Sex Offenders Baby Sit for Ill. State

The screening methods used to qualify babysitters for a state-run childcare subsidy program in Illinois were so inadequate that in several instances children were placed with registered sex offenders or individuals previously convicted of assault, drug and weapon possession crimes, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Child Care Assistance Program, a $750 million-a-year service that provides babysitting services for more than 150,000 Illinois families, first came under scrutiny in 2008 after trends emerged in Cook County courtrooms where repeat offenders increasingly mentioned their babysitting jobs, according to the Associated Press. An investigation by the division’s policy analyst found that unlicensed babysitters--some 60,000 of the 70,000 care providers on the program’s payroll not required to be licensed if they are watching three or fewer unrelated children--were approved without full background checks, the Tribune reports.

These findings prompted legislation enacted in 2009 requiring stricter background checks for non-relative babysitters. But the scrutiny the new law required didn’t become practice for nearly 18 months, according to the Tribune. Meanwhile, 83 state-paid baby sitters were living at addresses where sex offenders were registered, including one registered sex offender who had already received almost $5,000 for child care services from the state, the Tribune reports.

Faults in the 14-year-old program's screening process stem from its reliance on applicants to self-report their criminal history accurately, the use of an incomplete database to screen applicants, and infrequent comparisons of registered baby sitters' addresses to sex offender lists, according to the Tribune. Information about parolees and other ex-offenders is even less readily available.

The state's Human Services department said it will explore how to do real-time checks of prison databases in response to the investigation's finding, the Tribune reports, though cross-referencing multiple data systems could be a challenge.

See Chick's HOME ALONE

Illegal Relative of Obama Arrested for DUI

Onyango Obama, President Obama's uncle, was arrested on August 24 in Massachusetts for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, CBS News reports.

According to CNN, Onyango Obama was arrested in Framingham, a Boston suburb, after not stopping his SUV at an intersection.

The Metro West Daily News reports that he had a blood alcohol level of .14 when tested with a Breathalyzer at the police station. The legal limit in Massachusetts is .08, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Police said that when asked if he wanted to make a phone call, Obama said: "I think I will call the White House."
A spokesman for Cleveland immigration attorney Margaret Wong, who is representing him, confirmed that the 67-year-old is the president's uncle.

Police say the president's uncle is originally from Kenya and is being held without bail on a detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Wong was one of the attorneys who represented Zeituni Onyango, President Obama's aunt, who last year was granted political asylum after spending ten years as an undocumented immigrant in Boston. Obama's Uncle appears to also be an illegal alien. It is unclear if he will also be granted citizenship through back channels, or if he will receive it along with millions of others as a blanket amnesty under the "comprehensive immigration reform" that the president pushes. Currently, Obama has ordered homeland security to stop deporting illegals unless they have committed felonies, and to consider giving work permits to those who are arrested but have no other crimes on record (a defacto amnesty). The controversial end run around Congressional law has received little attention from the mainstream press.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from The Boston Herald, the paper reports. See Chick's WHO IS ALLAH?

Strauss-Kahn Free Again

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, returned to the IMF's Washington headquarters Monday to say goodbye to staffers and meet briefly with his successor. The visit came five days after New York prosecutors formally dismissed the criminal charges against him.

In a statement, the 187-nation lending agency said its current managing director, Christine Lagarde, met with Strauss-Kahn before he met with IMF staffers.

"These were private meetings, arranged at his request," the IMF said in a statement. "We have no further comment to offer."

After a state appeals court judge declined to appoint a special prosecutor, a lower court judge formally dismissed the charges against Strauss-Kahn last Wednesday. An assistant district attorney for Manhattan said the prosecutor's office no longer found credible all the testimony from the hotel maid who accused him (because she had lied on her immigration application). However, DNA evidence proves he did have sex with the maid, and other credible witnesses have stepped forward and said that he had tried to force them to have sex as well. One such accuser was the daughter of a high ranking official in Strauss-Kahn's own Socialist party.

Strauss-Kahn, who at one time had been considered a top contender to become president of France, has said he wants to return to France, where he will face an uncertain future that includes another investigation into an alleged sexual assault.

In the United States, Strauss-Kahn still faces a civil lawsuit that hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo has filed against him. Her attorneys have said they will aggressively litigate the civil case. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have called her account "imaginary." See Chick's ROYAL AFFAIR.

Jewish Torah Hunter Hoax Exposed

A Jewish charity co-founder who claimed he crisscrossed the globe rescuing Torahs as a "Jewish Indiana Jones" surrendered Wednesday to face mail and wire fraud charges after authorities said he duped benefactors by fabricating dramatic stories about sometimes dangerous trips, including to concentration camp sites in Poland and Germany.

Menachem Youlus, who owns the Jewish Bookstore in Wheaton, Md., where he resides, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan and was released Wednesday on $100,000 bail. His attorney, Paul Rooney, said, "We deny this accusation, and anything else we have to say will be said in court."

Court papers said the 50-year-old Youlus carried out the fraud from at least 2004 through last year, pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars through the "Save a Torah" charity he co-founded in 2004 as a nonprofit organization. A criminal complaint said he passed off Torahs he bought from U.S. dealers to synagogues and congregations nationwide, sometimes at inflated rates.

It said he put nearly a third of $1.2 million collected by the group into his personal accounts, spending some of it on private school tuition for his children and on personal expenses, including meals and health care. More than $1 million was forwarded by the charity to Youlus' bookstore account, it said.

The publicly stated mission of the charity was to locate and acquire Torahs that survived the Holocaust or had been taken from Jewish communities worldwide and repair them so they could be used in communities that need them. In reality, Youlus rarely traveled abroad during the years he was claiming to go Torah hunting, it said.

"Menachem Youlus called himself the `Jewish Indiana Jones,' but his alleged exploits were no more real than those of the movie character he claimed to resemble," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release. "He chose poorly in allegedly exploiting an excruciating chapter in Jewish and international history to perpetrate a brazen fraud that played on the heartstrings of the people for whom the painful memories of that period will never die."

According to a criminal complaint prepared by U.S. Postal Inspector Greg Ghiozzi, an application by "Save a Torah" to become a charity listed on the federal government's campaign to encourage donations by federal employees boasted that Youlus had "been beaten up, thrown in jail, and gone $175,000 into debt, to bring these holy scrolls out of less-than-friendly places, back to safety and a new life."

At a 2004 Torah dedication, Youlus wrote: "I guess you could call me the Jewish Indiana Jones," the complaint said, referencing the action-adventure hero played by Harrison Ford in the 1981 Stephen Spielberg classic "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

But Ghiozzi wrote that his investigation of Youlus' globe-trotting found no facts to support claims that Youlus rescued the "Auschwitz Torah" in Poland from inside a metal box that he located and unearthed in 2004 using a metal detector. There was also no evidence that he discovered a Torah in 2002 that had been hidden during World War II under the floor of a barracks at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, Ghiozzi wrote.


A review of travel records showed that Youlus never traveled to Poland in 2004, making only a two-week trip to Israel, and that he didn't travel internationally from early 2001 to August 2004, when he claimed to have made the trip to Germany, Ghiozzi said. He said a historian at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial Museum told him Youlus' claims were impossible because the barracks was completely destroyed by the British Army several weeks after the camp was liberated at the end of World War II.

Based on some of Youlus' false claims, a contributor paid about $32,000 directly to Youlus' book store to buy the Auschwitz Torah and then donated it to a Manhattan synagogue, which staged a large ceremony to honor the resettlement of the Torah, Ghiozzi said.

He said Youlus sent letters after the ceremony to the contributor, seeking a donation of at least $250,000 to "Save a Torah" on the grounds that Youlus had suffered significant personal debt rescuing items for the charity. At the time, in 2007, Ghiozzi wrote, Youlus' home had been paid off since 1992, and he had nearly $900,000 in savings accounts, checking accounts and other financial instruments that he held jointly with family members and more than $1.1 million held in the name of the Jewish Bookstore.

Youlus was also telling the charity's president that he had borrowed more than $150,000 on his credit cards and against his home at a high interest rate to acquire and repair 15 Torahs that were facing rapid deterioration or destruction, including 10 Torahs from an unspecified Russian general and five from a monastery in Kiev, Ukraine, Ghiozzi said.

The postal inspector said Youlus had complained before of going broke, saying he had borrowed more than $150,000 in 2004 to rescue Torahs that were well over 100 years old in Hungary, Poland and Ukraine when he had more than $150,000 in his personal bank accounts and $652,733 invested in certificates of deposit in the name of the Jewish Bookstore.

Meanwhile, Youlus benefited personally from donations, receiving more than $344,000, the complaint said. He spent $90,000 of that on tuition payments to a private school for his children and a relative's children and more than $200,000 on personal expenses including retail goods, meals and health care, the complaint said.

If convicted of single counts of mail and wire fraud, Youlus could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.

See Chick's Love the Jewish People

Teacher Suspended After Porn Past Revealed

Sean Loftis, a Florida substitute teacher who starred in gay porn films, under the psudeoname Collin O'Neal, has lost his teaching job after his X-Rated antics came to light.

Loftis, who also found fame as a CNN iReporter, was suspended from his Florida teaching post, after claims that he had violated a regulation requiring faculty members to act in a manner "that will reflect credit upon themselves".

Loftis filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), but thus far has failed to get back in the classroom. See Chick's HOME ALONE.

Teacher Suspended for Denouncing Gay Marriage on His Facebook

A former “Teacher of the Year” in Mount Dora, Fla. has been suspended and could lose his job after he voiced his objection to gay marriage on his personal Facebook page.

Jerry Buell, a veteran American history teacher at Mount Dora High School, was removed from his teaching duties this week as school officials in Lake County investigate allegations that what he posted was biased towards homosexuals.

“We took the allegations seriously,” said Chris Patton, a communication officer with Lake County Schools. “All teachers are bound by a code of special ethics (and) this is a code ethics violation investigation.”

Patton said the school system received a complaint on Tuesday about something Buell had written last July when New York legalized same sex unions. On Wednesday, he was temporarily suspended from the classroom and reassigned.

Patton said Buell has taught in the school system for 22 years and has a spotless record. Last year, he was selected as the high school’s “Teacher of the Year.”

But now his job is on the line because of what some have called anti-gay and homophobic comments.

Buell told Fox News Radio that he was stunned by the accusations. “It was my own personal comment on my own personal time on my own personal computer in my own personal house, exercising what I believed as a social studies teacher to be my First Amendment rights,” he said.

The school system declined to comment on the specific Facebook messages that led to their investigation, but Buell provided Fox News Radio with a copy of the two Facebook messages that he said landed him in trouble.

The first was posted on July 25 at 5:43 p.m. as he was eating dinner and watching the evening news.

“I’m watching the news, eating dinner when the story about New York okaying same-sex unions came on and I almost threw up,” he wrote. “And now they showed two guys kissing after their announcement. If they want to call it a union, go ahead. But don’t insult a man and woman’s marriage by throwing it in the same cesspool of whatever. God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable?”

Three minutes later, Buell posted another comment: “By the way, if one doesn’t like the most recently posted opinion based on biblical principles and God’s laws, then go ahead and unfriend me. I’ll miss you like I miss my kidney stone from 1994. And I will never accept it because God will never accept it. Romans chapter one.”

According to the school system, what Buell wrote on his private account was disturbing. They were especially concerned that gay students at the school might be frightened or intimidated walking into his classroom. However, none of his students have complained.

Buell’s attorney accused the school system of violating his First Amendment rights.

“The school district is being anti-straight, anti-First Amendment and anti-personal liberty,” said Horatio Mihet, an attorney with the Liberty Counsel. “The idea that public servants have to whole-heartedly endorse homosexual marriage is repugnant to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” Mihet told Fox News Radio.

“All he did was speak out on an issue of national importance and because his comments did not fit a particular mold, he is now being investigated and could possibly lose his job. What have we come to?”

Buell said he does not know the individual or organization (ACLU?) who filed the complaint, but the past week has caused his family “heartache.”

“To try and say you could lose your job over speaking about something in the venue that I did in the manner that I did is not just a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “It’s a violent reaction to one person making a complaint.”

But Patton said the school system has an obligation to take the comments seriously. He said Buell will not be allowed back in the classroom “until we do all the interviews and do a thorough job of looking at everything – past or previous writings.”

To accomplish that, he said people have been sending the school system screenshots of Buell’s Facebook page.

“Just because you think it’s private, other people are viewing it,” Patton said, noting that the teacher’s Facebook page also contained numerous Bible passages.

Mihet said he was livid.

“These are not fringe ideas that Mr. Buell espoused on his personal Facebook page,” he told Fox News Radio. “They are mainstream textbook opposition to homosexual unions – and now he’s been deemed unfit to teach children because he opposes gay marriage? My goodness.” Buell believes the school system is trying to send a message to Christian teachers.

“There is an intimidation factor if you are a Christian or if you make a statement against it (gay marriage) you are a bigot, a homophobe, you’re a creep, you’re intolerant,” he said. “We should have the right to express our opinions and talk about things.”

But some legal experts believe that school teachers could be held to a different standard when it comes to using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s a little bit more complicated with a school teacher,” said Brad Jacob, a law professor at Regent University. “The first question you have to ask, did this context communicate that the teacher was speaking on behalf of the government?”

But what about on social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter? “School teachers generally have free speech rights, and the government may not censor the private speech on public school teachers,” he said.

However, if Buell had communicated his opinion on gay marriage in the classroom, Jacob said the teacher would have been on shaky legal ground. “If he communicated those views in the classroom, I think the state could have grounds to punish or fire him,” he said.

Ironically, many public school teachers provide pro-gay comments in the classroom all the time. In fact, the gay lifestyle has been mainstreamed in many of the school textbooks, especially sex education. Parents were never asked about making this change, and their complaints after the fact fell on deaf ears.

Reaction in Central Florida has been mixed, but most seem to support Buell.

Michael Slaymaker, president of the Orlando Youth Alliance, told the newspaper that gay students might feel uncomfortable in Buell’s class.

“I would hope a teacher would be there to help them and not hurt them,” he told the Orlando Sentinel.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people have joined at least two Facebook groups calling for the school system to reinstate the popular teacher. “He’s developed a reputation as being one of the most caring teachers in the school,” Mihet said.

Buell said the most disappointing part of the investigation is that he may not be in his classroom on Monday – the first day of the school year.

“This is the place where you will receive the most respect out of any place you’ll be all day. I love my kids. I take my job very seriously.” See Chick's HOME ALONE.

Obama Honors Gay Illegal's Marriage

The Obama administration has dropped its deportation case against Alex Benshimol, a 47-year-old Venezuelan man who is married to an American citizen, Doug Gentry.

Though Benshimol and Gentry were legally married in Massachusetts in 2008, the Defense of Marriage Act prevents Gentry from sponsoring Benshimol for a green card. The federal government launched a deportation case against Benshimol after he overstayed his visa.

"The constant fear of exile or separation is over, and for that we're very grateful," the couple said in a statement.
Immigration judge Marilyn Teeter ruled in July that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had 60 days to pursue the deportation or drop it. The judge gave Benshimol a two-year stay on his deportation even if immigration officials decided they wanted to pursue the case, citing a June memo from immigration chief John Morton that said the agency should use "prosecutorial discretion" to focus on deporting criminals.

Immigration officials decided Friday to drop the case.

This is the second time the Obama Administration has used discretion to avoid separating a same-sex married couple, according to Benshimol's lawyer, Lavi Soloway. The first was in June. Soloway said in a statement that he's "cautiously optimistic" about the news that the government will review all 300,000 deportation cases to stop prosecutions against illegal immigrants. The agency said it will try not to separate families, including gay and transgender families. See Chick's SIN CITY.

Less Educated Attend Church Less

The belief that most people find refuge in religion in
tough times is being contested by a study released
Sunday showing that less-educated Americans are staying
away from the church in large numbers.

The paper says while religious service attendance has
decreased for all white Americans since the early 1970s,
the rate of decline has been more than twice as high for
those without college degrees compared to college
graduates.

The study focuses on whites because attendance rates at
religious services among minority groups such as blacks
and Latinos is less likely to be linked to education and
income.

"Our study suggests that the less educated are dropping
out of the American religious sector, similarly to the
way in which they have dropped out of the American
labour market," said lead researcher W. Bradford Wilcox,
a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia.

Using decades of data from the General Social Survey and
the National Survey of Family Growth, the study found
that whites who have a high school degree but who did
not graduate from a four-year college attended religious
services in the 1970s at about the same rate as those
who graduated from college.

"The least educated have been consistently less
religiously engaged than even the moderately educated,
meaning the gap between the least educated and most
educated is even larger than the one between the
moderately educated and most educated," Wilcox said.

Wilcox views this trend as troubling because religious
institutions typically provide their members with
benefits such as improved physical and psychological
health, social networks, and civic skills that may be
particularly important for the less educated.

"While we recognize that not everyone wishes to worship,
and that religious diversity can be valuable, we also
think that the existence of a large group of less
educated Americans that is increasingly disconnected
from religious institutions is troubling for our
society," said Andrew Cherlin, co-author of the study
and a professor of sociology and public policy at the
Johns Hopkins University. "It reinforces the social
marginalization of less educated Americans who are also
increasingly disconnected from the institutions of
marriage and work."

See Chick's THE GREAT ONE.

Lesbo Country Singer Weds

Country singer Chely Wright married her gay-activist partner in NYC.

Following a highly public four-month engagement, the openly gay country singer tied the knot today in Connecticut, saying "I do" to GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) activist Lauren Blitzer.

Throughout Friday, the eve of her big day, Chely took to Twitter to thank fans for their support. She also posted a picture of a Scrabble-style rug Lauren's aunt Debbie had made for the couple as a wedding gift. Words spelled out across the fuzzy board include "Connecticut," "authors," "music" and "marriage."

Chely is a Christian vegetarian from Kansas, while Lauren is a Jewish meat eater from New York City.

Obama Allows Amnesty To Illegals Through "Back Door"

White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Cecilia Munoz announced a change to the Department of Homeland Security's deportation policy. Going forward, DHS will review deportation cases on a case-by-case basis and focus future deportations only on criminal illegal aliens, allowing non-criminal illegal aliens to stay in the country.

Making matters worse, the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that illegal aliens who receive deferred action or parole from deportation can apply for work permits allowing them to compete with 22 million Americans looking for full-time work. That's 300,000 illegal aliens who could potentially receive work permits!

So, while Pres. Obama spent much of the week on a bus tour promoting a future plan to get unemployed Americans back to work, his Administration was working behind the scenes to help illegal aliens become eligible for jobs in the United States.

With millions of Americans looking for work, and 7 million illegal aliens already holding non-agricultural jobs, Washington needs to find ways to get unemployed Americans back to work, and not find ways to add more competition to the labor market.

See Chick's TINY SHOES.

New Noah's Ark Built

Building has commenced to construct a true-to-live Noah's Ark on 800 acres of
park in northern Kentucky, reports have said.

Spearheaded by Answers in Genesis ministries, a Christian ministry devoted to a
literal telling of the Old Testament, the ark is planned to stand 500 feet long,
80 feet wide and 45 feet tall and will be the centerpiece of a faith-themed,
theme park called Ark Encounter.

Project manager Mike Zovath says the ark and theme park are being built in order
solidify the authority of the Bible.

“The message here is, God’s word is true,” he said. “There’s a lot of doubt:
‘Could Noah have built a boat this big, could he have put all the animals on the
boat?’ Those are questions people all over the country ask.”

Answers in Genesis are also the group behind the Creation Museum, a
controversial public attraction, which goes against the grain of conventional
science museums and presents the Bible as a historical timeline, beginning 6,000
years ago.

Instead of attempting to discredit evolution and promote creationism, the theme
park aims to allow visitors to experience the ark and the time in which it was
constructed.

“When you get to walk through the boat and see how big this thing really was,
and how many cages were there, and how much room there was for food and water
... our hope is people start seeing that this is plausible, that the account
could be believed,” Zovath said.

Among many attractions, the park will feature a replica of the Tower of Babel
and an old world-style village as can be found in the Old Testament.

In May, Ark Encounter LLC announced that they had raised $3 million towards the
construction of the ark and theme park. Donations are still being accepted and
anyone wanting to participate can donate $100 for a peg, $1,000 for a plank, or
$5,000 for a beam toward construction of the ark.

Answers in Genesis projects that the park, estimated to open in April 2014, will
be a great source of revenue for the state of Kentucky, creating 900 jobs and
bringing $119 million into the state over the course of 10 years, according to a
study done by Hunden Strategic Partners. The park is estimated to attract 1.2
million visitors in the first year alone.

However, those opposed to the ark and park believe it is simply a ploy to trick
people into believing in creationism.

“Many think that since creationism is so irrational and so unscientific that
nobody really could believe it, but that’s not so,” said Edwin Kagin, a lawyer
in northern Kentucky who is president of a nationwide atheist group. The new
park will be “so slick and so well done, you can get people to believe in
anything. Creationism, when you’re ready to believe anything.”

See Chick's IN THE BEGINNING.

Rabbi Marries Gay Jews

Six years ago, Areleh Harel, an Orthodox rabbi from the West Bank, devised a
plan to help an Orthodox Jewish gay man fulfill his dream of becoming a husband
and father while keeping him in good standing with Jewish law and his community
of believers. The solution: marry him to a lesbian.

Through a friend, Harel found an Orthodox lesbian who also wanted a traditional
family. Within a year, the couple married. They now have two children. No one
suspects they are gay. Since that first arrangement, Harel has matched 13
gay-lesbian couples. (See why gay marriage still isn't marriage for the
religious.)

Until this spring, only a handful of people knew of his matchmaking project.
Then Harel mentioned it during a panel discussion in Jerusalem on gay rights. A
local reporter wrote about it, and the news went viral.

Many gay leaders criticized the marriages, calling them deceitful and
repressive. But several prominent rabbis supported Harel, calling his work a
mitzvah, or good deed. As the news spread, Harel's phone began ringing. Orthodox
gay men were calling to ask: Could this be right for me?

Harel, 37, says the number of gay people seeking these matches sparked his
decision to take his project to the next level — the Internet. By September, he
plans to unveil an online matchmaking service for Orthodox gay people. "This is
the best solution we can offer people who want to live within the halacha
[Jewish law]," Harel says. "This may not be a perfect solution, but it's kind of
a solution." (See pictures of same-sex couples getting married in New York.)

The matchmaking project comes at a time when Orthodox gay and lesbian groups are
pressuring rabbis for acceptance. Prior to 2007, there were no Orthodox gay
organizations in Israel. Now there are five, including one based in Jerusalem.
In many ways, Israel is ground zero for gay rights for Orthodox Jewish people.
Advocates say that if rabbis in the Holy Land become more accepting of gay
people, that tolerance will reverberate outward into Orthodox communities
throughout the world, which often take their cues from Israel.

The online matchmaking service will be fully operational by the end of the year,
Harel says. He's in the process of training five matchmakers, all of whom are
heterosexual. Harel will stay on as a consultant but will limit his involvement
to spend more time with his wife and four children. Harel is working with a
closeted gay man who uses the pseudonym Amit and runs an Orthodox-gay
organization called Kamoha, which is Hebrew for "Like us." Their plan is to set
up the online service through Kamoha's website. Subscribers would pay a fee of
about $42 and fill out a survey explaining what they want in a mate. A
matchmaker would then arrange meetings between potential couples. If a match is
made, the bride and groom would each pay 1,500 shekels ($430). Harel and Amit
plan to call the service Anachnu, Hebrew for "We."

Amit, who is 28, has no interest in marrying a lesbian. He says that after years
of therapy, he has come to realize he is "100% gay." But he says he knows other
gay men who are "less gay" and enjoy sex with a woman. "We're not pushing this
on people," says Amit. "This is for people who want this because Jewish law says
this is the normal way and because it's the easiest way to have children."

See a timeline of the fight for gay rights around the world.

But other religious gays say it's an unhealthy way to live. "I am not the one to
judge, but if you ask me what a family is, it's about caring, loving and
sharing," says Daniel Jonas, a gay Orthodox man who lives in Jerusalem and is
the spokesman for an Orthodox-gay organization called Havruta. "This kind of
technical relationship, it is not based on love, and I do believe that if the
parents don't love each other, the kids will feel it. It's not healthy for the
kids or for their parents to live like this."

The condemnation of homosexuality in Orthodox communities in Israel has
historically been so strong that many gay Orthodox Jews have felt they had two
choices: remain in the closet or stop being religious. That mind-set has changed
in recent years as leaders of Jewish Queer Youth, an "Ortho-gay" organization
based in Manhattan, began connecting with burgeoning gay-rights groups in
Israel, offering support and advice. ("Is Israel Using Gay Rights to Excuse Its
Policy on Palestinians?")

Orthodox rabbis continue to point to Leviticus 18: 22 as proof that God does not
accept homosexuality. The verse reads, "You shall not lie with a male as one
lies with a woman; it is an abomination." Harel concurs, saying, "You can't
change the laws of the Torah. This is what God wants. If God wanted gay people
to live together, he would come down and tell us."

In May, as part of a fellowship sponsored by the International Center for
Journalists, this reporter found herself sitting in a car on a lonely road at 2
a.m. with Harel, waiting to meet one of the gay men he had matched with a
lesbian. Harel received a text message. The man was ready. Harel pulled the car
up to a man standing with his thumb out, as if he were hitchhiking. The man
climbed inside and said he wanted to go by the name "Josh."

Josh, 30, was a rugged man with close-cropped hair. He wore a crocheted yarmulke
— the kind Orthodox Zionists wear. We drove to a desolate park. Josh was
hesitant at first, but once he started to talk, he opened up about what he
called his lifelong struggle with homosexuality. He said he spent most of his
20s trying to force himself to be straight, but it didn't work. He'd have
girlfriends as a front, while engaging in trysts with men. "I had a crisis with
God," Josh said. "I felt like God screwed me." Josh desperately wanted to have a
family and "feel like a normal man." Through an Internet chat group for gay men,
he heard about Harel. (Watch TIME's video of gay couples getting married in the
Heartland.)

In 2008, Harel introduced Josh to an Orthodox lesbian. Six months later, they
married. They now have an 11-month-old son. Josh admits to cheating three times,
most recently in February with a former gay lover who is married to a straight
woman. "I haven't told my wife, but I think she knows. She can see it in my face
when I come home," Josh said. "But she gives me space. I really love her because
she understands me."

Harel says he raises the question of infidelity when he's making a match and
tells couples they should be clear on what they want. "If he will go with
another man, it's his business. If she wants to go with another woman, that's
her business. It's up to each couple," Harel says. "I don't accept it from the
point of view of the Jewish law. But it's not my business." See Chicks WHERE'S RABBIE WAXMAN.

"Racial Bias Attack" Revealed As Hoax

MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- A Pakistani-American man whose wife was gunned down while they and their son strolled a quiet suburban street plotted the killing with another woman and told police his family had been attacked by a group of men who called them terrorists, authorities said Friday.

Kashif Parvaiz, 26, suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the shooting in Boonton, N.J., that killed his 27-year-old wife, Nazish Noorani. They were walking with their 3-year-old son to a relative's house when shots rang out Tuesday night. The boy was unharmed.

Parvaiz and 26-year-old Antoinette Stephen, of Billerica, Mass., both face charges of murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses. He also faces child-endangerment charges.

According to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, Parvaiz' initial accounts of the attack were inconsistent and immediately raised suspicions.

Parvaiz had told investigators the couple was attacked by a different combination of black and white males who shouted ethnic slurs at the Pakistani couple, authorities said. In his initial story, the group shouted something about the family being "terrorists," authorities said.

Bianchi said investigators were deeply concerned when Parvaiz suggested it was a bias crime, but within hours "it was obvious to investigators that this was sadly the alleged handy work of the victim's husband who allegedly did the unthinkable and plotted to murder his wife." See Chick's WHO CARES?

Sesame Street to Become Tenderloin?

Although Sesame Street's creators have never said that the two characters are gay, some viewers have long speculated that roommates Bert and Ernie are more than just friends.

Ae petition, started by Illinois gay activist resident Lair Scott, was prompted by the changing tide in the U.S.: In June, New York became the sixth — and largest — state to legalize same-sex marriage. Or maybe people just want Sesame Street to continue with its progressive message that has seen the show deal with sensitive topics of race, death and self-acceptance. Some people might think that if Archie Comics can introduce its first gay character, then Sesame Street, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009, should certainly let its two "gayest" characters marry.

Opponents of the petition say that having Bert and Ernie marry all of a sudden could confuse children who may never have even caught on to the rumors. Would children then think that men who live together must be gay? Other critics say the move would be too political for a children's program, because these are in fact Muppets we're talking about — none of which are married or even in romantic relationships. The show is after all supposed to be about ABCs and 123s. But in the past Sesame Street has introduced a Latina Muppet as well as an HIV-positive Muppet, so producers have already exploited (and some say promoted) cultural shifts.

Scott, the petition creator, believes that allowing the characters to marry or introducing a transgender character could help bullied and struggling LGBT kids "know that they ARE BEAUTIFUL and their lives are worth living." So far, more than 700 other people agree. See Chick's TRUST ME.


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/08/10/petition-calls-for-sesame-streets-bert-and-ernie-to-be-married/#ixzz1UdOUyIXx

Jeffs Get's Life

SA jury sentenced polygamist leader and sex addict Warren Jeffs,
who heads a breakaway Mormon sect, to over a century in prison on Tuesday for
sexually assaulting two underage girls he wed as "spiritual" brides.

The Texas jury of 10 women and two men handed down the maximum sentence allowed
after less than an hour of deliberations. Jeffs was given a life sentence, or 99
years, for one charge and 20 years for a second.

Jeffs, 55, was convicted last week of aggravated sexual assault of a child and
sexual assault of a child in connection with his relationship to two girls he
"married" when they were 12 and 14 years old at the sect's Texas ranch.

Jeffs fathered a child with the older girl.

"Warren Jeffs made himself into something that harms each and every person he
touches," Assistant Texas Attorney General Eric Nichols told the jury during
closing arguments.

Nichols said Jeffs, considered the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had abused his position "to victimize
children, to break up families and to satisfy his own personal appetites and
desires".

Jeffs, who represented himself at trial, had argued in loud outbursts that the
Texas court was trampling on his religious rights by trying the case.

His polygamist sect, which experts estimate has 10,000 followers in North
America, has been condemned by the mainstream Mormon Church and is accused of
promoting marriages between older men and girls.

"Mr. Jeffs had his big house, where he chose to warehouse hundreds of girls and
women for his sexual gratification. The state of Texas has a big house too, and
that is where Warren Jeffs should spend the rest of his days," Nichols said.

GROUNDS FOR APPEAL

Jeffs, who allowed lawyers to represent him during the sentencing phase, had
instructed his attorneys to refrain from making closing arguments on his behalf,
though he did make a written request for probation.

Defense attorneys said after the sentencing that they would not be handling
Jeffs' appeal, but that there were legitimate grounds for one, including that
evidence in the case had been gathered during a 2008 raid based on a false abuse
report.

Asked what he would have done differently had Jeffs allowed lawyers to represent
him at trial, on-again-off-again defense attorney Deric Walpole simply said:
"Lots."

The sentencing came a day after Jeffs was heard on audio recordings telling
groups of young teen girls that they would be "rejected by God" if they refused
his sexual advances.

Jeffs' conviction stems from a highly publicized raid on the sect's Yearning For
Zion compound in Eldorado, Texas, in which authorities took temporary custody of
some 400 children. They later returned them to their families after an
investigation and DNA tests.

Some legal experts have said that because the raid was triggered by a false
report, the evidence gathered there could be disallowed.

But Judge Barbara Walther, who has presided over the case in her San Angelo
courtroom since the raid, allowed evidence prosecutors said proved Jeffs abused
his position in power to have sex with girls as young as 12.

A dozen defendants connected to the YFZ Ranch have been indicted on sexual
assault of a child, bigamy or other charges, according to Texas Attorney General
Greg Abbott's office.

Eight have been convicted on felony charges, and the others are awaiting trial,
the Attorney General's office said. See Chick's THE FRAME UP.

Jeff's Accused of Homosexual Rape, Too

Convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs ruled with a heavy and abusive hand, several former followers testified Saturday, recounting how the man they once revered as a prophet banned parades, Sports Illustrated magazine and even the color red upon rising to power.

The second day of Jeffs' sentencing hearing later ended with a woman, now 28, tearfully alleging that Jeffs also sexually abused her as a young girl. Charges were never filed in that alleged incident. Three jurors cried during the woman's testimony, and state District Judge Barbara Walthers adjourned court until Monday.

The same jury convicted Jeffs on Thursday on charges of sexually assaulting two underage girls he had taken as brides in Texas. He faces up to life in prison, and jurors are likely to decide his punishment early next week.

For the second straight day, Jeffs wasn't in court. He walked out in protest Friday and has continued boycotting the proceedings, choosing instead to remain in another room of the courthouse.

Jeffs, 55, is the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. More than 10,000 followers consider him God's spokesman on Earth.

One of them was Ezra Draper, who testified that FLDS men began taking brides younger and younger after Jeffs took over the polygamous group in 2002.


"You could see which girls were with which fellas. It would repeat itself week after week," said Draper, who left the church in 2003. "Then they were with child."

Prosecutors have tried showing in the sentencing phase that Jeffs ruled the FLDS with a far heavier and crueler hand than his father, who Jeffs succeeded. Draper testified that while Rulon Jeffs allowed fun activities such as parades and dances, his son abruptly put a stop to it in the community.

Draper said Jeffs threw out copies of Sports Illustrated and Car and Driver found in the boys' bedrooms. Books that featured talking animals were banned because Jeffs considered it teaching lies. Even the color red became prohibited, Draper said.

Jeffs also kept meticulous records – as jurors found out during the conviction phase of the trial. One of the most uncomfortable pieces of evidence so far has been an audiotape of what prosecutors said was Jeffs sexually assaulting one of his victims when she was 12.

On Saturday, prosecutors again dipped into a trove of Jeffs' records seized from a 2008 police raid on a remote FLDS ranch in West Texas. This time it was lengthy instructions on building a bed in the all-white, top-floor room in the ranch's temple. The instructions allegedly written by Jeffs were exact: 5-inch thick table legs, and padded sides on the bed while "the Lord does his work with me."

Jurors were shown the typed notes shortly after a nephew of Jeffs testified that his uncle sodomized him when he was 5 years old. Brent Jeffs, now 28, said Warren Jeffs told him during the alleged assault that "this is God's work." Jeffs was never charged with sexually assaulting his nephew.

The Associated Press typically does not name alleged sexual assault victims, but Brent Jeffs went public with his allegations including filing a civil lawsuit against his uncle in 2003. Brent Jeffs said the suit was settled in a deal that included him getting some land.

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Jeffs fathered a child with one victim when she was 15.

Jeffs represented himself during the trial, routinely interrupting the proceedings and choosing to stand silently in front of jurors for nearly a half-hour during his closing arguments. His absence from the sentencing phase since Friday made for a more typical trial atmosphere.

Walther ordered Jeffs' stand-by counsel to represent him. But having been sidelined by Jeffs for the last two weeks, attorney Deric Walpole struggled Saturday to keep up with witnesses and evidence, some of which he was seeing for the first time.

At one point Saturday, Walpole jumped from his chair to object while Draper testified. He asked Walther to have the jury leave the courtroom.

"I have no idea what that man is getting ready to say," Walpole said. His objection was overturned.

Jeffs burned through a slate of seven high-powered attorneys, including Walpole, in the six months before he decided to represent himself. Prosecutors have accused Jeffs of trying to stall the case against him.

Walpole declined to say whether he'll call witnesses during the sentencing phase. He has indicated that his plea for leniency will focus on Jeffs being a product of his environment and a culture that hasn't changed for centuries. See Chick's BUSTED.

Israel President Sentenced for Rape and Sexual Harassment

Former President Moshe Katsav was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years in jail for rape, a case that brought shame to Israel's highest office and sent a firm message to a transfixed public that no one was above the law.

Katsav had denied charges he twice raped an aide when he was a cabinet minister in the late 1990s, and molested or sexually harassed two other women who worked for him during his 2000-2007 term as president.

But a three-judge panel said on convicting him in December -- on what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "a sad day for Israel and its residents" -- that his testimony had been "riddled with lies."

"When a woman says no, she means no," the panel said in its ruling.

Katsav, 65, was also convicted of obstructing justice, for trying to confer with one complainant about her testimony to police. Netanyahu said at the time the verdict showed that "all are equal before the law."

Rape carries a minimum prison term of four years and a maximum of 16 years in Israel.

Though the scandal had forced Katsav's early retirement in disgrace, it had little impact on Israeli government functions, as the presidency is largely ceremonial.

But the allegations against the Iranian-born Katsav, whose rise from the slums once served as a shining example for disadvantaged Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, stirred deep emotions in Israel, where the elite has traditionally been of European descent.

The verdict was dubbed an "earthquake" by one Israeli newspaper and welcomed by women's groups that have long complained of lax attitudes to sexual harassment in workplaces.

In the early 1990s, US President Bill Clinton faced similar charges for sexual harassment, and the following investigation unearthed allegations of assault and sexual battery of other women. He later admitted to perjury (a felony), but was given a pass on jail and permitted to serve out the rest of his term. See Chick's THE ROYAL AFFAIR.

Jeff's Dark Background Read For Sentencing

Life took a dramatically dark turn for the FLDS polygamous
sect after Warren Jeffs took control, a former member testified Saturday during
the penalty phase of the convicted child-bride rapist’s trial.

"The festivals, the parades, it all came to an end," Ezra Draper told a Texas
District Court jury. "Movies were banned."

The jury is considering whether Jeffs, 55, should spent up to life in prison.
The panel had convicted Jeffs on Thursday of one count of aggravated sexual
abuse of a child and one count of sexual abuse of a child. Prosecutors were
introducing evidence of so-called other "bad acts" committed by Jeffs since at
least 1989.

Among those "acts" are the moves Jeffs’ ordered to impose strict rules on his
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ followers and his
expulsions of any men who disobeyed them.

Jeffs officially became president and prophet of the FLDS after his father Rulon
Jeffs’ death in 2002. Draper left the FLDS in 2003, but continues to live in
Hildale, Utah, which along with its sister town of Colorado City, Ariz.,
comprises the primary FLDS community.

Rulon Jeffs was an agreeable, open man, Draper testified. But when Rulon Jeffs’
health began deteriorating in the early 1990’s, he began delegating more
authority to Warren Jeffs, and the younger Jeffs took his own dictatorial
initiatives, in his father’s name.

Among the changes was ending the annual Pioneer Day parade in Hildale and
Colorado City as well as ending the towns fall harvest festival, Draper said.
Warren Jeffs also ordered televisions removed from homes, forbade people from
installing Internet connections and even prohibited magazines as benign as
"Motor Trend," Draper testified.

Texas courts are not normally open on weekends, but District Court Judge Barbara
Walther decided to hold court Saturday. The Jeffs trial has already completed 10
days, and the prosecutors still have evidence to present at sentencing. Then it
will be the defense team’s turn to present.

Jeffs was not in the courtroom Saturday. On Friday, he told Walther he did not
want to be present for the proceedings and did not want an attorney to represent
him. Walther allowed Jeffs’ absence but said Texas court rules do not allow a
defendant to be unrepresented.

Jeffs had been acting as his own attorney but his standby lawyers assumed his
place Friday. See Chick's LISA.

Mormon Underaged Sex Sect Leader Convicted

A Texas jury convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs of child sexual assault Thursday in a case stemming from two young followers he took as brides in what his church calls "spiritual marriages."

The 55-year-old head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stood stone-faced as the verdict was read.

Jeffs, who acted as his own attorney, faces up to life in prison. The jury went immediately into sentencing proceedings. They had deliberated on a verdict for more than three hours.

Prosecutors used DNA evidence to show Jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl and played an audio recording of what they said was him sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. They also played audio recordings in which Jeffs was heard instructing young women on how to please him sexually.

Jeffs has claimed he was the victim of religious persecution. The FLDS, which has at least 10,000 members nationwide, is a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism. The church believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven and that Jeffs is God's spokesman on earth.

Police had raided the group's remote West Texas ranch in April 2008, finding women dressed in frontier-style dresses and hairdos from the 19th century as well as seeing underage girls who were clearly pregnant. The call to an abuse hotline that spurred the raid turned out to be a hoax, and more than 400 children who had been placed in protective custody were eventually returned to their families.

But authorities brought charges against several men from the group, with Jeffs by far the highest-profile defendant.


Jeffs stood mute and expressionless, staring at the floor, for all but a few seconds of the half hour he was allotted for a closing argument on Thursday. At one point he mumbled, "I am peace," and said no more.

The only noise in the courtroom was the creaking of wooden benches brimming with spectators.

Prosecutors said the case had nothing to do with his church or his beliefs.

"You have heard the defendant make repeated arguments about religious freedoms," said lead prosecutor Eric Nichols. "Make no mistake, this case is not about any people, this case is not about any religion. It is about one individual, Warren Steed Jeffs, and his actions."

Prosecutors relied heavily on information found during the raid on the compound and after a traffic stop in Nevada in 2006, when Jeffs was arrested. Much of the material was discovered in a vault at the end of a secret passageway in the temple and another vault in an annex building.

"You might have asked yourselves," Nichols said, "a lot of people may ask, why would someone record sex? ... This individual considers himself to be the prophet. Everything he did, hour after hour, he was required to keep a record of that."

On one of the tapes played at the trial, Jeffs made a reference to "drawing close" or "being close," which authorities testified is how church members refer to sex. Two female voices said "OK."

"A good wife is trained for her husband and follows the spirit of peace," Jeffs was heard saying.

Another audio tape included Jeffs and the younger girl from a recording made in August 2006 at the Texas compound, according to testimony from Nick Hanna, a Texas Ranger involved in the 2008 raid.

Played in court, it was difficult to decipher, but Jeffs' and a female voice are heard. He says, "I perform this service in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," then mentions the alleged victim by name. When she says something, he responds, "don't talk while praying." Several minutes of heavy breathing followed.

The jury wore headphones to better hear the recording and also followed a transcript. One female juror covered her face with her hand as she listened.

Jeffs represented himself after firing seven attorneys in the six months leading to the trial. He broke his courtroom silence with an objection marked by a nearly hourlong speech defending polygamy, and twice threatened the judge and the court with warnings of punishment from God.

He refused to cross-examine the state's witnesses, and delayed giving an opening statement until he began presenting his own defense. In that statement, he evoked images of the civil rights movement and mentioned former Mormon leader Joseph Smith Jr. He also asked the jury to remember constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.

The lone defense witness Jeffs called, church elder JD Roundy, spent about 10 minutes on the stand Thursday discussing FLDS history after 4½ hours of testimony Wednesday evening.

Jeffs failed three times to remove state District Judge Barbara Walther from the case, the last rejection coming even without a hearing. He claimed Walther was biased because she issued the warrant for the original raid and was frequently updated as it progressed.

Eleven other FLDS men were charged with crimes including sexual assault and bigamy. All seven of those who have been prosecuted were convicted, receiving prison sentences of between six and 75 years. See Chick's TRUST ME.

Mormon Molester Objects To Sex Tapes At Trial

Prosecutors played two audio recordings Tuesday of a polygamist sect leader instructing his 14-year-old "spiritual wife" and several other young women on how to please him sexually, and thus win favor with God.

Warren Jeffs, 55, is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. He is accused of sexually assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15, he took as brides in what his church calls "spiritual marriages."

A forensic analyst testified Monday that Jeffs was the father of the 15-year-old's child. On Tuesday, prosecutors played a tape of Jeffs talking to the girl when she was 14, after Texas Ranger Nick Hanna testified about documents and electronic files seized during a 2008 police raid at the church's remote compound in West Texas.

The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual crimes.

Among the materials recovered during the raid was a record of Jeffs' marriage "for time and all eternity" with the 14-year-old in January 2004. An excerpt from hundreds of pages of Jeffs' personal journals said the child was "pure and innocent and willing to obey" and that he summoned her parents and "informed them of their girl belonging to me."

Followers see Jeffs as a prophet who is God's spokesman on earth.

Hanna read from Jeffs' journals, which said he took the 14-year-old the night after their wedding with him and another of his new wives on a car ride for "training." There, he instructed them on their responsibilities as his wives and had the session taped. The recording was transcribed and placed in church records later seized by police.

Lead prosecutor Eric Nichols played the tape for jurors, who followed along using transcripts.

"A good wife is trained for her husband and follows the spirit of peace," Jeffs is heard saying. He also makes reference to "drawing close" or "being close," which is how church members refer to sex. Two female voices say "OK."


In describing the session in his journal later, Jeffs said he told his wives they were "honorable vessels, property of your husband's kingdom and the Kingdom of God on Earth."

Jeffs has represented himself since firing his high-powered attorneys last week. He objected half a dozen times to the tape being played, arguing that the training session was protected by religious privacy rights. State District Judge Barbara Walther overruled him.

Later, Nichols played a 58-minute clip of another so-called training session from December 2004, this one involving what he described as 12 "young" ladies, including the one from the first recording.

Jeffs stood up and talked over it, rambling about how a holy trust was being broken. "I am but a mortal man seeking peace," he said. "I am not a threat to anyone. My faith is my only weapon."

Nichols said Jeffs was interrupting too much and shouldn't be allowed to represent himself. Walther let Jeffs continue.

"Mr. Jeffs, I do not want you to be removed from this courtroom," the judge said. "But you are jeopardizing your right to represent yourself with your continued behavior."

Jeffs has asked three times for Walther's removal from the case, but his latest request was turned down by a regional administrative judge Tuesday.

As the tape continued to play, Jeffs again repeatedly objected. But the judge, jury and prosecutors were wearing headphones to hear the recording, and ignored him. He remained standing long after falling silent.

On the recording, Jeffs was heard saying, "you have to know how to excite sexually and be excited. You have to be able to assist each other." At another point, quoting God, he says, "Each one who touches me and assists each other will have my holy gift."

Jeffs also was heard telling the girls to shower and wear white robes when they come to him, and gave them instructions on shaving their pubic hair. At the end, he softly sings the "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" refrain.

Prosecutors have promised to play still another recording – this one of Jeffs having sex with the 12 year old girl – before resting their case.

Before playing the other recordings, Hanna read excerpts of Jeffs' journal where he described the Lord ordering him to visit Eldorado, Texas, about 45 miles south of San Angelo, and the church purchasing 1,700 acres of land outside the town for $1.2 million in 2003.

"This will only be a place of refuge if it is kept sacred and secret," Jeffs wrote, adding that his followers should populate the area and let "a community grow here more in hiding before the neighbors find out."

He told the faithful they could build anything they wanted, thanks to Texas' lax zoning laws, and construction teams working around-the-clock erected more than a dozen buildings, including a sprawling, white-limestone temple.

Texas authorities raided the compound in April 2008 after receiving a call to an abuse hotline that turned out to be a hoax. More than 400 FLDS children who were placed in protective custody were eventually returned to their families.

But police saw underage girls who were clearly pregnant and found Jeffs' journals and the other documents in a vault at the end of a secret passageway in the temple. Another vault in an annex building provided still more records and files.

Jeffs and 11 other FLDS men were charged with crimes including sexual assault and bigamy. So far, all seven who have been prosecuted have been convicted – receiving prison sentences of between six and 75 years. See Chick's THE VISITORS.