing alcohol and lighting him on fire are due in court Monday. Prosecutors are expected to request an extension to file formal charges Nov. 11.

Keeping track of the donations hasn't been easy. Shortly after the incident, a family friend set up a "Michael Brewer Foundation" account at Bank of America, which quickly collected several thousand dollars.

That money, according to the family, can only go toward medical bills. The family soon redirected donations to Neighbors 4 Neighbors, a charity operated by CBS-4. The fund, said Neighbors 4 Neighbors Executive Director Lynne Cameron, permits more flexibility in how the money is spent, overseen by an established charity.

"These donations are going toward the kinds of things that don't get paid for" with insurance money, Cameron said. Examples include transportation, occupational and speech therapy, and other long-term needs Michael will face. "His real battle will begin when he's released from the hospital," Cameron said.

Donations for Michael are also coming into the Jackson Memorial Foundation.

The Brewer family is aware of the Nov. 21 fundraiser and is supporting the effort.

Other upcoming benefits include:
Firehouse Subs is collecting money at its 13 South Florida locations through Sunday, Nov. 1.
CJ's Draft House at 1825 W. Hillsboro Blvd. is hosting a family-themed fundraiser Saturday, Nov. 7, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The American Veterans Post 1939 at 1448 N. State Road 7 in Margate will host a fundraiser Saturday, Nov. 7, starting at 1 p.m.
The Road Warriors First Inaugural Poker Run is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 15 at 10:15 a.m. starting in Doral. (For information, call 754-245-1516)

The link below will take to the page where I found this article and also give pictures of Michael before and after and of the 5 accused of doing this to him. They're rotten; absolutely rotten inside.



http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...,1398220.story
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Old 03-25-2010, 02:39 PM   #28
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UPDATE - One week after middle school beating, mother of comatose girl hopes for a miracle

Thursday March 25 2010, 4:21pm


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (MCT) - Hilda Goaty Ratley is hoping for a miracle. Any sign of improvement in the condition of her daughter, Josie Lou Ratley, will do. So far, nothing.

Josie Ratley, 15, remains in a medically induced coma at Broward General Medical Center, more than a week after prosecutors say an enraged teenager she barely knew confronted her at a Deerfield Beach Middle School bus stop and repeatedly stomped on her head while wearing steel-toed boots.


“I want my child to come home,” Hilda Ratley said Wednesday at the hospital. “This whole experience has been a nightmare.”

Ratley said she was able to find some encouragement on Tuesday during a hospital visit from Michael Brewer, 15, a one-time classmate of her daughter’s who recently survived a life-threatening assault. Brewer suffered burns over two-thirds of his body when he was set on fire at an apartment complex about a mile from the school last October.

Surprising doctors, Brewer staged an impressive recovery and was out of the hospital before Christmas. Doctors recently told him he won’t need to check in with them for six months, though he still undergoes physical therapy.


Brewer and Josie Ratley once shared a science class at Deerfield Middle.
“She’s my friend,” Brewer said, according to family spokeswoman Terri Lynn. The visit was a private meeting between families, Lynn said. “Their message was, ‘We’re here for you. We know what you’re going through.’

Hilda Ratley said she was grateful to Brewer’s parents and grandmother for offering tips to help them through her daughter’s hospitalization, including recording familiar voices to play at Josie Ratley’s bedside.

“They’re wonderful people,” Hilda Ratley said of the Brewers. “They’ve given us a little bit of hope.”

Josie Ratley was waiting for a school bus on campus March 17 when, prosecutors say, Wayne Treacy, 15, attacked her without warning. Treacy is facing a first-degree attempted murder charge and is being held in a juvenile detention center.

Also being held as an accomplice is a 13-year-old friend who prosecutors say knew Treacy intended to harm Ratley and led him to the victim.

The girl’s lawyer, Jonathon Marne, has said she did not take Treacy’s threat to harm Ratley seriously and did not witness the attack.

Other friends of Treacy said Wednesday they knew he sometimes struggled to control his anger, but they never would have expected him to follow through on a threat of violence. The Broward Sheriff’s Office said Treacy was incensed by text messages Ratley sent that made “disparaging” references to his brother, who committed suicide last October.
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Old 03-25-2010, 04:01 PM   #29
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Gemme and Superfemme,

Thank you both for posting the updates on these kids. I shake my head at how people behave today. I just don't get it. These kids know right from wrong. And they still go after their peers. Horrible.
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Old 03-25-2010, 04:21 PM   #30
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From what I understand the boy who attacked this girl has a disturbing home life. I hear that his ONE person he could count on was his brother, who killed himself last year. Where are this boys parents?

The 13 year old girl had her "Legal Guardian" and her Grandma appear on her behalf on the Today Show this morning. Again, where is her Momma? Her Father?

With millions of people in the US in prison, we continue to see the fallout of broken families in the form of the children left behind IMO. (Not that I know any of the parents were ever in jail, but I'd be willing to bet).

In this economy funds for programs are being cut or completely discontinued.

We are leaving our children (by OUR I mean...it takes a village) without good role models, people that CARE where they are or whom they are dating.

It is a travesty for all the young people involved, and I hope to God somebody finds out what in the hell is really going on at DeerField Middle School. For instance, is there a student resource center? Boys & Girls Club, YMCA or anything? How is bullying dealt with there?

I want some answers. For real.
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Old 03-25-2010, 04:54 PM   #31
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Default Pope, Wisconsin Deaf Abuse Victims: Vatican Slams Report

The news has been relentlessly bad for the Pope. Two weeks ago, Germany was scandalized by revelations that a pedophile priest was allowed to work again with children after being transferred in 1980 to the Archdiocese of Munich, which was then headed by the future Pontiff. Over the weekend, an apology the Pope issued for sexual abuse by Irish priests was deemed insufficient by many of the victims. Now the New York Times has run an article accusing Pope Benedict XVI, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, of not responding to requests in 1996 from the Archbishop of Milwaukee to have a priest stripped of his clerical status for alleged sexual abuse of some 200 deaf boys decades before.

As the Times posted its story on the accused priest, Father Lawrence Murphy, who died in 1998, the Holy See responded on the Web. In a statement linked on the Vatican's brand new Twitter account, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Papal spokesman, declared, "By sexually abusing children who were hearing-impaired, Father Murphy violated the law and, more importantly, the sacred trust that his victims had placed in him." But Lombardi defended the decision not to remove Murphy from the "clerical state," saying the priest was "elderly and in very poor health" and that he was "living in seclusion, and no allegations of abuse had been reported in over 20 years." Lombardi explained that the doctrinal office thought it wiser that church authorities in Wisconsin simply restrict Murphy's ministry and require him to take responsibility for his actions. Lombardi pointed out that earlier charges brought against Murphy by civil authorities were eventually dropped and insisted that, despite the Times allegation that the Vatican fought to keep the Murphy details confidential, the Holy See's rules did not require that such cases be kept secret.

The Times obtained the relevant documents from attorneys representing five victims of Murphy's in a civil suit against the Milwaukee Archdiocese. Former Archbishop of Milwaukee Rembert Weakland, who resigned in 2002 after revelations of an earlier relationship with another man, told the Times he brought the Murphy case to Rome in 1996 to try to bring healing to the victims. But Ratzinger's then deputy in the doctrinal office, Tarcisio Bertone, who is now Benedict's No. 2 man in the Vatican, agreed with a letter the ailing Murphy wrote asking to be allowed to live out his life "in the dignity of my priesthood," noting his ill health and the years that had passed since the accusations. After about two years of back-and-forth arguments, according to the Times, Bertone told the Milwaukee Archdiocese to take "pastoral" rather than disciplinary action regarding Murphy. The priest died soon after, at the age of 72, and was buried in his clerical vestments.

Officials in the church staunchly continue to defend the Pope. They say Benedict has pushed for far greater transparency and penitence than his predecessor, and certainly more than many of the local bishops who should have been the ones managing the individual cases. And so far, each new revelation from Ratzinger's past seems to show more administrative detachment than bad judgment from the future Pope — though that is still a surprising hands-off management style for the man who would earn a reputation as a micromanager as he rose to become the éminence grise in John Paul II's Vatican.

Vatican officials feel more and more convinced that there is a concerted campaign to damage the Catholic Church and its supreme leader. A senior official reacted with disgust after reading the latest article, saying, "It's obvious the New York Times has its mind made up. You have to ask why they didn't print a story earlier this month on the conviction of a Jewish rabbi in Brooklyn on eight counts of sex abuse." The official also referred to a libel case against Oprah Winfrey that involved sex-abuse allegations that was settled quietly on Wednesday. "But then why the front page for this story? They are targeting the Pope. There's a bloodlust for attacking the Catholic Church. We have to look at these cases one by one. There is plenty of embarrassment to go around: district attorneys, school teachers — take your pick."

Still, the Pope is the Pope, a global leader with very few equals in terms of pomp, history and circumstance. His links, however indirect, to specific cases of sexual abuse will necessarily catch the attention of both Catholics and non-Catholics. Another priest acknowledged that Benedict being specifically named in the Milwaukee and German cases just makes the news all the more troubling. "It's so volatile right now," he says. "Many of the faithful who were losing confidence in their bishops, now, it's in the Church Universal. What you read in paper: it's a real crucifixion for everybody."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...#ixzz0jEPn5Sfb

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Old 03-25-2010, 06:18 PM   #32
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-------I agree.-------
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Old 03-25-2010, 07:41 PM   #33
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The pope wears a dress.
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Old 03-26-2010, 06:12 AM   #34
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Default Would partners of gay troops get benefits, too?

If gay service members are allowed to serve openly, the military will face another tough question: Should gay partners be entitled to military benefits?

Momentum appears to be building for ending the ban on gays in the military. New rules ordered Thursday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates make it harder to discharge men and women under the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." His decision is intended as a stopgap measure as Congress weighs whether to go along with President Barack Obama's request to repeal the law.

Since the draft ended in 1973, spousal benefits have increasingly been used as an incentive to recruit and retain an effective force. Today, more than half of all troops sport a wedding ring.

Benefits for married service members include college tuition for a spouse and the right of a spouse to be at a wounded service member's bedside. Spouses also have access to military health care and commissaries worldwide, and married service members receive better housing and even extra pay when they go to war.

The ticket to qualifying for those benefits is a marriage certificate. Heterosexual couples have a choice whether to marry, but same-sex marriages are legal in only five states and Washington, D.C. Whether same-sex partnerships would be recognized by the military and what benefits might be afforded gay couples would become issues if the ban were lifted.

"It will be a whole complex row of dominoes that will fall as a result of this," said Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow for policy studies at the conservative Family Research Council.

Already, Gates has included the issue of benefits in a review of how to lift the repeal, which is due Dec. 1.

Repealing the ban without offering same-sex partner benefits would be like telling gay service members they are equal but not giving them all the advantages of service, said Tiffany Belle, 33, of Long Beach, Calif., a lesbian and former sailor. "You're basically letting us be free being ourselves in the military, but then you're not letting us reap the benefits."

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Nathaniel Frank, a senior research fellow at the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said it's unrealistic to think the military would be out front of the rest of the government in offering benefits to unmarried partners.

"They don't do it for straight people, and they're very unlikely to do it for gay people," Frank said.

But, in addition to repealing "don't ask, don't tell," Obama has called for getting rid of the Defense of Marriage Act and has moved to extend some federal benefits to same-sex partners.

Obama has approved small changes in benefits available to same-sex couples who work for the federal government, such as visitation and dependent-care rights. The State Department extended benefits to gay diplomats, such as the right for their domestic partners to hold diplomatic passports and for paid travel to and from foreign posts.

Larry Korb, a senior fellow at the Democratic-led Center for American Progress, who served as an assistant secretary of defense in the early 1980s, said what the military would have to work through is similar to what the State Department and some federal agencies have done.

"My own personal view is that if they want to make it happen, they can," Korb said.

U.S. military officials are concerned that recruitment might suffer if they open the door to gay service members and their families. They worry that the Southern, Christian base from which the military relies heavily to fill its ranks will resist the change.

But if they don't adequately address the benefits issue, it could lead to gay service members leaving the military because there's no provision for caring for their families, said Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for the veterans group AMVETS.

"They won't be on equal footing as their heterosexual counterparts," Gallucci said.

Some repeal proponents say that lifting the ban should be the focus, not the what ifs related to benefits. They say discussions about whether the Pentagon would recognize gay troops' partners aren't relevant now.

"Let's get rid of the ban first and then look at those issues," said Kevin Nix, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which seeks to repeal the law.

Frank, who has written a book about the policy, said opponents of repeal use a "thorny questions" strategy to make the process of lifting the ban seem far more complicated than it is by bringing up issues like benefits.

One former service member who is watching the debate is Melanie Costa, 34, of Franklin, Mass. The Iraq veteran said she left the military after four years in the Marines and six in the Army Reserves so she could marry a woman in Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal. She said if the repeal is dropped she'll re-enlist — if her wife gets benefits.

"If I got deployed, and she wasn't able to get all the benefits as another married couple, there's not really a point," Costa said.
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Old 03-26-2010, 07:14 AM   #35
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The pope wears a dress.

working on getting the groovy hat and red pradas bequeathed to me
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Old 03-26-2010, 09:08 AM   #36
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Jess,

Those red shoes would look fabulous on you! What do you think about me? I have Fred Flintstone feet. Wide at the toes and narrow at the heel. Too much with the red? We both can pull off the hat. We are two ol' queer guys. I think any hat would look stunning on us!
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Old 03-29-2010, 08:46 PM   #37
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Default Plans thwarted...

to attack the police by luring them to a police funeral by the Hutaree christian militia (Michigan). Just when one thinks a human can only go so low holes are once again shot in that theory. I have been in the business for quite a while of helping prosecute some of the perpetrators of hate crimes but, I will be damned, this beats it all. In the name of christianity? ...I do believe these folks have gone off the proverbial cliff of insanity and my guess is there will be many more of these followers to be uncovered. I promise you...this is just the start of these kinds of things becoming known to the public. These groups have been orchestrating a number of attacks and they are right out our backdoor. I have no intent to feed paranoia... but what I want to do is ask that you be aware. There are a number of sites that track hate crimes/gang activity/militia movements and so on...becoming familiar with something of this nature just makes good sense.
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Old 03-29-2010, 08:54 PM   #38
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to attack the police by luring them to a police funeral by the Hutaree christian militia (Michigan). Just when one thinks a human can only go so low holes are once again shot in that theory. I have been in the business for quite a while of helping prosecute some of the perpetrators of hate crimes but, I will be damned, this beats it all. In the name of christianity? ...I do believe these folks have gone off the proverbial cliff of insanity and my guess is there will be many more of these followers to be uncovered. I promise you...this is just the start of these kinds of things becoming known to the public. These groups have been orchestrating a number of attacks and they are right out our backdoor. I have no intent to feed paranoia... but what I want to do is ask that you be aware. There are a number of sites that track hate crimes/gang activity/militia movements and so on...becoming familiar with something of this nature just makes good sense.
I read that story and was like WTF? Then I was scared.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmem...ee_arrests.php
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Old 03-29-2010, 08:56 PM   #39
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to attack the police by luring them to a police funeral by the Hutaree christian militia (Michigan). Just when one thinks a human can only go so low holes are once again shot in that theory. I have been in the business for quite a while of helping prosecute some of the perpetrators of hate crimes but, I will be damned, this beats it all. In the name of christianity? ...I do believe these folks have gone off the proverbial cliff of insanity and my guess is there will be many more of these followers to be uncovered. I promise you...this is just the start of these kinds of things becoming known to the public. These groups have been orchestrating a number of attacks and they are right out our backdoor. I have no intent to feed paranoia... but what I want to do is ask that you be aware. There are a number of sites that track hate crimes/gang activity/militia movements and so on...becoming familiar with something of this nature just makes good sense.
I am equally as concerned with the recent movement of "preppers" being confused for militant separatists. There has been a huge growth in folks concerned with being self contained, ie: "prepared" for disasters ( both natural and man-made) and I do fear that we may be misconstrued for the armed to to teeth resistance people found in Hutaree or Waco or Ruby Ridge. How do the sites that "track" make distinctions? Coz, I certainly do not want to be sought out as a right winged wacko just because I search info on building compost tumblers or solar power sources or arming myself safely.
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Old 03-29-2010, 08:56 PM   #40
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An open letter to conservatives. clicky >>>Here<<< to read.
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