[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update

Mon Dec 5 21:20:34 PST 2005

Ford gives in the American Family Association demands, drops all ads  
from GBLT media; the AFA had also demanded Ford stop giving money to  
all GBLT-supportive causes of any kind, whether that will happen is as  
yet unknown; Ford claims the ad withdrawal is "business" after  
initially confirming the AFA's version of the story, and now declines  
to comment otherwise;

Contact information from AmericaBlog for Ford's public-relations  
officers;

Link to Helem, a Lebanese GBLT-rights group and magazine, mostly  
published overseas but working towards the elimination of laws against  
gayfolk in their home country;

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito broke nomination-testimony pledges  
to recuse himself from cases with which he had direct ties while in  
Federal court;

NewsHounds coverage of Fox News's "Economic Disaster If Liberals Win  
the War On Christmas?" bizarro news feature;

Some bru-ha-ha in Indiana over state house prayers - anybody know  
what's actually going on with this?;

Focus on the Family's coverage of the AFA success against Ford;

Fertility clinic drags lesbian along for a year, then says they won't  
treat her because she's a lesbian. she sues - US appeals court allows  
suit to go forward, allowing religious beliefs of the doctors to be  
used in defense;

Concerned Women for America file amicus brief in Washington State  
marriage case;

American Family Association joins boycott of American Girl; Concerned  
Women for America's Robert Knight rants about the evils of Girls, Inc;  
CWA issues action item to complain to American Girl;

Alito "distances himself" from 1985 writings;

Anti-abortion forces unhappy with Centre for Disease Control over  
insufficiently-scary RU-486 health risks report;

----- 1 -----
Jaguar, Land Rover ads halted in gay media, Ford confirms
The Advocate
12/03/05-12/05/05

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid23064.asp

The antigay American Family Association claimed a cultural victory on  
Thursday and called off its threatened boycott of Ford Motor Co. On  
Friday, Ford spokesman Mike Moran confirmed to Advocate.com that the  
company will stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay  
publications but insisted it was strictly a business decision.

The Dearborn, Mich., automaker came under fire from the AFA in May for  
its longtime efforts to increase LGBT workplace diversity and support  
gay rights causes. Ford has long been a regular advertiser within gay  
media, including The Advocate, and has donated significant sums to LGBT  
causes and nonprofit groups such as the Human Rights Campaign.

Threatened with a boycott by the Mississippi-based AFA, Ford and some  
of its dealers agreed to negotiate, and the AFA announced in June that  
it would hold off on its planned action. On Thursday, AFA announced the  
boycott would be canceled altogether.

"They've heard our concerns; they are acting on our concerns. We are  
pleased with where we are," said Donald Wildmon, AFA’s chairman, in a  
statement. "Obviously there are still some small matters of difference,  
as people will always have, but generally speaking, we are pleased with  
the results—and therefore the boycott that had been suspended [is] now  
officially ended."

[More at URL]

----- 2 -----
Ford Motor Company embraces homophobia in order to appease religious  
right
AmericaBlog
by John in DC - 12/03/2005 11:59:00 AM

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/12/ford-motor-company-embraces- 
homophobia.html

UPDATE: Some initial contact info for Ford's public relation's people.  
Let's fill their voice mail boxes over the weekend. Ask them if they'd  
pull all their advertising in black media or Jewish media if the Klan  
gave them a call:

Contact: Rosemary Mariniello, Jaguar Land Rover North America, (201)  
818-8010
Contact: Jim Cain, Ford Division, (313) 248-6288
Contact: Sara Tatchio, Lincoln and Mercury, (313) 594-3744
Contact: Roger Ormisher, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc., (800)  
970-0888
Contact: George Pipas, Ford Motor Company, (313) 323-9216
Contact: Dan Bedore, Ford Division, (313) 323-7045

Well, we just got our new campaign. Ford needs to be taught a lesson.  
If they think they're above the fray and too big to be influenced by  
the mean homosexuals, they ought to give Bill Gates a call and see what  
happened to Microsoft when they endorsed outright bigotry in order to  
appease America's Taliban.

In a nutshell, the rabid homophobes at the American Family Association  
threatened Ford with a boycott earlier this year because they were  
advertising in the gay press. Suddenly in June the AFA called off their  
threatened boycott because local Ford dealers had contacted the  
national Ford office and, apparently, suggested Ford might be amenable  
to working out a deal. Now we find out that Ford is pulling its gay ads  
and that Ford even tells the Advocate that the AFA's press release  
claiming credit for this entire thing is accurate.

----- 3 -----
About Helem

http://www.helem.net/about.htm

Mission Statement
Helem leads a peaceful struggle for the liberation of the Lesbian, Gay,  
Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Lebanon from all sorts of  
legal, social and cultural discrimination.

Identity
Helem (the Arabic acronym of "Lebanese Protection for Lesbians, Gays,  
Bisexuals and Transgenders"), is a non-governmental non-profit  
organization registered in Quebec (Canada) as of February 11th 2004. As  
mentioned in Helem's constituting act, our action encompasses Lebanon  
and Canada. Helem has also established support groups in Australia,  
France and the United States, in addition to Canada. Although it  
focuses on gay and lesbian issues, Helem membership is open to any  
person who shares our values based on the Universal Declaration of  
Human Rights. Helem is also strongly opposed to any kind of  
segregation, both in the services it offers or in the struggle it  
leads.

Goal
Helem's primary goal is the annulment of article 534 of the Lebanese  
Penal Code which punishes "unnatural sexual intercourse". This law is  
primarily used to target the LGBT community by violating the privacy of  
its members and by denying them basic human rights. The abolishment of  
this law will help reduce state and societal persecution and pave the  
way to achieving equality for the LGBT community in Lebanon. Helem's  
other main objective is to counter the AIDS epidemic and other sexually  
transmitted diseases while advocating for the rights of patients.

[More at URL]

----- 4 -----
One thing leads to another
Posted by Lis Riba at 4:30 PM

http://www.osmond-riba.org/lis/journal/ 
2005_11_27_j_archive.htm#113364540904759251

The question is not what Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's words  
mean, but whether he puts any stock into his words at all.

It seems to be an ongoing theme in recent news stories about his past  
writings:

In 1990, when Alito was seeking a seat on the Third Circuit Court of  
Appeals, he wrote the following in response to a Senate Judiciary  
Committee questionnaire (which, according to several sources, are  
considered under oath):

	I would, however, disqualify myself from any cases involving the  
Vanguard companies, the brokerage firm of Smith Barney or the First  
Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester, N.Y.

Yet, when cases arose involving Vanguard and Smith Barney, Alito broke  
that oath and did not recuse himself. According to a Boston Globe  
article, he also pledged to recuse himself from cases involving his  
sister's law firm, and later took such a case.

[More at URL]

----- 5 -----
December 03, 2005
Is Fox News Taking "Christ" Out of Christmas?

Google cache:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:liWsVpySYdwJ:www.newshounds.us/2005/ 
12/03/ 
is_fox_news_taking_christ_out_of_christmas.php+%22economic+disaster+if+l 
iberals+win%22+%22war+on+christmas%22&hl=en&client=safari

Original URL, currently not responding:
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/12/03/ 
is_fox_news_taking_christ_out_of_christmas.php

What is the real reason behind Fox News' promotion of a phony "War on  
Christmas"? Is it a desire to instill Christian beliefs about the birth  
of Jesus Christ, or is it just about getting people to spend more  
money? The self-contradictory elements of Fox News' desire to promote a  
religious holiday while undermining the spiritual basis of the holiday  
was in full display Saturday (December 3, 2005) on "Bulls and Bears."

Host Brenda Buttner opened the latest battle in Fox News' annual  
campaign to convince its viewers that the Christmas holiday is in  
danger by asking, "The War on Christmas -- Could the Left win its  
crusade and does that threaten our stock market, our entire economy?"  
Buttner, of course, never identified whom she meant by "the Left,"  
never named anyone who has asked a retailer to instruct its employees  
not to say, "Merry Christmas." She just assumes that the audience  
agrees this is actually happening. Later, she said that "many"  
retailers (without naming any) "are saying 'Happy Holidays' instead of  
'Merry Christmas.' There are no more Christmas trees. It's 'Merry Have  
Your Wish Trees' or something."

No more Christmas trees? In retail stores? Is she intentionally trying  
to fudge the line between what the Constitution says can happen in  
public schools and parks and what can happen in private areas, such as  
privately owned stores? Buttner wouldn't do that, would she?

[...]

So Buttner fell in with the corporate line that somehow retail  
businesses, who are supposed to be bastions of conservatism, have  
somehow been cowed by "the left" to downplay Christmas, even though the  
Christmas season is the biggest sales season of the year for them.  
Adopting this illogical non-occurrence as her premise, Buttner asked  
her panel to respond to her nonsense.

[More at URL]

----- 6 -----
INDIANA STATE HOUSE PRAYER BAN CALLED 'INTOLERABLE'
Historian says court ruling violates separation of powers.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 5, 2005

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038817.cfm

Indiana State House Prayer Ban Called 'Intolerable'
from staff reports

SUMMARY: Historian says court ruling violates separation
of powers.

Lawmakers and historians reacted negatively over the
weekend to a federal judge's ruling that the Indiana
Legislature could no longer mention the name of Jesus
during prayer.

Republican Brian Bosma, speaker of the Indiana House,
called it an "intolerable decision."

"The concern here is for the first time, at least here in
Indiana, federal court is stepping forward and censoring
prayer in the House of Representatives," he said. "For the
first time in my knowledge, the specific name 'Jesus
Christ' or references to the title of Christ are to be
censored from all prayers offered here in the House
chambers."

[More at URL]

----- 7 -----
Jaguar and Land Rover No Longer Advertising in Gay Magazines
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
December 5, 2005

[Received in email; no URL]

The American Family Association (AFA) called off its
threatened boycott of Ford Motor Co. last week after the
company agreed to stop advertising two of its brands in
gay media.

A Ford spokesman confirmed to Advocate.com Friday that the
company will stop advertising Jaguars and Land Rovers in
gay publications -- but insisted it was strictly a
business decision.

AFA had threatened a boycott in May. Ford had long been a
regular advertiser within gay media and had donated to
homosexual causes and nonprofit groups.

AFA Chairman Don Wildmon credited Ford dealers with
opening up the lines of communication with corporate
officials.

"They've heard our concerns; they have responded, we
think, in a very positive way. We've opened lines of
communication, we think those lines of communication will
stay open," he said. "Obviously there are still some small
matters of difference, as people will always have, but
generally speaking, we are pleased with the results."

----- 8 -----
US court rules against lesbian fertility patient
David Teather in New York
Monday December 5, 2005
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0%2C12271%2C1657878%2C00.html

A United States appeal court has backed two fertility doctors who  
refused to treat a lesbian patient because it would have violated their  
religious beliefs.

The woman, Guadalupe Benitez, sued the doctors after she was turned  
down for artificial insemination in 1999. She claimed that on her first  
visit to the women's clinic in a suburb of San Diego, California, one  
of the doctors, Christine Brody, told her that she would not perform  
the procedure on a lesbian because of her faith.

She was initially told that another doctor at the clinic would perform  
the procedure but after nearly a year of being put off, Ms Benitez  
alleges that Dr Brody told her nobody in the four-person clinic would  
treat her. The other doctor named in the suit is Douglas Fenton.
The appeal court ruling allows the doctors to use religious liberty as  
a defence in the anti-discrimination lawsuit. The decision overturned a  
lower court ruling.

[More at URL]

----- 9 -----
CWA Files Amicus Brief to Uphold Marriage
Concerned Women for America
12/5/2005
By Emma Elliott

Decision in Washington state case expected any day.

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9603/LEGAL/family/index.htm

The Washington Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling any day on  
whether or not “gay” couples may “marry.” Concerned Women for America  
(CWA) filed an amicus brief in the case arguing for traditional  
marriage.

Oral arguments in the case, Anderson v. King County, were held on March  
8, 2005.

Anderson v. King County consists of state appeals of two rulings by  
Superior Court judges. Thurston County Judge Richard Hicks in September  
of 2004 and King County Superior Court Judge William Downing in April  
of 2004 ruled that marriage licenses must be issued to same-sex  
couples. They ruled that limiting marriage to heterosexual couples  
violates the state constitution. These rulings came despite the fact  
that Washington had enacted a Defense of Marriage (DOMA) law, which  
says that marriages within the state must be between one man and one  
woman.

Both rulings are being stayed and no marriage licenses are being issued  
to homosexual couples until the Washington Supreme Court hands down its  
decision.

The brief argues that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples does  
not violate the Washington Constitution. Article 1 of the constitution  
provides that “[n]o law shall be passed granting to any citizen [or]  
class of citizens . . . privileges or immunities which upon the same  
terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.”

[More at URL]

----- 10 -----
American Girl Doll Continues Girls, Inc. Support
Concerned Women for America
12/5/2005

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9576/CWA/misc/index.htm

The American Girl Doll Company, owned by Mattel, continues its  
affiliation with Girls, Inc. despite the concerns of customers. Because  
of this, the American Family Association has joined the Pro-Life Action  
League in calling for a boycott of the doll company. [ed note: CWA has  
no position on the boycott, but is simply reporting the actions of  
other groups in this area.] Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture &  
Family Institute, has more. Click here to listen.

The alternative dolls mentioned in this piece can be found at:
www.blessings-catalog.com.

To express your thoughts to American Girl:
Ellen L. Brothers, President
American Girl, 8400 Fairway Place
Middletown, WI 53562
Tel: 1-800-845-0005 or 1-608-836-4848
Fax: 608-828-4790
e-mail: ellen.brothers at americangirl.com

[More at URL]

----- 11 -----
Alito Distances Himself From 1985 Memos
Senator Says Nominee Drew a Line Between Expressed Views and Potential  
Rulings
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/ 
AR2005120200962.html

Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. yesterday tried to tamp down  
criticisms of several past statements -- including his assertion that  
the Constitution does not protect the right to abortion -- by saying  
they were personal views or an advocate's work and not necessarily  
indications of how he might rule if confirmed, according to a key  
senator who quizzed him for more than an hour.

Alito's effort to distance himself from the recently disclosed 1985  
documents came as liberal groups said the writings show him to be much  
more conservative than the newly confirmed chief justice, John G.  
Roberts Jr. Alito's explanation was meant to lessen the documents'  
impact, but it may expose him to accusations of insincerity or  
irresolution, advocates said.

[More at URL]

----- 12 -----
CDC Article on Risks Associated With Abortion Drug Upsets Pro-Lifers
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 1, 2005

http://www.lifenews.com/nat1862.html

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new article written by Centers for  
Disease Control staff about the risks associated with the dangerous  
abortion drug RU 486 and published today in the New England Journal of  
Medicine is upsetting pro-life advocates because it plays down the  
deaths of five women from the drug.

In the article, CDC investigators described the risk of using the  
abortion drug as "low" and said the fatal infections that developed in  
the four American and one Canadian women who died were very rare.

[More at URL]