Mark Regnerus methodological failures and breach of AAPOR ethical guidelines in NFSS

One need not look past the high school level methodological failures in this "research" paper to discard it as the toilet paper it is. I hope that if he ever bothered to join the professional organization tasked with standards in social science research that they have removed him from the roles for gross intentional breach of ethics and scholarship.


The first article I reviewed was published in Social Science Research 41, no. 4(2012) by Mark Regnerus, "How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who have Same-Sex Relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study."

The target population for this survey was adults in the United States from the ages 18-39. The data was collected by Knowledge Networks, described as an online survey company that maintains a panel randomly recruited via phone and mail surveys with no self selection allowed. The sampling frame does not exclude those without phones or computers/online access. Computers and/or online access were provided when necessary. Details regarding response rates ,completion rates, panel recruitment are not included in this article, but readers are directed to contact Knowledge Networks for the information. Selected demographics from the sample are compared to the Current Population Survey, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, National Survey of Family Growth, and the National Study of Youth and Religion. Not being familiar with any of those surveys, the chart is not particularly helpful for me in the scope of this assessment.

The author's intent was to compare outcomes of children raised by non-heterosexual parents to children whose birth parents (both contributed genetic material) never divorced to outcomes for children of gay and lesbian parents. This necessitated locating children who were raised by gay fathers and/or lesbian mothers, and in an attempt to do so a screening process was applied to the larger sample to increase the numbers of those sub-populations. The screening process lasted from July 2011 and February 2012, in order to attempt to locate current panelists and recruit new panelists. The screening process is not described. Former panelists were also contacted to attempt to find more respondents for the sub-populations of children who were adopted before the age of 2, as well as those who could answer the question "From when you were born until age 18 (or until you left home to be on your own), did either of your parents ever have a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex?" affirmatively.

It is reported that after screening a total of 15,058 panelists, 2988 total surveys were completed with the author's key sub-populations of interest including 163 respondents coded as LM (respondent had lesbian mother) and 75 coded as GF (respondent had gay father), and 101 respondents reporting that they were adopted before the age of 2. It is not clear how the quota for sub-populations was determined, or if time constraints finally determined the cutoff. No response rate is included, and it is not made clear how large the potential pool of respondents was following the screening process. A within survey response rate of 65% is reported as an average for Knowledge Network surveys, but none is reported for this particular survey. The survey was completed by respondents online, with computer access provided for those who needed it.

The sponsor of the project is not listed, and incomplete information is provided for all of the funding sources. Two key sponsors are identified as the Witherspoon Institute and the Bradley Foundation. The design team was assembled from family researchers from Penn State, Brigham Young, San Diego State, University of Virginia, as well as the hosting university and home of the principal investigator, University of Texas at Austin. The external consultants are not identified, but the reader is assured that the funding organizations were not involved in any way with the survey, beyond providing financial support.

This report becomes somewhat problematic once best practices are addressed. The purpose of the study seems to be to address results of existing (mostly qualitative) research that show little or no difference in outcomes for children of non-heterosexual parents when compared to their counterparts who were raised by heterosexuals, by collecting a large, nationally representative random sample. A further concern seems to be the absence of studies that show that gay and lesbian parents are qualitatively inferior to heterosexual parents who both contribute genetic material to the child. The dataset was meant to gather information from adult offspring of gays and lesbians, 18-39, about their experiences, as opposed to existing studies that interviewed parents who self identified as being part of a gay or lesbian headed families. The youngest respondent turned 18 in 2011. Unfortunately, the concepts are poorly operationalized in the design, and although data was collected, it does not capture what the author claims to be looking at. Despite the recognition in section 1.1, that "Any claims about a population based on a group that does not represent it will be distorted ", that is exactly what the research design and even more so, the report proceeded to do.


The author has put all respondents into 8 different categories, that he refers to as family-of-origin structure/and or experience. These categories are based on the now adult child's answers to screening questions and measure the respondent's perceptions. IBF – intact biological family , LM – lesbian mother, GF -gay father, Adopted, Divorced, Stepfamily. Single parent, All Others. In creating these variables, he is conflating family structure or configuration – two parent ,one parent, married, divorced, adopted – with categories of LM and GF, which are based entirely on an affirmative answer to the question


''From when you were born until age 18 (or until you left home to be on your own), did either of your parents ever have a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex?'' Response choices were ''Yes, my mother had a romantic relationship with another woman,'' ''Yes, my father had a romantic relationship with another man,'' or ''no.


In order to boost the numbers in those hard to find categories of LM and GF– second order information on a child's understanding of their parents' "romantic relationships", categories were made mutually exclusive – with all respondents with "lesbian" and "gay" parents being placed in the LM and GF categories regardless of the family structure (single, married, adopted before the age of 2, divorced, other). On top of the conceptual error of treating the LM or GF category as a family structure, it also created only one category – the LM category – made up of exclusively female headed households. The rest of the 7 categories are a mix of male and female headed households. When discussing the sub-optimal outcomes that seem most pronounced for children in the LM category (and contradict the majority of existing research), there is no recognition of this fact, nor the possibility what is actually being measured is the difference between single female headed households and every other configuration including male headed households.


I find the language "romantic relationship" to be problematic, a notion with no clear cut, universally understood meaning. What is described by the author as a key population of interest (children of non heterosexual parents) is constructed using second order information in response to a poorly worded question. The findings report that more respondents mothers everhad "a romantic relationship" with another woman than were adopted, as well as more than children of divorced parents. At one point in the report the number of respondents coded as LM is 175, later in the paper it is 163. Twelve respondents report that both their mother and father had ever had a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex and were coded to increase the numbers in the so called gay father category.


Although the author acknowledges that comparing outcomes of households supported by single mothers to two parent /never divorced households is unfair, that is the method of analysis that is employed – in fact it seems to be the focus and purpose of the study. A list of what is referred to as outcomes are run against LM and IBF categories, and the author cautions that causation cannot be assigned, he simply wants to "highlight the differences" between the outcomes reported. Some of the concepts categorized as outcomes seem more appropriate as demographic or influences rather than outcomes. There is a set of questions regarding inappropriate sexual contact All respondents were asked if ''a parent or other adult caregiver ever touched you in a sexual way, forced you to touch him or her in a sexual way, or forced you to have sexual relations?'' Possible answers were: no, never; yes, once; yes, more than once; or not sure. A broader measure about forced sex was asked before it, and read as follows: ''Have you ever been physically forced to have any type of sexual activity against your will?' It is implied that the perpetrator could be identified (possibly) by who the child was living with at different times of their lives, but the question does not allow for that process. The question is overly broad – caretaker could be understood as anyone from grandma to someone at a daycare or other temporary custodial situation, and does not ask the location or time period in which the assault occurred. It is beyond the scope of this assignment to address the tone and politically motivated assumptions throughout the report, but it was at times difficult to wade through to find questions of design and process.


I am unable to answer questions of the cost/benefit analysis of the design, whether the questionnaire was pre-tested, or answers regarding data collection methods during the screening survey, or training of Knowledge Networks staff. It is unclear how many respondents were contacted for the actual survey, and I cannot assess the response rate, nor the methods used to convert refusals. It is unclear how, as it is with mail surveys, how to determined if the email invitations were ever seen by the potential interviewees.

The author recognizes that it is difficult to find the population the report wanted to study, and that he could not say that the coding of LM and GF reflect the sexual orientation of the parent, or even the child's perception of their parent's sexual orientation. His fix was to code them as such regardless, and report the findings as data on Lesbian and Gay parents. I found his designations to be confusing in the text, speaking at times of same-sex parent (implying a couple) when there is only one parent being referenced, and at times sounding as if the data reflects the parent, rather than the child of a parent. The underlying assumption being re-enforced throughout the study is that heterosexuality is the only acceptable orientation, and homosexuality is a negative, chosen behavior, and I believe it led to ambiguous and obfuscating language and bad design choices.

More information I feel would be necessary to assess the analysis is a description of the weighting variables. The reader is told that "each case in the NFSS sample was assigned a weight based on the sampling design and their probability of being selected", but not what those might be. Also, one of the control variables in comparisons between children whose mother may have kissed a woman at some point and those who grew up in a family headed by their still married heterosexual (both parents contributed genetic material) was household income. This variable is a second order report of what a child perceived their household income to be when they were growing up. There are too many conceptual /operational disconnects in the variable definitions for me to see this survey to be particularly useful as a scholarly instrument as it exists

dumbass on parade

funny, someone stopped by a 6 year old posting to leave the one and only comment on the article. as one would expect , it was typical of comments left on seemingly dead articles. I suspect it was the douchebag that maintains the ridiculous 'target of opportunity' site, which suggests that some brave fellow douchebag make history and get rid of a lib or two that he has listed on his site.
I love how he uses the word "froth" - i wonder if he is a santorum fan.
"I love how liberals just froth at the mouth when your own tactics are used against you. Do the country a favor and slit your own wrist. Moderate that!!!

i don't know any "liberal" site that suggests that their followers murder their fellow americans, but especially in the context of when the website was created, that is in deed what david is doing.

"This is a call to action! These anti-American liberals are dangerous people and need to be stopped! One person can make a big difference!!! There are those that read about history.
There are those that make history. Which one do you want to be?
These people and organizations are Enemies of Freedom, the American people, and the American way of life!!! Each and every one should be considered a:
"Target of Opportunity"! "


but i guess he doesn't want to be that one person that makes history and takes matters into his own hands and takes care of some of these people he disagrees with. his speed is a little less historical, actually just downright silly - like stealing the identity of a lawyer who he doesn't like to make a fake profile on amazon with the sole action taken being writing fake reviews of my cd's. even in those reviews, he comes off sounding ridiculous - saying how much he hated the first cd - so much that he bought a second, then a third.....

anyway, now i remembered i had this blog and perhaps will start writing in it again. i had dropped it when google took over.

i wonder if it was this idiot that hacked my music site earlier this year - i don't know any other dumbass right wing people who even know that i have a website, let alone care enough to take the time to deface the front page. twas a terribly amateurish defacing, about his speed.

american family ass. endorses serial adultery and fornication

don wildmon from the hate group american family association endorses serial adulterer and fornicator newt gingrich. because "protecting the family" and "traditional marriage" are important enough to traumatize children and deny tax paying citizens equality, but are not at all important for those running the government to actually believe or live. screw as many women as you want newt, just make sure those homos don't ruin marriage and society.

& never mind the fraud and ethics violations or racist bs coming from this elite ruling class blowhard.

"It is AFA’s goal to be a champion of Christian activism.  If you are alarmed by the increasing ungodliness and depravity assaulting our nation, tired of cursing the darkness, and ready to light a bonfire, please join us.  Do it for your children and grandchildren."   about afa from their website.

"Newt Gingrich recognizes the threat to our country posed by judges and lawyers imposing values upon the country inconsistent with our religious heritage, and has proposed constitutional steps to bring the courts back in balance under the constitution,” Wildmon said in announcing his endorsement today.         Rev. Donald Wildmon Endorses Gingrich

eat the rich

well you know it doesn't make me feel better to hear
that along with his new orders for the world
the president has said that no one in russia will starve this year
and you know it doesn't make me feel any better
that somewhere on the corner of wall street and the 5th street park
in between the soup line and the presidential yacht
i lost a friend
leaning on the sidewalk there, he lost himself

well he said, i'm not feeling much better today
i'm starting to feel crushed and i got nowhere to go
used to feel that someday i'd be able to get home
now i just feel beat
well you know it was the last time that i saw him
it was starting to get cold, he'd stopped talking 'bout a home
somewhere in the night was when he left the world alone
next morning the city crew took in another john doe

so you know it doesn't make me feel any better to hear about
an evening in the banquet hall at a thousand bucks a plate
a hundred rich white men all sitting round talking about just how great this country is
but they can't say that no one in hillcrest will starve this year

so you know it doesn't make me feel any better to hear
that along with his new orders for the world the president has said
that no one in russia will starve this year
when he can't even say that no one in cleveland will starve this year
no one in dc will starve this year
no one in kent will starve this year....

copyright sue jeffers 1993 & 2002
back to 'welcome home'

who the hell is eugene delgaudio and what mental facility is he residing in?

i have been getting emails for a bit now from an unhinged homohater with delusions of grandeur and a persecution complex.  i'm not sure how i got on the list, but it has been an interesting slew of paranoia laced anti-gay rants attached to the ever present fundraising pleas.

following a claim that obama was going to denounce him personally (somehow proving how important it is you send him money) the latest email proclaims that the dirty homos forced the military to change the rules so they can bugger the local livestock.   following the assertion that the "radical homosexual lobby" is so powerful it can force the u.s. military to bow to their wishes, he then proclaims that "their days are numbered", and for a donation of 10$ or more he will save the world from the evil radical homosexual agenda single handed  (ok, with help from his 3 staff members - not sure if he is referring to his wife and kids or if he's convinced some non-family member to come suck at the teat of fear with him).  Never mind that this email arrived at least a day after some military official made a public statement reassuring people that even if there wasn't a line in the code specifically prohibiting goat-fucking in the military, it still was not legal.  Of course it was the fact that mr. delgaudio equates consenting adult relationships between gays or lesbians to be just as bad (or worse) than goatfucking that had him up in arms - and the fact that the military no longer equates consenting adult gay or lesbian relationships to be the same thing as sexual assault on a barnyard animal.

If this man were speaking of anything other than his religion, people would have rightly suggested that he seek professional mental heath help.  paranoid delusions in the name of the lord, in this case at least, have instead prompted people to elect him to public office.  gotta make note of where that is, i want to make damn sure i don't book any shows nearby or accidentally drive thru the county.

But now, thanks to the radicals in Congress, a key regulation has been removed: Sodomy and Bestiality.
Unbelievably, the radical homosexuals made it a priority to legalize these acts for homosexuals serving in the military.
They actually consider the “right to violate animals sexually” a basic human necessity, even while serving alongside our nation’s greatest heroes.
I am just terrified of what else they have planned for our service men and women.

.............(blahblahblahradicalpreversionistblahbla).........

The Radical Homosexual Lobby is very afraid that this year will be their last in power.

Their last chance to pass their perverted agenda.

And that makes them very dangerous.  Nothing fights with more viciousness than a cornered animal.

And when you couple this fear with literally limitless funds the Homosexual Lobby has access to -- there is nothing they will not try to do to kill the Family.

sue, just think about it.  They actually repealed the military regulation forbidding soldiers from engaging in sodomy and bestiality.

If that’s their idea of “good”. . . well I simply can’t imagine what they won’t do.

My friend, as much as it pains me to say, the legalization of bestiality is not even close to being the gravest threat to our nation.

There is a virtual avalanche of destructive homosexual legislation coming down on the American Family...

...and Public Advocate is the only force in our nation that is fighting back!

tools - lyrics

gonna lay down alone with my guitar tonight.
pup on my feet yellowcat in my hair
bread in my belly the pogues in my ears
wine in my glass love in my heart.
Things go much better when I know where to start

eh. gotta brush my teeth hey where's the whiskey
i hear dropkick murphys damn it's already three
tully on my tongue   all these songs still undone
here's the thing,   i need to stop thinking
words in my head need to play with the strings

with folded hands and folded hearts some take delight
in claiming they own the one truth for our lives
climbing down from the pews to their perch on the floor
they're trying to scrub away all of the hews
from the rainbow and paint it with gore

but the sunrise this morning is yellow and red
on a slate blue sky canvas with orange overhead
red-spotted purple brushfooted butterflies
they all seem much more close to divine
I’ll  choose the palette of love every time

The kitten keeps editing all that I’m typing
So I’m picking up ginger to play a few songs
it has been a fine night of respite, recovery
and a much needed recharge and renewal.
things run much smoother when you use the right tools

copyright 2012 sue jeffers

new threat! homos to force straights to divorce and marry a same sex spouse!

or that seems to be what the anti-gay industry would like you to believe.

PRAY that we are able to defend the Biblical definition of marriage and to retain the word “marriage” for only one man plus one woman. Pray for those in the front lines that we will glorify God through our actions, our words and our love for others. Also pray that those opposing us will be won to Jesus Christ through the Christian witness in this battle.

so the concerned women for america bleat.   it is beyond me why these people are so obsessed with things that have nothing to do with them.  if i were to marry tomorrow, it would have absolutely zero impact on any of these homohaters lives.

they would have folks believe that marriage equality would lead to the cessation of straight people having sex, and the end of the human race.  cuz, you know, betty and eve can't procreate on their own (or can they-  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1431489.stm ).

so these concerned women   will join other pro-lifers in visits to legislative offices to let them know we are there and how much life means to us. We also ask you to use that opportunity to share your views about marriage between one man and one woman. After all, life can only come forth through the union of those two genders, so please use this as a way to connect the marriage and life issues.

this casual conflation of equal rights for non-hetero populations with matters abortion (which gay men never have, or cause women to have - and that unless raped by a man lesbians would not add to ) is just one manifestation of the dearth of logical thought guiding the homohating movement.

there is such a thing as common sense! Homosexual activitys makes no sense to me at all!! It's satanically evil, perverse and filthy to mention a few. What are they trying so hard to convince me of?

 

saying you don't "agree with homosexuality" is like not agreeing with turnips or milk or tree bark. makes as much sense as saying you don't agree with the color blue. homosexuality, like heterosexuality is a state of being, unlike religion or political persuasions, which are ideas. you can dislike homosexuals or milk or sunshine, but it is a bit ridiculous to speak of agreeing or disagreeing with any of them.

 

 

Poe's law quiz - is this a crazy person or just play one online

Question for the day - Is this a parody or a homohater?   what do you think

found online somewheres........

"What in the world did you expect when they got their foot in the door? Homosexuals are sounding more and more like Muslims. Their way is the only way. I mean for pete sakes you give them an inch and they will take a mile. That is what is going to happen when you keep giving in to these homosexuals demands. First they say they just want to be recognized and have the same rights as hetrosexuals do; then the next thing you know they wanted to have same-sex marriages; then they wanted to be mrried in a church; Then they wanted to be recognized in the military; then they want to be able to have health insurance to cover their other; now they want the schools to teach our children about their immoral ways; now in schools they want to have the restrooms where either child can use together; What does this look like to you? Looks like to me that they are dominating America; just like the Athesits want; just like the Muslims want. So where are you, homosexuals going to draw the line at of taking, taking, and taking from the American? When are you Homosexuals going to grow up and realize that you can't have everything the way that you want it? When are you Homosexuals going to quit boo hooin just so you can get your own way? Why don't you just be satisfied with what you do have right now and leave it at that? Why do you feel that it is necessary to dominate the whole wide world? I mean all of your demands are full of nothing but hatred for others to live here; your immoral ways are teaching children the wrong values and morals, which you homosexuals don't have. We are to live God's way, on God's land, by God's law. You homosexuals have taken everything that God created and turned it into a ring of immorality. God will have His say on judgement day."

re-tread. so where's my tax exemption?

Now don't get me wrong. I have plenty of christian friends. I love them, and totally respect their faith. It's just that I have a deeply held conviction that their belief system is unnatural and results from a form of insanity. So when I try to commit them to the mental health ward or support legislation restricting their ability to have children, it isn't because I don't totally respect their beliefs - its just that I think their beliefs (which I totally respect) are unhealthy and insane, and a danger to any offspring they might conceive. I feel it is my duty to not look the other way while they continue to harm themselves with unhealthy behavior - what kind of loving friend would I be to just allow them to wallow in their delusions?

Now, some people might think that I am out of line when I argue that christians should undergo intensive treatment to cure them of their unnatural and unhealthy lifestyle. But again, it is my deeply held conviction that they are doomed if they don't turn away from this illness. It is my duty to make sure they are lovingly belittled and shamed, and to make sure that their children are taunted sufficiently as well as taught that their parents are sick. after all, someone has to think of the children.

Even more disturbing, these people flaunt their beliefs. everywhere you look, there they are - shoving their existence down your throats. I was horrified to find that there are several television shows - even networks - devoted to spreading this illness - during prime time! when children could be watching! Now if they want to pray in the comfort of their own homes I guess that would be ok, but there are militants intent on not only existing, but go over the line expecting people to tolerate -no- accept their beliefs. Even worse, they are not content to practice their delusions privately - they are actively recruiting others. They even have established schools devoted to indoctrinating children. I lovingly disapprove, and am devoted to helping them get well.

As I said, I totally respect their beliefs, and it is only out of this deep respect and love that I have to tell them what they are doing is not natural - have you ever seen a "christian" cat or dog? They need to understand that what they are doing is a choice - but there is hope. And for a substantial fee I will be happy to help them.

back

reviving the blahg. playing on the tech and bookkeeping this eve.

crimes against humanity

so, 1.5 million people are under siege in Gaza and cnn wants to know what you think of ms. spears. those who are covering Israel's gross violations of international law are focusing on people escaping into egypt , not the reasons they are desperate to do so. msnbc seems to suggest that people were jonesing for a smoke... "The closures, which were tightened after Hamas seized control of Gaza by force in June, have led to severe shortages of cement, cigarette and other basic goods." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22818152/

the fact that Hamas won a clear majority in the palestinian parliment two years ago has been thrown down the memory hole. now they are simply 'the militant group' that seized control of gaza. nothing new that elections are only "valid" if the u.s. administration approves of those who win. (i.e. allende in chile, who's assassination brought in war criminal mass murderer pinochet, Mohammed Mossadegh in iran , the sandanista government in nicaragua -with raygun's contras murdering and disappearing tens of thousands of nicaraguans, etc.)

even if there had been no election, occupying forces have obligations under international law to provide for those they are occupying. cutting off supplies of food, water, electricity and other basic infrastructure requirements to a civilian population is illegal as well as immoral. collective punishment is also a breach of international law. assassination is also frowned upon, as well as killing civilians. one and a half million people have been put in a cage, where they are frequently bombed, shot at, and kidnapped.

but hey, what do you think about that brittney spears?

For more information on human rights, and lack there of in the occupied territories,
B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
http://www.btselem.org/index.asp

heinous actions

heinous: hatefully or shockingly evil

so. now instead of dropping leaflets telling hundreds of thousands of people to leave their houses because they would be destroyed and then killing people as they left as the leaflets suggested - folks are told they better not dare drive a car to get away. more killing those who either were unable to leave or chose to stay because they felt that being part of the human family they were no less entitled to the protections of international law than those attacking them.

telling people to leave an area or be killed is not a legal or morally valid strategy, if resistance fighters from the occupied territories did the same i can't imagine anyone would imagine that made it acceptable to destroy major population centers in israel. hey - didn't al queda announce that the whole globe is a free fire zone? if we apply the same logic that israel is using , if we don't leave the planet we are legitimate targets, and hey, even if we do leave we are legitimate targets even while flying white flags and trying to get out as ordered.

what is going on couldn't continue without u.s. financial military and political support and the murderous powermongers in the US aren't trying to gloss over their bloodlust. calling the slaughter "birth pangs" of a new middle east or an opportunity.

my tax dollars are helping to pay for the gunships, missiles, ammunition, the killing of over 1000 people, destroying civilian infrastructure including power stations - transportation systems - cutting off all routes for aid, and hey, if aid shipments make their way in, bombing the aid trucks.

human rights watch -indiscriminate attacks against civilians in lebanon


WAR CRIMES are war crimes - doesn't matter who commits them. and gee- two wrongs don't make a right.

all the trouble they're having over there

...Another Georgia Republican, Representative Phil Gingrey, said support for traditional marriage “is perhaps the best message we can give to the Middle East and all the trouble they’re having over there right now.” nyt

ok. now i understand why instead of calling for Israel to stop its war crimes the u.s. is just getting its people out of the way so the killing and destruction of infrastructure can continue for another week or so until 'the time is right'.

They had a secret plan -once the congress sent the best message - queers can't marry here - all the trouble they're having over there would be answered. and damn it all, the congress failed.

laura bush answer to aids - better reading comprehension skills

In remarks to the recent UN meeting on HIV AIDS , Laura Bush defended the US blocking of key proposals for fighting aids. the fundamentalists in the US have joined with their muslim counterparts in being more worried concerned with (en)forcing thier own concept of religious purity than saving lives.

She told the assembly -"All people need to know how AIDS is transmitted, and every country has an obligation to educate its citizens. This is why every country must also improve literacy, especially for women and girls, so that they can make wise choices that will keep them healthy and safe."
But, while the US wants to educate people about "the ABC's" - Abstain, Be Faithful & Use Condoms, they reportedly pushed for the removal of phrases like "sex workers" or "men who have sex with men" from conference documents, preferring to refer to "vulnerable groups" instead. NYTimes
Sounds like it could be a bit on the Colbert Report, All You Need to Know is.....

From the Mail & Guardian
Hilary Benn, Britain's international development secretary, who flew to New York last night and will address the UN general assembly today, distanced himself from the US approach.

He said: "We have to take action on the evidence of what works, on what saves people's lives, and not on ideology. That means making condoms available and reducing harm to people at risk: injecting drug-users, sex workers and men having sex with men."

so. now , like the "few bad eggs" that were charged for carrying out the policy of torture of people kidnapped by the u.s military or mercenary employees - a "small number of marines" have been chosen to take the fall for carrying out the murderous policies of the bush regime. everyone in responsible for their own actions , and i'm not suggesting a free ride for the folks who did the killing and torture for the bush regime. but those who train, employ and give orders to those being sent to "war" with the mission to use -- or threaten use of -- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives cannot then divorce themselves from the results of their orders.

"Charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500 " .... "Apocalypse Now"

National Spook Agency won't confirm nor deny my existence

Aah. i love the smell of the police state in the morning. Back in January I sent out Freedom of Information Act requests to various spook agencies in the US asking for any and all information (blahblahblah & etc.) they had pertaining to antiwar organizations, meetings activities etc. in Ohio , as well as requests for a few specific groups in the NE Ohio area. The FBI, Secret Service and the Defense Intelligence (sic) Agency all had the decency to pretend to try to answer the request - saying they had searched some list of major cases and there were no case files assigned specifically to the organizations I asked about. Except for the International Socialist Organization - the FBI has some files that may pertain to my request, but they haven't figured out what they might or might not send along to me.

Not the National Spook (Security) Agency. They took almost two pages to basically tell me to piss off - the president says they don't have to tell me. takes lots of words to try to perty up a load of manure and pass it off as some sort of rational legal justification. The full text can be found at the http://www.suejeffers.net/mabl/NSAFOIA.htm - but here's a few excerpts....

.......
As you know, the President of the United States "authorized the National Security Agency [(NSA)], consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations." The President also noted that, "[t]his is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security."

Rest assured that safeguards are in place to protect the civil liberties of U.S. citizens. However, because of the highly classified nature of the program, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records responsive to your request. The fact of the existence or non-existence of responsive records is a currently and properly classified matter in accordance with Executive Order 12958, as amended.
.........


Now, I was told by some rightwinger that the government had some really bad people to spy on, and it was ridiculous to think they would bother with the little old antiwar folk . I happen to agree, it is ridiculous that a government would spend their time and resources spying on us, and it would be nice if they would realize their error and stop all on their own. it also would be nice if my dog would learn english and stop barking. But the thing that bothered me about this letter is their assertion that they can do whatever the hell they wish and we (their employers) shouldn't bother our pretty little heads about it. rest assured, its for our own protection. It seems to be a form letter - we can't tell you if we're spying on your meetings or bugging your headboard - cuz that would help al queda.

I will be appealing, not so much because i believe there are records (but i wouldn't be suprised) but because i refuse to accept the bullshit that the decider is king, and won't have my employees telling me what they are doing is none of my business.

tongue speaking senators

oh god help us - whichever deity, force of nature or whatever source of strength one may draw upon. got somewhat off track following links to other links etc. tonight and wandered into a scary little world of mentally unhinged charismatic preachers who brag of access to lawmakers and warmakers. now the one fellow does also brag of routinely raising people from the dead , being levitated in his bed, healing people of all manner of physical damage and illness. oh, and his young child apparently can make people fly by waving a rag at them. frequently throughout his rambling account of his accomplishments, he would yell out "holy ghost", or a line of gibberish . sometimes hopping up and down and making noises like cleveland brown's fans barking at a game.
so, just because he claims he's spoken at the pentagon and to the congress and that he is welcome at the whitehouse isn't necessarily to be taken as the 'gospel truth'. but he claims that there are groups of 'tongue speaking ' lawmakers that get together - perhaps this explains the patriot act, energy policy, the recent immigration "reform" bill, etc.

also god seems to have annointed him to live his wife's life for her, and remarked at the beginning of one of his rambling speeches that he woulda brought his wife along but she had to stay home to plan their daughter's wedding. after which he said she probably didn't understand why, but who cares, not him.

oh no! the devil is in my computer - the video from last year's marysville WA appearance is distorted and cutting in and out. must be another case , as he spoke of in the last performance i scanned, of demons attacking him and his message. and just when he was getting into his story of being in pakistan because the people there wanted him to leave with them the ability to raise the dead. holy ghost holy ghost.
oh those demons - they released me from the terribly unpleasant blahblahblah from this self absorbed arrogant delusional twit.
-- "you better fake somethin if you don't have nothin just so you can get touched"

targetofopportunity.com - update

it was called to my attention that now the fellow who specializes in publishing the personal information , home addresses, work place, and sometimes home addresses of close relatives of people he doesn't agree with, along with not so veiled incitements to violence against them - is using a private registrant for his internic info.

so ,
targetofopportunity.com is the creation of David Meyer
36 Montceau Dr
Newark, DE 19702
He works at Big Dog K-9 ,
Tel: 302-266-8083
Cel: 302-236-6588

which is not the art dept. fellow at the university

my suggestion would be, do not approach. if you're walking your dog in the area, cross the street lest he may feel you are one of those people should be "stopped" and decides its time to "make history"

from his site:

"This is a call to action! These anti-American liberals
are dangerous people and need to be stopped!
One person can make a big difference!!!

There are those that read about history.

There are those that make history.

Which one do you want to be?
These people and organizations are Enemies of Freedom,
the American people, and the American way of life!!!
Each and every one should be considered a:
"Target of Opportunity"! "


UPDATE:
the hit site is at least temporarily down,
possibly the hosting company had a problem with the content violating their terms of service agreement, which includes
Defamatory or Abusive Language by using our network as a means to distribute, transmit, facilitate or post defamatory, harassing, abusive or threatening language or anything that a reasonable person would regard as hate speech or literature. This includes language or other activity that significantly prejudices, creates a hostile bias, or grossly defames a class of individuals.

i would imagine that david will just move to another server til they realize that it violates their legal terms also. but companies do frown upon people using their server space to encourage people to eradicate other humans and providing information on how to find them -(even if they are liberals) .

fire the bastards

every day there are more bastards refusing to account for their criminal activities on the grounds of "national security" or some other spurious claim, supposedly to protect the unique "democracy" or "freedom" reserved for some priviledged segment of the u.s. society. this is all done with no sense of disconnect, that if this really is a system "of the people, by the people, for the people" etc. the PEOPLE are the employers, those in the government are their employees. again, in a sane world, if an employee would tell their boss to piss off, what is done in the employers name is none of their business, and if there are any more questions the employer will be harrassed or kidnapped, chances are pretty good that employee would be looking for a new position.

a recent idiocy from the bush is that we, as their employers shouldn't be upset at them for violating us, they will continue violating us, but instead of worrying about being violated, we should be upset at whoever let us know what was happening.
the notion that the "bad guys" don't assume that the spooks are trying to figure out what they are doing is ludicrous.
national security is used as an excuse all the time as a cover for simply embasarassing or illegal activities, trying to scare folks into submission.

one cannot protect something by destroying it.

Homophobic Telemarketing Strikes Again

I hadn't heard of these folks before, but got an email from a friend last night - seems they've been harrassing folks for fun and profit for some time now. an autotelemarketer asks for you to press 1 if you want to stop same sex marriage, if you press 1 your sent to United American Technologies so they can sell you phone service. Profits are then used to fund various right wing agendas, like convincing people that god hates fags.

if anyone wants to call and help keep their staff busy fielding questions instead of making outgoing calls, the number is below.

another writeup on the folks can be found http://homohusbandry.blogspot.com/2006/02/its-late-and-i-reserve-right-to-edit.html



message from a friend...

Dear Friends,

I was very upset when I came home this evening to find an anti-gay
message on my answering machine. The message included lies about gay
people and said that same-sex marriage will destroy the family. The
message said, "If you want to stop same-sex marriage, press 1!" I
waited for the message to end, and then I pressed star 69 to get the
number. It was 877-266-6277. I called the number back, and the
people said, "National Organization to Stop Same-Sex Marriage." I
told them what I thought. One man told me that according to the
Bible, God hates gays. I told him that I do not want this bigoted
group calling my home ever again.

I am so upset by this, I am still shaking. I would urge people to
phone the number and tell these people what you think, but that's
entirely up to you. Perhaps it's better to ignore them. I don't know
if they are Fred Phelps' group or not. But it was awful to hear this
message in my home.
....
We have tracked down the group that left the anti-gay message on my
answering machine. They are a phone and internet company that
markets to conservative "Christians" and gives money to right-wing
political candidates. They are called United American Technologies.
When you go to the news page on their website, you get the picture:

http://www.uatnow.com/newsindex.html

This is "Christian" marketing with an anti-gay focus. What a
caring "Christian" thing to do.......make profit and raise money for
right-wing candidates by attacking a minority group and appealing to
people's prejudice. I'm sure Jesus would be thrilled.

This company is not just anti-gay; they fund the right-wing
politicians that we are working against.


......
another writeup on the folks can be found http://homohusbandry.blogspot.com/2006/02/its-late-and-i-reserve-right-to-edit.html