It sure has been a sweltering summer thus far. It seems like every day in July the high temperature has been well into the 90s with heat indexes past the century mark. Maybe it’s the hot sun just baking all that oil bubbling under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Maybe it’s all the hot air blowing down from Washington D.C. Or anger from those who think we can deport every illegal in Arizona. Or maybe Al Gore finally found a way to make global warming real by doing dirty things with massage therapists. Fuck if I know.

I do know that yesterday I began plotting what I ate in a food diary. If it sounds a little gay, it probably is. But essentially you figure out all what you ate and how good or bad you ended up on main items like calories, fat, sodium, and stuff like that. Considering I’m nearing 32 years old and don’t have any health care, I probably need to be doing some watching of what I’m eating. I’m adding a bit of exercise to the whole thing too. But don’t call it a diet program. (And don’t call it a mid-life crisis either.)

In other news: Courtney (Elf) still looks fucking hot, DJ Rick Walsh is retiring from his duties behind the turntables at Heretic on Friday, and I’m really getting back into this Magic: The Gathering hobby again. I also still RP with Stephanie, play a few video games, and am looking forward to a jam packed fall season that includes DragonCon, Alchemy, my birthday, Atlanta Gay Pride Weekend, Halloween, and writing a new novel.

I still could find time for a boyfriend though. Any takers?

1. World Cup.  Alright, everyone’s got their vuvuzula stuff out of their system by now right?  I mean, this thing has been underway for a while and the competition is heating up.  There are bad ref calls and whatever.  What I just learned is that the United States wants to host the Cup in the future.  Why?  While the US Team is doing fine and dandy, people don’t really care.  They may pretend to care just like they pretend to like classic films like Casablanca when they haven’t ever really seen it.  I’m more than okay letting the world enjoy their World Cup without America feeling like she has to get all into it.

2. Oil Spill. OMFG, is that shit still going on? You know, when I made my first Facebook post about that, it was already two weeks old. Now it’s more than two MONTHS old. Beaches are getting trashed, lives are being devastated, and it’s become quite the nightmare environmental scenario. Worse, the relief wells are still not due to be complete for over another month and you know, I am not all that confident that’ll fix things either. This situation cannot be minimized. It really is THE most important thing in America right now. It practically screams what’s wrong with our government, our industry, and our energy policy what with all the corruption and inaction across the board.

3. Afghan War. A big time general got kicked out because he said lots of negative things about those in charge in an article published in Rolling Stone. First, Rolling Stone still exists? Secondly, I want to know why we’re still in Afghanistan. It ain’t to fight Al Qeada like was originally planned. They’ve moved on to Pakistan. Is it to fight the Taliban? Is it to fight people that only fight us because we’re there fighting them fighting us? I thought I elected Obama to get us out of these wars. Wait, that brings me to…

4. President Obama. He hasn’t closed down Gitmo. He hasn’t brought home our troops. He hasn’t really done a very good job at bringing our economy back. He kept many of the Bush era policies of warrant-less wiretapping and secret prisons. He’s half-assed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He’s half-assed nominated liberalish people to the Supreme Court. I’m going to say what many of my liberal friends won’t… he’s not been an effective leader. Yes, I know it’s only been such and such many months. Yes, I know he inherited many problems. But he’s had plenty of time to suck on his own. He completely has bungled the Oil Spill. He continues to not be a good leader in economic policies that reform the way things are done. Handing out cash isn’t a solution. His one big win of Health Care isn’t even really that impressive considering it lacks a Public Option and the implementation of the effects are all way diluted with time. He has squandered a majority in the house and senate and now with mid-term elections looming, under his leadership or lack thereof, there are overwhelming predictions that Republicans (and even more terrifying Tea Party members) are going to be roaring back. Son, I am disappoint.

5. “Later, Skater: On Tour!” Buy your copy for summer reading today. Sales haven’t been great, which is confusing me. I mean, I sold and gave away lots and lots of copies of the original “Later, Skater” The sequel is bigger and better and downloadable for instant gratification for only 5 dollars. FIVE DOLLARS! Get it today to help keep me encouraged about my writing.

It was a mixture of being busy and just completely zonking out this weekend for your faithful webmaster. First, after car problems grounded me most of the day Friday, I enjoyed perhaps a little too much a night out. I bought a few lovely people drinks. Mysterious Asian Guy Tony was one of them. He started macking on me a little, but I reminded him that his boyfriend would totally kick my ass so he chilled. There was a deliciously femme looking boy who accepted my kindness in drink offer, but wasn’t really interested in my advanced otherwise. He said it was his first time there. I believe it. I also made up with Raver J whom I’d been fighting with since October. (While this is a good thing, I certainly am not going to do anything sexually with him again. Fool me twice…)

On Saturday, I ventured to Momocon. I got there a bit late. Stupid traffic was terrible! And I did sleep in quite a bit too. I’m getting old. I can’t hang with the young anime loving crowd anymore. Heh. No, not really. People liked my yaoi shirt, but I want more aggressive ones. I mean they should scream anime homo!

Seeing Fang and Nemo again was so wonderful even if it was only for like an hour. I keep saying, I want to see them more, but it doesn’t usually work out. I know things can always come up, but they’re such great people, it’d be a disappointment if it wasn’t until the next Con that I saw them again. Fang, in particular, was more adorable than ever with his voice changing and all. DAWWWW!!

Saturday night brought me to Kaze’s for another mix. We had a good time watching some sumo wrestling too and I teased Tatsuo a bit. He needs to get unbusy and come out with us to play in the nightclub with his sexy self. DJ Joe Gutheraux was pretty cool, but we didn’t stay all night.

All in all, it was a mixture of enjoying a moment’s breath of spring weather (it’s already gone back to cold and wet, in fact there was snow/sleet this morning) and feeling like sleeping a lot. I need to get some more editing done and I need to check up on cover art. April is coming faster than I know it.

OH, and apparently while I was doing all of that the democrats finally got their thumbs out of their asses and passed health care.

Not only do we have the kissy-kissy picture I posted yesterday causing the stir, you can add to that the following.

Prom in Mississippi school called off when it was found out a lesbian was going to bring her girlfriend.

Virginia politicians first undo then kind of half-assedly redo protections against gay discrimination.

Florida legislators are pondering using tax breaks as a way to mold family-values, making sure to try and exclude gay stuff.

And of course, homophobia abounds in the fall out over the Eric Massa shit.

That’s just a couple days worth of news that I uncovered during my regular looking over things on the interbutts. I didn’t even include things that are happening in other parts of the world.

So what’s the deal? Is it because we got pussy-acting Democrats in control over both houses of Congress and the Presidency that now the other side is all revved up and ready to trample over basic human rights? Because, let me tell you something, if the Bush Years made everyone so goth damned depressed… I have to suggest that maybe we homos should feel even more goth damned depressed now.

Is it just me or has this winter been especially brutal? I’m talking, of course, about North America, but you know, feel free to tell me I’m right about your neck of the woods too. A lot of the blame, at least in the media I’m seeing, is that the infamous El Nino has reared his ugly head again in the Pacific. Essentially this just disrupts natural jet stream patterns and sends weather systems all over the place where they ordinarily aren’t typically found. This lets places like Vancouver get no snow, but Pensacola enjoys the white stuff.

But you know, I don’t think it’s just the weather that is giving this winter a particularly nasty bite.

Politics are always vicious, but it seems especially contentious here in the United States with Democrats and Republicans infamously slugging it out, while meanwhile a seemingly pretty large portion of the population wants to throw them both out on a rail. Sometimes, I don’t disagree. But if that puts me in the same category as the Tea Party assclowns or big mouth Glenn Beck, I’d rather not.

And then there is the never ending cycle of the Twenty-Four Hour News Media.

They’re there to always constantly remind us that just when you thought there may be a glimmer of light at the end of this dark, dark winter, you’re wrong. Quick to rattle off facts about unemployment, terrorism, or domestic crimes, there isn’t a shred of good news to be found. And yet they are playfully ribbing on each other and the subjects at hand right before a few messages from their sponsor.

Before Conan o’ Brian was unceremoniously kicked off his quick stint on The Tonight Show, he called us kids and told us to not be cynical. He said that it doesn’t help anything. It was easy for him to say considering while he did just lose his life long dream in the hosting gig, he did get paid a shit ton of money to go away. But that’s just me being cynical.

And just like this winter, I think we’re sooo tired of being cynical. We need to find ways to free ourselves from the constant drumbeat of desolation pounded out not just by politics and the media, but by the actual environment around us. Yes, it’s really hard when it’s 23 degrees and you can’t feel your left testicle, but you know, even when here locally I had about two days of near 60 degree weather, I missed my opportunity to briefly change things up a bit.

Maybe you did too.

Spring will come, so at least the weather will change. But don’t count on the rest of the stuff doing it, unless you demand it. Not only from THEM but from yourself. I haven’t really been hibernating, but I certainly haven’t been out in the world behaving like the person I really am. Merely a dark winter’s shadow. Let’s see if that can’t be altered.

I’ve come down with something very strongly and quickly as of yesterday evening around five. I don’t know what it is, but it feels different than what ailed me post-con. Fever. Sinus issues. The aches could be from doing the truck on Tuesday as usual or it could be a symptom.

Too bad Dr. House isn’t practicing medicine anymore. Sorry for that slight spoiler alert, but we’re two episodes into the new season and sometimes you need to be shocked into remembering to watch again, right?

I hate feeling sick.
Worse, I hate that I don’t have Health Care.
I mean, it’s been this huge ass national debate — read: Yelling tennis match — for the last eleventy months it seems. I’m one of the uninsured!

It all happened when my Pizza Hut got bought out by a franchise and dumped every.single.last.one.of.my.benefits. No 401k. No vacation. No health care. No accident free rewards program. Jack shit.

Get another job, you may say?
Um, I should fucking lucky I HAVE a job right now.
But how long can I continue saying that if I have to occasionally call in sick? And by occasionally, I mean two full days and two half days in September.

I’m actually pretty confident my job is secure since when I am there I’m the best there is. I’ve only moderately complained that the work load has increased by about 100% due to the cutting of the second daytime driver AND cook.

Yeah, we run a restaurant with just a manager and a driver. Isn’t that fucking insane?

And that kind of leads me to wondering, maybe that’s what has got me sick. Sure, DragonCon and the 40,000+ weirdos that attend probably had something to do with it. And my sister and her Kid Rock Look Alike Boyfriend have three dogs and I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to at least the big brown one.

But I quit smoking over 6 months ago. I eat more healthy than ever before with lots of veggies and water and all that.

So maybe it’s the stress.
Oh and the fact that I don’t have health care.

Why not buy some on my own, you say?
Have you seen the terrible economy? I couldn’t really afford health care on my own over a year ago when things were half-assedly decent. An extra 120 dollars a month now is really hard to find. Especially reliably every single month.

But you know what?
I’m not going to let this get me down?
No sir!
Not even when the Republicans are bickering about how we can’t afford any heathcare bills like the ones perposed.
Not even when the Democrats want to fine people for not having healthcare. (Um, gee, if I had the money, wouldn’t I buy it?)

I will feel better.
I will go to Alchemy this weekend with DJ Kaze and conspire to write my 4th Novel.
And maybe just maybe things will start to improve all around me due to some of my positive energy at work and in my own personal economy.

Oh, yeah, and I turn 31 years old next Friday. Holy shit.

Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, opening a new chapter in the country’s history as the first African-American to hold the world’s most important job.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Obama told more than 100,000 people who gathered for a victory celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park.

The Illinois senator capped his 21-month quest with a sweeping electoral victory that also enhanced the Democrats’ majority in Congress and marked the end of an era of Republican dominance in Washington.

Obama crossed the requisite threshold of 270 electoral votes to defeat Republican rival John McCain last night when television networks projected him winning the state of California. He had at least 338 electoral votes to McCain’s 145, according to the Associated Press and television network projections. Six states remained undecided.

His victory, along with his party’s gains in congressional contests, puts Democrats in firm control of the federal government for the first time since the early 1990s. That gives Obama an opportunity to turn his victory into a pivotal moment in the country’s political history.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ― On the eve of the biggest day of his political life, Barack Obama says his grandmother died Monday.

Obama flew to Hawaii last week to visit Madelyn Dunham, 85, who helped raise Obama. The Illinois senator said he left the campaign trail with less than two weeks remaining before the election because his grandmother is ill but alert. Her brother has said she recently fell and broke a hip.

The Democratic presidential candidate announced the news in a joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng. He said his grandmother had died peacefully after a battle with cancer.

He said: “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances.”

The candidate learned of her death Monday morning while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla. He planned to go ahead with campaign appearances.

Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview broadcast recently: “Without going through the details too much, she’s gravely ill. We weren’t sure and I’m still not sure whether she makes it to Election Day.”

“We’re all praying and we hope she does, but one of the things I want to make sure of is I had a chance to sit down with her and to talk to her. She’s still alert and she’s still got all her faculties. And I want to make sure that I don’t miss that opportunity.”

Obama has said he missed a chance to visit his mother just before she died of ovarian cancer – she was 53 when she died in 1995 – and didn’t want to repeat that mistake. Dunham was staying at her Honolulu apartment.

While campaigning for the U.S. Senate and for president, Obama often told warm, loving stories about his grandmother. His Philadelphia speech about race relations, in the wake of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright fallout, was different. He said she was, on occasion, frightened to see black men approaching on the street.

Dunham’s brother, Chicagoan Charles Payne, said recently that Dunham’s reaction to her role in her grandson’s race speech was “no more than just sort of raised eyebrows.”

Obama was born in Hawaii. His Kansas-born mother and Kenyan father met as college students there, but Dunham and her husband, Stanley, raised Obama for extended periods when his mother lived overseas.

In his memoir “Dreams from My Father,” Obama described his grandfather as something of a dreamer. It was his grandmother who was practical enough to support the family by working her way up in the ranks at a local bank.

Obama has often mentioned “Toot” – his version of the Hawaiian word “tutu,” or grandparent – as an example of a strong woman succeeding through intelligence and determination. Many of his speeches describe her working on a bomber assembly line during World War II.

“She’s really been one of the cornerstones of my life. She’s a remarkable woman,” he said.

CINCINNATI, Oct 16 (Reuters) – After Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama made him into the most famous plumber in America, it turns out Joe Wurzelbacher isn’t a licensed plumber after all. Oh, and his real name is Sam.

The morning after he emerged as the unexpected star of Wednesday evening’s U.S. presidential debate, Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, found himself at the center of a media frenzy, with reporters camped out on his front lawn and his phone ringing off the hook.

But it wasn’t long before the Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics revealed that Wurzelbacher was not a licensed member of their trade.

“That means that he has not completed the training program necessary for him to sit for a license test,” said Tony Herrera, market recovery specialist for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 50 in Toledo, Ohio.

“It’s a shame that this guy has ended up in this situation because it seems like he’s misrepresented himself — and for that matter the plumbing and pipefitting industry.”

Without a license, Wurzelbacher cannot practice in the city of Toledo but can work for someone with a master’s license or in outlying areas that do not require a license, Herrera said.

Wurzelbacher, 34, listed in the phone directory as Samuel, did not answer his phone and his voicemail box appeared to be full. Reporters at his home said he had driven away.

Wurzelbacher has become a darling of conservatives for attacking Obama’s tax policies but he has declined to say who he will vote for in the Nov. 4 election.

“It’s a personal decision, and myself and the button I push will know the answer,” the single father said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program.

Later, outside his home, he told reporters: “I want the American people to vote for who they want to vote for” in an informed way.

In the midst of an economic crisis, “Joe the Plumber” came to prominence last week as the working class everyman when he asked Obama about his tax plan during a campaign stop. That led to an appearance on Fox News and an invitation to a McCain rally.

Wurzelbacher said the sudden attention had not yet translated into increased business.

“I hope I have a lot of jobs today. Yesterday I worked on a water main break for a gas station and that’s why I didn’t give any interviews. I was muddy and soaking wet,” he said.

Obama and McCain repeatedly invoked Wurzelbacher in their third and final debate on Wednesday as they sought to appeal to average Americans.

McCain said Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year would hurt small-business owners like Wurzelbacher. Obama said he would make it easier for Wurzelbacher to provide health insurance for his employees.

Wurzelbacher told ABC he was “not even close” to earning $250,000 but worried that Obama would raise taxes for those making less.

Wurzelbacher said he was pleased with the Republican candidate’s performance in the debate.

“McCain came across with some solid points and I was real happy about that,” he said.

For their part, the plumbers at the Local 50 union hall said they would love to find a job that would give them the kind of income Wurzelbacher is worried about being taxed by Obama.

“If there’s a plumber or pipefitter making more than $250,000, we want to know where he’s working,” Herrera said with a laugh. “We don’t make that kind of money.”

The plumber’s union, like almost all labor groups in America, backs the Democratic Party.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Too busy playing video games to watch presidential ads on television? Barack Obama has found you, too, by becoming the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a game.

Nine video games from Electronic Arts Inc., ranging from the extremely popular “Madden 09″ football game to the street racing “Burnout: Paradise,” feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign. The ads—they appear on billboards and other signage—remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site.

The idea of embedding advertising temporarily inside a video game is relatively new, having only begun about 18 months ago, and Obama is the first presidential candidate to buy space, company officials said.

The Democrat’s ads are aimed at gamers who like sports, including NASCAR, NBA, NHL and skateboarding, meaning EA Sports’ motto, “It’s in the game,” now applies to presidential politics as well.

EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood would not say how much the ads cost, but she said they are running on the Xbox Live versions of the game through Nov. 3. They began earlier this month.

The timing of the Obama ads within the video game varies from state to state. Players in smaller states may see the Obama ads for the whole month, while users in bigger states may see them for a shorter period.

“It reaches an audience that is typically hard to reach—young males, roughly 18 to 34,” said Rockwood. “That’s very appealing to our advertisers.”

For those who still associate video games with clunky “Pac Man” or “Space Invaders” consoles, here’s how in-game advertising works: The Xbox 360 console connects to the Internet, so it can be updated with new features, including ads. In the case of “Burnout,” the game came out in stores in January, but the Obama ads were only inserted this month.

Rockwood declined to say how much revenue the company generates from selling ad space in its games.

“What we’re trying to do is offer ads in games where we’re simulating a real-world environment, so our racing games, our sports games lend themselves to that,” she said.

>>> John McCain suspended his Presidential campaign today because he feels he needs to go back to Washington and help work on The Big Bailout™ that doesn’t seem to be what anyone wants.

>>> Except Bush. And Paulson, the guy who’s running the Treasury. Especially since the initial plan was to have no oversight.

>>> Obama still wants to debate on Friday, but is going to visit with Bush and McCain at the White House tomorrow.

>>> Did I mention that neither many Republicans nor Democrats are liking The Big Bailout™ plan that may not even really work and doesn’t address the core issues that created the financial mess?

Never get old.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned reluctant lawmakers Tuesday they risk a recession with higher unemployment and increased home foreclosures unless they act on the Bush administration’s $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry.

Despite the warning, influential lawmakers in both parties demanded changes in the White House-backed proposal, and conservative Republicans recoiled at the prospect of federal intervention into private capital markets.
Six weeks before the elections, both major party presidential contenders also insisted on alterations in the administration’s prescription for the worst financial crisis in decades.

Bernanke’s remarks about the risk of recession came in response to a question from Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who seemed eager to hear a strong rationale for lawmakers to act swiftly on the administration’s unprecedented request.

“The financial markets are in quite fragile condition and I think absent a plan they will get worse,” Bernanke said.

Ominously, he added, “I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, that our credit rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover in a normal, healthy way.”

GDP is a measure of growth, and a decline correlates with a recession.
Dodd later spoke disparagingly of the administration’s proposal. “What they have sent us is not acceptable,” he told reporters after presiding over a lengthy Senate Banking Committee hearing at which Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged swift action by Congress.

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the panel’s senior Republican, added, “We have got to look at some alternatives” to the administration’s plan.

The legislation that the administration is seeking would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other troubled assets held by endangered banks and financial institutions.

Getting those debts off their books should bolster the institutions’ balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan works, it could help lift a major weight off the sputtering national economy.

The White House and key lawmakers have been in negotiations since the weekend on terms of the legislation. It was not clear what impact the new congressional complaints would have on the discussions.

“Nobody is happy” about the bailout request, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., although he spoke of possible passage of legislation by the weekend.

“Nobody wants to have to do this,” agreed Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader. He said he was hopeful of a quick agreement.

“I understand speed is important, but I’m far more interested in whether or not we get this right,” Dodd said at the hearing.

Later, he told reporters he hopes for legislation soon.

“But it is not going to be a blank check or a simple signing on to a bill that sends a blank check to this secretary or any other secretary.” He noted that either Obama or McCain would probably be appointing a new treasury secretary after he takes over in the White House.

Across the Capitol complex, Vice President Dick Cheney and Jim Nussle, the administration’s budget director, met privately with restive House Republicans, some of whom emerged from the session unpersuaded.

“Just because God created the world in seven days doesn’t mean we have to pass this bill in seven days,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.

Added Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., “I am emphatically against it.”
Still, prospects for legislation seemed strong, with lawmakers eager to adjourn this week or next for the elections.

Differences include a demand from many Democrats and some Republicans to strip executives at failing financial firms of lucrative “golden parachutes” on their way out the door.

The administration balked at another key Democratic demand: allowing judges to rewrite bankrupt homeowners’ mortgages so they could avoid foreclosure.

Paulson, seated next to Bernanke at the committee hearing, objected strongly when Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked if $150 billion might be enough to get the program started, with a promise of more to come.

Paulson said that would be a “grave mistake,” and would fail to give the markets the confidence they need to rebound.

Paulson repeatedly fielded questions from committee members asking why taxpayers should accept the burdens of a bailout.

“You worry about taxpayers being on the hook?” he replied at one point. “Guess what – they’re already on the hook.” Paulson suggested that the fallout from the credit crisis would hit everyone’s pocketbook unless forceful action was taken. Moreover, a flawed and outdated regulatory system, which didn’t catch abuses, needed to be overhauled, he said.

Despite the unresolved issues, President Bush predicted the Democratic-controlled Congress would soon pass a “a robust plan to deal with serious problems.” He spoke before the United Nations General Assembly.

In his testimony before the Banking Committee, Paulson told senators that quick passage of the administration’s plan is “the single most effective thing we can do to help homeowners, the American people and stimulate our economy.”

But even before Paulson could speak, lawmakers expressed unhappiness, criticism of the plan and – in the case of some conservative Republicans – outright opposition.
“This massive bailout is not a solution. It is financial socialism and it’s un-American,” said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

LANCASTER, PA — Responding to Obama’s education policy rollout Tuesday, Sen. John McCain released a new ad leveling stinging though slightly misleading criticism at his Democratic rival.

Ridiculing what it says is his lack of a record when it comes education policy, the campaign’s new spot pointed to his “one accomplishment.”

“Legislation to teach ‘comprehensive sex education’ to kindergartners. Learning about sex before learning to read?” the ad asks rhetorically, referring to a 2003 committee vote Obama cast in the Illinois State Senate.

While the new TV spot leads most voters to believe that Obama supports teaching five year olds about the birds and the bees the legislation, which never passed by the full state senate, called for an “age appropriate” curriculum intended to teach young children how to avoid predators and pedophiles. The bill was supported by a number of prominent state health advocates and also allowed communities and families to opt out if they were not comfortable with the curriculum.

The Obama campaign did not leave anything in its arsenal when firing back at the GOPer.

“It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls – a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn’t define what honor was. Now we know why,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

The K-12 sex-ed attack point was previously used against Obama by Romney last June who saw it crumble when it turned out supported similar legislation in Massachusetts.

A number of states also have similar education laws, including California, Iowa and Michigan.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Barack Obama is “talking down to black people” during what Jackson thought was a private conversation before a FOX News interview Sunday.

Jackson was speaking to a guest at the time about Obama’s speeches in black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson added before going live, “I want to cut his nuts off.”

His microphone picked up the remarks.

At a hastily arranged news conference Wednesday evening in Chicago, Jackson said he supports Obama “unequivocally” and that he hopes to “get this behind me.”

“I have great passion for this campaign and traveled across the country … arguing the case for the campaign,” Jackson said. “And this thing I said in a hot-mic statement that’s interpreted as a distraction, I offer apology for that. I don’t want harm or hurt to come to this campaign.”

He said, “They were hurtful and wrong … but we have a relationship that can survive this.”

Jackson said in a written statement he was trying to emphasize that Obama’s moral message should “not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy.”

Jackson said the conversation “does not reflect any disparagement on my part for the historic event in which we are involved or my pride in Senator Barack Obama, who is leading it, whom I have supported by crisscrossing this nation in every level of media and audience from the beginning in absolute terms.”

Jackson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he doesn’t remember exactly what he said Sunday but that he was “very sorry” for his comments about Obama. He called his comments “a side light in a broader conversation about urban disparities.”

Jackson said he has called Obama’s campaign to apologize.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton noted that the Illinois senator grew up without his father and has spoken and written at length about the issues of parental responsibility and fathers participating in their children’s lives, and of society’s obligation to provide “jobs, justice and opportunity for all.

“He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Reverend Jackson’s apology,” Burton said.

Jackson’s comments sparked something of a family feud. His son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., said he was disappointed by his father’s “reckless statements.”

“His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee — and I believe the next president of the United States — contradict his inspiring and courageous career,” the younger Jackson said.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Five years after launching the invasion of Iraq, President Bush strongly signaled Wednesday that he won’t order troop withdrawals beyond those already planned because he refuses to “jeopardize the hard-fought gains” of the past year.

As anti-war activists demonstrated around downtown Washington, the president spoke at the Pentagon to mark the anniversary of a war that has cost nearly 4,000 U.S. lives and roughly $500 billion. The president’s address was part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and next month’s report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. That report will be the basis for Bush’s first troop-level decision in seven months.

“The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated,” Bush said.

But, he added, before an audience of Pentagon brass, soldiers and diplomats: “The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just. And with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory.”

Democrats took issue with Bush’s stay-the-course suggestion.

“With the war in Iraq entering its sixth year, Americans are rightly concerned about how much longer our nation must continue to sacrifice our security for the sake of an Iraqi government that is unwilling or unable to secure its own future,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Democrats will continue to push for an end to the war in Iraq and increased oversight of that war.”

Bush repeatedly and directly linked the Iraq fight to the global battle against the al Qaida terror network. And he made some of his most expansive claims of success. He said the increase of 30,000 troops that he ordered to Iraq last year has turned “the situation in Iraq around.” He also said that “Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaida out.”

“The surge … has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror,” the president said. “We are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated.”

Bush appeared to be referring to recent cooperation by local Iraqis with the U.S. military against the group known as al-Qaida in Iraq, a mostly homegrown, though foreign-led, Sunni-based insurgency. Experts question how closely—or even whether—the group is connected to the international al-Qaida network. As for bin Laden, he is rarely heard from and is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

The U.S. has about 158,000 troops in Iraq. That number is expected to drop to 140,000 by summer in drawdowns meant to erase all but about 8,000 troops from last year’s increase.

Bush, who has successfully defied efforts by the Democratic-led Congress to force larger and faster withdrawals, said they could unravel recent progress. “Having come so far and achieved so much, we are not going to let this happen,” he said.

He criticized those who “still call for retreat” in the face of what he called undeniable successes.

“The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists’ defeat,” he said. “We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast—the terrorists and extremists step in, fill the vacuum, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage.”

This sort of cautionary rhetoric is consistent with all the president’s recent statements about Iraq.

It has been widely believed for weeks that Bush will endorse an expected recommendation from Petraeus next month for no additional troop reductions, beyond those already scheduled, until at least September. This so-called pause in drawdowns would be designed to assess the impact of this round before allowing more.

The surge was meant to tamp down sectarian violence in Iraq so that the country’s leaders would have time to advance legislation considered key to reconciliation between rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. But the gains on the battlefield have not been matched by dramatic political progress, and violence again may be increasing.

With just 10 months before he hands off the war to a new president, Bush is concerned about his legacy on Iraq.

Both Democratic candidates have said they would begin withdrawing forces quickly if elected. Only expected GOP nominee John McCain has indicated he planned to continue Bush’s strategy of bringing troops home only as conditions warrant.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who just completed a two-day visit to Iraq, said the administration won’t “be blown off course” by continued strong opposition to the war in the United States.

Cheney compared the administration’s task now to Abraham Lincoln’s during the Civil War. “He never would have succeeded if he hadn’t had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there,” Cheney said of Lincoln in an interview broadcast Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

As of Tuesday, at least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died in the war, which has cost the U.S. roughly $500 billion. Nobel Prize- winning economist Joseph E. Stiglizt and Harvard University public finance expert Linda Bilmes have estimated the eventual cost at $3 trillion when all the expenses, including long-term care for veterans, are calculated.

Without specifics, Bush decried those who have “exaggerated estimates of the costs of this war.”

“War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much,” he said.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama: Welcome to Pennsylvania, a sprawling state with two large cities and a farm region larger than Massachusetts.

It’s 12.4 million diverse residents like the kind of face-to-face interaction with candidates more often seen in small caucus states such as Iowa and they’re likely to get just that during the seven weeks until they vote in a primary to allocate 158 delegates to the Democratic national convention.

Thanks to Clinton’s wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island on Tuesday, Pennsylvania has gone from political afterthought to must-win state for the Democratic presidential contenders.

With just two much smaller contests between now and the state’s April 22 primary — in Wyoming and Mississippi — Pennsylvania is in for a marathon of rallies, town-hall meetings, television ads and high stakes get-out-the-vote efforts.

“We’re going to get every bit, if not more, than the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire got,” boasted Philadelphia lawyer Mark Aronchick, a national fundraiser for Clinton’s campaign. Mark Alderman, a national fundraiser for Obama, agreed that Pennsylvania is going to “look more like the Iowa campaign than anything since Iowa.”

One additional wrinkle in Pennsylvania: Only Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary; independents, who have strongly supported Obama in other states, are barred. But the campaigns have until March 24 to persuade the state’s 984,000 registered voters who are not members of either major party — plus any wavering Republicans — to sign up as Democrats so they can vote in the primary.

The nation’s sixth most populous state, Pennsylvania bears many similarities to Ohio, where Clinton defeated Obama handily.

Two major metropolises — Philadelphia in the southeast and Pittsburgh in the southwest — bookend a vast rural region with 58,000 farms on 7.7 million acres — an area larger than Massachusetts.

It’s a Rust Belt state largely abandoned by the once-mighty steel, coal and railroad industries. Today, its biggest employers are the federal government, the state government and Wal-Mart, in that order.

Pennsylvania’s comparatively high union membership — 13.5 percent of state wage earners compared with 12 percent nationally — and large elderly population — only Florida and West Virginia exceed its 15 percent aged 65 or older — make it fertile ground for Clinton, whose political base is anchored by older white voters and blue-collar workers. The state AFL-CIO estimates a third of the registered voters live in union households.

Only 10 percent of Pennsylvanians are between age 18 and 24, a group that Obama has captured in other states.

Political observers expect Obama will do well in Philadelphia, the state’s Democratic hub, where more than 40 percent of the residents are black, and among the younger, better educated voters in the city’s suburbs. Clinton, they say, may do better among more conservative, working class Democrats in northeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania.

The state has a slim track record of electing women and blacks to public office — relevant in a year when Democrats likely will have either the first female or first black nominee for president. Women comprise just 13 percent of the state legislature, in contrast to the national average of 23 percent. Blacks held 8 percent of the seats, equal to the national average.

In Washington, Pennsylvania’s 21-member congressional delegation includes one woman and one black.

Of the state’s 29 superdelegates — the officeholders and party leaders not bound by the primary vote — 13 have endorsed Clinton while four back Obama.

Most polls show Clinton leading in the state, but the margin has shrunk in recent weeks. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed Clinton with 49 percent of the vote and Obama with 43 percent.

Clinton has the backing of Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, one of the state’s prominent black leaders.

The last time the Pennsylvania’s primary made a difference was in 1976, when former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter’s victory cleared the way for him to win the nomination and, in turn, the presidency.

Registered Democrats numbered 3.9 million last fall, but officials in many counties say their ranks have swelled with voter interest in the Obama-Clinton contest. The 8.1 million voters registered for last year’s elections included 3.2 million Republicans as well as the 984,000 voters not registered with either major party.

In presidential elections, Pennsylvania has been a “swing state leaning Democratic,” according to Terry Madonna, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College.

Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry carried the state in 2000 and 2004 while losing nationally to Republican George W. Bush. In the previous 12 presidential elections, Pennsylvania voted for the winner 11 times, siding with only one loser, Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968.

Don’t forget to vote if you’re in one of the many many states voting in the US tomorrow. You can’t say nuthin’ for the next few years about how crappy things are unless you get out there and have your say. Sure your guy or gal may not win, but the important thing is voice your say.

* John McCain won the Florida primary in a tight battle against Romney.
* Rudy 9/11 Gulliani 9/11 is expected 9/11 to quit 9/11 tomorrow.
* Hillary won in Florida for the Dems, but wins no delegates.

* Meet the Spartians STILL hurts days after I saw it.
* There are rumors of Hannah Montana naughty pics on her MySpace. Oh lawd.
* If you ever wanted to see me in a compromising situation…

* You are running out of time for January’s Secret Stash.
* Next month’s stash is all about love due to the Valentine’s Day holiday.
* Yaoi posts may resume tomorrow if I’m feeling like it.

Even the liberals are conservative.

When I took the political compass quiz, my results put me close to Dennis Kucinich whom I did vote for in the 2004 Georgia Primary.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton powered to victory in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary Tuesday night in a startling upset, defeating Sen. Barack Obama and resurrecting her bid for the White House. Sen. John McCain defeated his Republican rivals to move back into contention for the GOP nomination.

“I felt like we all spoke from our hearts and I am so gratified that you responded,” Clinton said in victory remarks before cheering supporters. “Now together, let’s give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me.”

Her victory, after Obama won last week’s Iowa caucuses, raised the possibility of a prolonged battle for the party nomination between the most viable black candidate in history and the former first lady, seeking to become the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.

“I am still fired up and ready to go,” a defeated Obama told his own backers, repeating the line that forms a part of virtually every campaign appearance he makes.

McCain’s triumph scrambled the Republican race as well.

“We showed this country what a real comeback looks like,” the Arizona senator told The Associated Press in an interview as he savored his triumph. “We’re going to move on to Michigan and South Carolina and win the nomination.”

Later, he told cheering supporters that together, “we have taken a step, but only a first step toward repairing the broken politics of the past and restoring the trust of the American people in their government.”

McCain rode a wave of support from independent voters to defeat former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a showing that reprised the senator’s victory in the traditional first-in-the-nation primary in 2000.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Barack Obama swept to victory in the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, pushing Hillary Rodham Clinton to third place and taking a major stride in a historic bid to become the nation’s first black president. Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to win the opening round among Republicans in the 2008 campaign for the White House.

Obama, 46 and a first-term senator from Illinois, told a raucous victory rally his triumph showed that in “big cities and small towns, you came together to say, ‘We are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come.’”

Final Democratic returns showed the first-term lawmaker gaining 37 percent support. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina gained second, barely edging out Clinton, the former first lady.

Huckabee celebrated his own victory over Mitt Romney and a crowded Republican field. “A new day is needed in American politics, just like a new day is needed in American government,” the former Arkansas governor told cheering supporters. “It starts here, but it doesn’t end here. It goes all the way through the other states and ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Huckabee, a preacher turned politician, handily defeated Romney despite being outspent by millions of dollars and deciding in the campaign’s final days to scrap television commercials that would have assailed the former Massachusetts governor. He stressed his religion to the extent of airing a commercial that described himself as a “Christian leader” in his race against a man seeking to become the first Mormon president.

Nearly complete returns showed Huckabee with 34 percent support, compared with 25 percent for Romney. Former Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain battled for third place, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul wound up fifth and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani sixth.

Hillary Clinton is still outraged that Rockstar Games left a sexually-themed mini game nestled in its best-selling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2005.

You’ll recall the kerfuffle when the deactivated love scene was found buried in the code for the otherwise wholesome car jacking, cop-killing shooter. The unfinished mini-game featured clothed characters simulating sex acts. To access the scene, randy teens had to download and install a special patch developed by a Dutch coder, expending more effort than it takes to find real, human adult content on the web.

That all led some cynics to suspect Clinton of grandstanding when she called a press conference to denounce Rockstar and demand a Federal Trade Commission investigation into San Andreas. The ESRB re-rated the game to AO for “adults only,” raising the minimum age of purchase from 17 to 18 years old — a crucial year in which a teen develops the necessary psychological defenses to resist the Siren song of polygon porn.

But in a response to a questionnaire from the watchdog group Common Sense Media, Clinton reveals today that she still sees the affair as a victory for child safety. She describe her introduction of the doomed Family Entertainment Protection Act as a response to the “illicit” sexual content in San Andreas, and says, as president, she’d support regulation of the gaming industry.

“When I am President, I will work to protect children from inappropriate video game content,” she told CSM.

That puts her on the same page as Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who told CSM that the U.S. needs to “get serious against those retailers that sell adult video games that are filled with violence and that we go after those retailers.” Clinton’s fellow Democrats John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson said they’d rather give the industry a chance to self-regulate, at least initially.

Clinton’s Family Entertainment Protection Act would have made it a federal offense to sell adult-rated video games to minors. It never passed, but similar state laws have been struck down as unconstitutional. Clinton’s co-sponsor on the bill, Joseph Lieberman, had his own video game nemesis: Stubbs the Zombie, who, like too many politicians, needs braaiiiins.

Huckabee leads and Thompson’s support is virtually cut in half in the Feb. 5 state of Georgia, a new Strategic Vision poll to be released tomorrow will show.

Huckabee grabs the top spot with 23%, up from just 5% from the same poll conducted in October. Thompson polls at 20%, down from 39%. Giuliani receives 17%, down from 20%. Like Huckabee, both McCain and Romney have risen in the polls, but not nearly as much as the former Arkansas governor. McCain is now polling at 11%, up slightly from 9%, and Romney receives 10%, up from 6%.

This poll was conducted December 7-9; 515 Republican voters were interviewed, and the margin of error for this poll is 5%.

On the Democratic side, Clinton has lost six points but still leads, with 34%. Obama’s polling remains unchanged at 27%. Edwards received 12%. 468 Democratic voters were interviewed and also has a margin of error of 5.5%.

(Ed note: Huckabee’s statements about isolating AIDS victims and saying “I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk” back in 1994 are eyebrow raising to be sure. The fact that Evangelicals are starting to back him worries me to no end. Suffice to say, it’s almost about time for the political news to start hitting pixiesticks.org more often.

Also, cocks.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill saying that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including “obscene” cartoons and drawings–or face fines of up to $300,000.

That broad definition would cover individuals, coffee shops, libraries, hotels, and even some government agencies that provide Wi-Fi. It also sweeps in social-networking sites, domain name registrars, Internet service providers, and e-mail service providers such as Hotmail and Gmail, and it may require that the complete contents of the user’s account be retained for subsequent police inspection.

Before the House vote, which was a lopsided 409 to 2, Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) held a press conference on Capitol Hill with John Walsh, the host of America’s Most Wanted and Ernie Allen, head of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Allen said the legislation–called the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act, or SAFE Act–will “ensure better reporting, investigation, and prosecution of those who use the Internet to distribute images of illegal child pornography.”

The SAFE Act represents the latest in Congress’ efforts–some of which have raised free speech and privacy concerns–to crack down on sex offenders and Internet predators. One bill introduced a year ago was even broader and would have forced Web sites and blogs to report illegal images. Another would require sex offenders to supply e-mail addresses and instant messaging user names.

Wednesday’s vote caught Internet companies by surprise: the Democratic leadership rushed the SAFE Act to the floor under a procedure that’s supposed to be reserved for noncontroversial legislation. It was introduced October 10, but has never received even one hearing or committee vote. In addition, the legislation approved this week has changed substantially since the earlier version and was not available for public review.

Not one Democrat opposed the SAFE Act. Two Republicans did: Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning presidential candidate from Texas, and Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia.

This is what the SAFE Act requires: Anyone providing an “electronic communication service” or “remote computing service” to the public who learns about the transmission or storage of information about certain illegal activities or an illegal image must (a) register their name, mailing address, phone number, and fax number with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s “CyberTipline” and (b) “make a report” to the CyberTipline that (c) must include any information about the person or Internet address behind the suspect activity and (d) the illegal images themselves. (By the way, “electronic communications service” and “remote computing service” providers already have some reporting requirements under existing law too.)

The definition of which images qualify as illegal is expansive. It includes obvious child pornography, meaning photographs and videos of children being molested. But it also includes photographs of fully clothed minors in overly “lascivious” poses, and certain obscene visual depictions including a “drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting.” (Yes, that covers the subset of anime called hentai).

Someone providing a Wi-Fi connection probably won’t have to worry about the SAFE Act’s additional requirement of retaining all the suspect’s personal files if the illegal images are “commingled or interspersed” with other data. But that retention requirement does concern Internet service providers, which would be in a position to comply. So would e-mail service providers, including both Web-based ones and companies that offer POP or IMAP services.

“USISPA has long supported harmonized reporting of child pornography incidents to the (NCMEC). ISPs report over 30,000 incidents a year, and we work closely with NCMEC and law enforcement on the investigation,” Kate Dean, head of the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association, said on Wednesday. “We remain concerned, however, that industry would be required to retain images of child pornography after reporting them to NCMEC. It seems like the better approach would be to require the private sector to turn over illicit images and not retain copies.”

Failure to comply with the SAFE Act would result in an initial fine of up to $150,000, and fines of up to $300,000 for subsequent offenses. That’s the stick. There’s a carrot as well: anyone who does comply is immune from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions.

There are two more points worth noting. First, the vote on the SAFE Act seems unusually rushed. It’s not entirely clear that the House Democratic leadership really meant this legislation to slap new restrictions on hundreds of thousands of Americans and small businesses who offer public wireless connections. But they’ll nevertheless have to abide by the new rules if senators go along with this idea (and it’s been a popular one in the Senate).

The second point is that Internet providers already are required by another federal law to report child pornography sightings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is in turn charged with forwarding that report to the appropriate police agency. So there’s hardly an emergency, which makes the Democrats’ rush for a vote more inexplicable than usual.

WASHINGTON – Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It’s expanding by about $1.4 billion a day — or nearly $1 million a minute.

What’s that mean to you?

It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States.

Even if you’ve escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That’s because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion.

And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt — now at relatively low interest rates — rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain.

So long as somebody is willing to keep loaning the U.S. government money, the debt is largely out of sight, out of mind.

But the interest payments keep compounding, and could in time squeeze out most other government spending — leading to sharply higher taxes or a cut in basic services like Social Security and other government benefit programs. Or all of the above.

A major economic slowdown, as some economists suggest may be looming, could hasten the day of reckoning.

The national debt — the total accumulation of annual budget deficits — is up from $5.7 trillion when President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009.

That’s $10,000,000,000,000.00, or one digit more than an odometer-style “national debt clock” near New York’s Times Square can handle. When the privately owned automated clock was activated in 1989, the national debt was $2.7 trillion.

It only gets worse.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 — When top Democratic leaders visited him at the White House this week, President Bush told them he wanted to “find common ground” on Iraq. But when the president said he planned to “start doing some redeployment,” the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, cut him off.

“No you’re not, Mr. President,” Ms. Pelosi interjected. “You’re just going back to the presurge level.”

The testy exchange, recounted by three people who attended the session or were briefed on it, provides a peek into how Mr. Bush will try to sell Americans on his Iraq strategy when he addresses the nation at 9 p.m. Thursday. With lawmakers openly skeptical of his troop buildup, Mr. Bush will cast his plan for a gradual, limited withdrawal as a way to bring a divided America together — even as he resists demands from those who want him to move much faster.

The prime-time address will be the eighth by Mr. Bush on Iraq since the invasion in March 2003, the latest iteration of his efforts to sketch what he calls “the way forward.” It will be the first time he has described a plan for troop reductions, a radical departure for a president who has repeatedly defied his critics’ calls to bring the troops home.

Yet as the president outlines his plan, his critics say he is trying to have it both ways. He is, they say, taking credit for a drawdown that has been envisioned since he first announced the current buildup on Jan. 10 — a withdrawal that had to be carried out unless he was willing to take the politically unpalatable step of extending soldiers’ tours further.

The White House declined on Wednesday to preview Mr. Bush’s speech, but one senior administration official, speaking anonymously to avoid upstaging the president, said the reductions would be heavily conditioned on the situation in Iraq and would fall far short of the rapid withdrawal Democrats want.

Under the plan, at least 130,000 American troops would remain in Iraq next July, down from more than 160,000, decreasing to about the same level as before the buildup began, with any decisions on further withdrawals likely to be postponed until at least next March. The planned drawdowns between now and July 2008 are expected to be of the 30,000 that many assumed the president would suggest after this week’s testimony by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq. But, the senior official said, Mr. Bush’s ultimate goal would be a sustainable force of around 10 combat brigades, down from 20 now, at the end of his presidency, though a large number of support troops would also still be required.

“We want bipartisanship,” said this official, “but not to the point where it sacrifices success.”

Mr. Bush has repeatedly asked Americans to give him another chance in Iraq, and Thursday night will be no different. “His main goal at this critical juncture,” said another senior official, also speaking anonymously, “is to ask Americans to stop and take a fresh look.”

Whether they will take that look remains to be seen. This week’s Congressional testimony from General Petraeus was supposed to be a defining moment in Washington’s debate over the war.

But in fact, as was suggested by the Pelosi-Bush exchange during the White House meeting on Tuesday, very few minds have been changed.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Gen. David Petraeus told Congress on Monday he envisions the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 U.S. troops by next summer, beginning with a Marine contingent later this month.

In long-awaited testimony, the commanding general of the war said last winter’s buildup in U.S. troops had met its military objectives “in large measure.”

As a result, he told a congressional hearing and a nationwide television audience, “I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level … by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve.”

Testifying in a military uniform bearing four general’s stars and a chestful of medals, Petraeus said he had already provided his views to the military chain of command.

Rebutting charges that he was merely doing the White House’s bidding, he said firmly, “I wrote this testimony myself. It has not been cleared by nor shared with anyone in the Pentagon, the White House or the Congress.”

His testimony came at a politically pivotal moment in the war, with the Democratic-controlled Congress pressing for a troop withdrawal deadline and the Bush administration hoping to prevent wholesale Republican defections on the issue.

Petraeus said that a unit of about 2,000 Marines will depart Iraq later this month, beginning a drawdown that would be followed in mid- December with the departure of an Army brigade numbering 3,500 to 4,000 soldiers.

After that, another four brigades would be withdrawn by July 2008, he said. That would leave the United States with about 130,000 troops in Iraq, roughly the number stationed there last winter when President Bush decided to dispatch additional forces.

He said he believes withdrawals could continue even after the 30,000 extra troops go home, but added that it would be premature to make any further recommendations.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Alberto Gonzales, the nation’s first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation Monday, driven from office after a wrenching standoff with congressional critics over his honesty and competence.

Republicans and Democrats alike had demanded his departure over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firings of U.S. attorneys, but President Bush had defiantly stood by his Texas friend for months until accepting his resignation last Friday.

“After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position and I accept his decision,” Bush said from Texas, where he is vacationing.

Solicitor General Paul Clement will be acting attorney general until a replacement is found and confirmed by the Senate, Bush said.

LOS ANGELES – Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday he wanted to tap into the “core decency” of Americans to fight discrimination against gays and lesbians, and argued that civil unions for same-sex couples wouldn’t be a “lesser thing” than marriage.

At a televised forum focusing on gay rights, the Illinois senator was asked to explain how civil unions for same-sex couples could be the equivalent of marriage. He said, “As I’ve proposed it, it wouldn’t be a lesser thing, from my perspective.

“Semantics may be important to some. From my perspective, what I’m interested (in) is making sure that those legal rights are available to people,” he said.

“If we have a situation in which civil unions are fully enforced, are widely recognized, people have civil rights under the law, then my sense is that’s enormous progress,” the Illinois Democrat said.

Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, but Obama has yet to go that far.

The senator was the first of six Democratic candidates scheduled to answer questions at an event described as a milestone by organizers. It marked the first time that major presidential candidates appeared on TV specifically to address gay issues, they said.

Obama called the event “a historic moment … for America.”

The two-hour forum, held in a Hollywood studio with an invited audience of 200, was co-sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group active in Democratic politics, and Logo, a gay-oriented cable TV channel that aired the forum live.

“We already won because the candidates are here,” Logo president Brian Graden said.

Of the eight Democratic candidates, two did not attend, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd on Connecticut.

The candidates, appearing one at a time and seated in an upholstered chair, took questions from a panel that included Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese, singer Melissa Etheridge and Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart.

All of the Democratic candidates support a federal ban on anti-gay job discrimination, want to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring gays from serving openly in the military and support civil unions that would extend marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.

A majority of Americans oppose nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage and only two of the Democrats support it — Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, both longshots for the nomination.

Logo, available in about 27 million homes, wanted to hold a second forum for Republican candidates but GOP front-runners showed no interest, channel officials said.

For the first time the leading candidates for the presidency will hold a televised debate devoted solely to LGBT issues.

The one-hour event will be held on August 9 and broadcast on gay network LOGO at 9:00 pm ET (6:00 pm ET) and through live streaming video at LOGOonline.com.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have confirmed they will participate. Several other Democratic candidates also may join the debate.

The debate will be conducted with a live audience in Los Angeles. On the panel questioning the two Democrats will be Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese and singer Melissa Etheridge.

The debate was put together by LOGO and HRC.

“In the 2008 presidential election, issues of concern to the LGBT community have already been at the forefront of the national conversation,” said Solmonese.

“From the repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” to the recent signing of a civil unions bill in New Hampshire, there is no doubt that voters will demand answers to important questions affecting our community.”

The panelists in a statement said they plan to cover a range of issues including relationship recognition, marriage equality, workplace fairness, the military, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other important issues.

The LGBT vote is considered a decisive electoral force and according to exit poll data make up approximately 4 percent of the voting population.

Los Angeles was chosen as the site for the event because of the state’s early primary election, on February 5th, 2008.

“We’re honored to give the presidential candidates an historic opportunity to share their views directly with the LGBT audience,” Brian Graden, President, Entertainment, MTV Networks Music Group, and President, LOGO said in a statement.

“This forum continues MTV Networks’ tradition of engaging vital niche audiences with voting and the electoral process.”

In addition to questioning by Solmonese and Etheridge people will be able to pose their own questions through LOGOonline.com and HRC.org.

The Republican rebellion against the war in Iraq widened over the weekend as more of the party’s senators voiced dissent from President George W. Bush’s strategy.

Republican unity on Iraq has shattered in recent weeks, amid mounting pessimism about the ability of US forces to bring stability to the country.

Weakening Republican support for the war has left Mr Bush increasingly isolated as congressional Democrats prepare for a fresh barrage of votes aimed at forcing a US withdrawal.

Three more Republican senators have called for a change of course recently, adding to a steady trickle of defections since Richard Lugar became the most senior to break from Mr Bush over the war last month.

“It should be clear to the president that there needs to be a new strategy,” Lamar Alexander of Tennessee told the Los Angeles Times on Saturday.

Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire told the same newspaper that efforts to quell the violence in Iraq by increasing US troop numbers “don’t seem to be making a lot of progress” and called for “a clear blueprint” to end the war.

The comments came two days after Pete Domenici of New Mexico, said he could no longer support current strategy.

The three senators are among six Republicans who have voiced support for bipartisan legislation that aims to prepare the ground for US troops to start leaving Iraq by March next year. The measure is among the more moderate of several proposals for troop withdrawal and limits on war spending set for debate in Congress over the next few weeks, as Democrats launch a fresh push to end the war.

The White House has appealed for Republicans to withhold judgment until September, when Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, is scheduled to deliver a progress report to Congress.

But Chuck Hagel, the moderate Republican senator from Nebraska and a longstanding critic of the war, on Sunday warned that the party’s patience was wearing thin.

“If we do not see this administration take some initiatives to make some changes, significant strategic policy changes over the next 90 days, then of course it will be forced on [Mr Bush],” he told NBC’s Meet the Press.

The most urgent calls for a policy change are coming from Republicans facing tough re-election battles in 2008, highlighting concern throughout the party about the impact of the war on next year’s congressional and presidential polls.

Charles Schumer, Democratic senator for New York, said Republicans were “getting hammered” by their constituents over the war, and predicted the trickle of defections would soon turn into a torrent. “I think the dam is about to burst,” he told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “By September there will be real change forced upon the president by a bipartisan Senate.”

Mr Bush last week re-newed his warning against a hasty exit from Iraq, arguing that a withdrawal “based on politics, not on the advice and recommendations of our military commanders, would not be in our national interest”.

US and coalition casualties in Iraq have increased to an average of about 3.5 a day since Mr Bush took his decision to increase troop numbers in January – the highest sustained rate since the end of the initial invasion in 2003. More than 3,600 US troops have died since the war began.

WASHINGTON – Courting the anti-war constituency, Democratic presidential rivals
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama both voted against legislation that pays for the Iraq war but lacks a timeline for troop withdrawal.

“I fully support our troops” but the measure “fails to compel the president to give our troops a new strategy in Iraq,” said Clinton, a New York senator.

“Enough is enough,” Obama, an Illinois senator, declared, adding that
President Bush should not get “a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path.”

Their votes Thursday night continued a shift in position for the two presidential hopefuls, both of whom began the year shunning a deadline for a troop withdrawal.

On a vote of 80-14, the Senate cleared the measure and sent it to Bush.

Operators of Web sites with racy content must label their sites and register in a national directory or be fined, according to a new U.S. Senate proposal that represents the latest effort among politicians to crack down on Internet sex.

The requirements appear in legislation announced Thursday by two Senate Democrats, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Max Baucus of Montana, that they say will “clean up the Internet for children.”

The proposal, which the senators describe as a discussion draft, relies on the idea of embedding a new tag–such as –in all Web pages that the government deems unsuitable for minors. Then future Web browsers used by minors could be configured to reject L18-labeled Web pages.

“We want to keep our kids safe when they’re on the Internet,” Baucus said in a statement. “Parents and teachers shouldn’t worry about their kids when they’re on the computer at home or in the classroom. This bill will help keep kids safe and give parents peace of mind.”

Web sites with “harmful to minors” content on pages that are initially viewable to visitors must use the tag to be devised by the U.S. Department of Commerce or face civil fines. Pryor’s office says the federal government would be able to “shut down” noncompliant sites, but that portion is not actually in the bill.

Another section of the Cyber Safety for Kids Act of 2007 would require the owner of any Web site with adult content on it to say so when registering the domain with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The owner must also give ICANN the Web site’s Internet Protocol address and other information.

“The labeling part of it is going to be constitutionally problematic,” said Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “They are in essence requiring labels on this material. There are some cases that have talked about labels on movies, which is why that’s ‘voluntary’ rather than government-mandated. They’re going to have some problems with that.”

Harmful to minors is defined in the legislation as any type of material that appeals to the prurient interest by depicting or describing an actual or simulated sex act–and lacks serious scientific, literary, artistic or political values for minors.

Besides L18, another likely candidate for a labeling scheme is a set of Web ratings created by the Internet Content Rating Association. The ratings refer to topics like “visible sexual touching” and “erections/explicit sexual acts.”