You have got to be kidding: FEMA sends unsafe trailers to Greensburg, Kansas

By Diane Silver

Unfortunately, this is not a joke. FEMA has provided the residents of devastated Greensburg, Kansas, with trailers contaminated with unsafe levels of formaldehyde.

Even more amazing is FEMA's solution. FEMA's fix? Keep the windows open.

I wish I could say I'm making this up.

Don't drive to Greensburg, Kansas, to help

By Diane Silver

Officials south of me in Greensburg are happy with all the help they're getting, but they're advising people not to drive to the Kansas town devastated last week by a tornado.

State officials are also asking people NOT to send food or clothing.

Iraq: "A war of imperial conquest gone bad"

By Diane Silver

Former Los Angeles Times Baghdad Bureau Chief Borzou Daragahi says he doubts the surge will work. His comments in an upcoming C-Span interview paint a portrait of a disastrous war.

(W)hat it’s turned into in the eyes of many people in the Middle East is a war of imperial conquest gone bad, done poorly. At least the Romans granted their captives citizenship and brought them into the fold and brought stability to the lands that they conquered.

And I think, in the Arab world – and this is a really disastrous thing, they basically view this is as, you know, the Americans came in and they destroyed an Arab country. And I don’t think they’ll ever forgive us for that...

Iraqis are rather hostile and feel humiliated. And that's the key thing that maybe some of our policymakers don't understand. The presence of the U.S. soldiers is very humiliating to the Iraqis. "

Once again: Think about how you would feel if a foreign country invaded the United States and occupied, oh, say Kansas or New York of Ohio for four years. Would you want to be occupied?

Just the Facts: Domestic partner registries stretch across U.S. & present few problems

By Diane Silver

As Lawrence, Kansas, gets ready to consider a domestic partner registry on May 22, this Just the Facts post will look at how registries have worked in other places.

As of this writing, 72 governments in the United States provide domestic partner registries, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s online database. These include four states – Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii and California. The 68 cities and counties with registries range in population from 13,300 (Tumwater, Washington) to 9.9 million (Los Angeles County, California). Kansas City, Missouri, also offers a registry.

Many universities towns provide registries, including those that are home to the:

• University of Iowa
• University of Texas, Austin
• University of Colorado
• University of Georgia
• University of Illinois
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• University of Minnesota
• University of Oregon
• University of Wisconsin
  
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• UCLA
• USC
• CalTech
• Pepperdine University
• Harvard University (instituted before same-sex marriage was legal in Massachusetts.)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (again, instituted before same-sex marriage was legal in the state.)

Although the details of registries vary, in the day-to-day world of local governments, they work as just one more service provided to city residents, said city clerks from registry towns.

The Experience of Iowa City
As the site of the University of Iowa and a Midwestern town, Iowa City may be the closet match to Lawrence among the cities and counties with registries.

Iowa City has a population of about 62,900. Lawrence’s population is about 82,000. The University of Iowa enrolls about 29,000 students. The University of Kansas enrolls approximately the same number.

The home of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa City’s experience with its registry has been a happy one, city officials said in telephone interviews this week with In This Moment.

The Iowa City registry has:

• Been in effect for nearly 13 years
• Never resulted in a lawsuit against Iowa City (Source: City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes)
• Paid for itself through a $30 fee (Source: Iowa City Clerk Marion Karr)

“It’s working very well,” Karr said. “We haven’t had any problems whatsoever with it.”

Karr stressed that no taxpayer money is used to pay for the registry.

“I am aware that often it is used as proof of relationship for insurance purposes,” Karr said. “We simply acknowledge the relationship. It becomes a public record, and we give them (the people who register) a certificate.”

Dilkes said that she did not believe the city would be liable even if a couple misrepresented themselves on the registry.

“There might be ramifications for the individual,” Dilkes said. “It’s hard to see how the city would be liable.”

Here are details of how the Iowa City registry works.

The Issue of Lawsuits
Although some suits have been filed about the constitutionality of domestic partner registries, It is hard to find reports of lawsuits being filed for other reasons.

“I have never heard of any lawsuits against any municipality based on someone making fraudulent claims based on a registry,” said Rose Saxe, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT and AIDS Project.

Cities that provides registries are in a similar legal position as states when they certify marriages, she said.

“States don't get sued when people enter into fraudulent marriages,” Saxe said.

How Domestic Partner Registries Are Used
Often businesses use registries as proof for employer benefits, the ACLU's Saxe said. Even if this is not the only kind of proof required, companies sometimes penalize employees who don't have access to registries.

For example, Motorola requires a six-month waiting period for employees who aren't registered as domestic partners. Other companies require affidavits and other extensive paperwork as proof of a domestic partnership.

More companies are offering domestic partner benefits every year. The Human Rights Foundation reported in its 2006 Corporate Equality Index that more than half of Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner health benefits to their employees. Many companies also include domestic partners in benefits such as dental, vision and COBRA continuation coverage. Other companies are making domestic partners eligible for family and medial leave, bereavement leave, retirement benefits and employee discounts. The foundation reports:

The company policies most often extended to domestic partners include bereavement leave (71 percent of rated companies), relocation assistance (63 percent) and (Family and Medical Leave Act) FMLA-like leave (60 percent).

Iowa City Domestic Partner Registry

Iowa City does not post its full domestic partnership code and procedure online as many cities do. I received an email copy of the city code from City Clerk Marion Karr. Here are the relevant sections that show how the registry is administered.
--------------------

2-6-2: REQUIREMENTS AND ELIGIBILITY:
A domestic partnership shall exist between two (2) adults if all of the following are true:
(A) The persons are not related by blood closer than permitted under the marriage laws of the State.
(B) Neither person is married.
(C) The persons are competent to enter into a contract.
(D) The persons declare that they are each other's sole domestic partner.
(E) The persons declare that they are in a relationship of mutual support, caring and commitment and are responsible for each other's welfare. For these purposes, "mutual support" means that they contribute mutually to each other's maintenance and support.
(F) The persons file a statement of domestic partnership as set forth in this Chapter.
(G) The persons agree to notify the City of the termination of their domestic partnership, or a change in their employment or residence which would render them ineligible to register as domestic partners under this Chapter. (Ord. 94-3647, 11-8-94)

2-6-3: STATEMENTS OF DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP; REGISTRATION:
(A) The City Clerk shall accept an application to register as domestic partners from persons who state in such application that they meet the definition of "domestic partners" in this Chapter. The City Clerk shall provide forms as necessary to interested individuals.
(B) The City Clerk shall only accept applications for registration of domestic partnership from those persons:

(1) In a partnership where at least one person resides in Iowa City; or
(2) In a partnership in which at least one person is employed in Iowa City.

(C) The City Clerk shall charge an application fee as set by resolution of the City Council for the registration of a domestic partnership. The payment of this fee entitles the person filing a statement on behalf of the domestic partnership to two (2) copies of the statement certified by the City Clerk. Additional certified copies may be purchased by the person. These copies of the certified statement shall not be issued prior to the third working day after the date of application.

(D) The application and certified statement may be used as evidence of the existence of a domestic partners relationship. (Ord. 94-3647, 11-8-94)

2-6-4: TERMINATION:
(A) Either person in a domestic partnership may initiate termination of the domestic partnership by written notification to the City Clerk. The person filing the termination statement must declare that:

(1) The domestic partnership is terminated; and
(2) A copy of the termination statement has been mailed to the other domestic partner by certified mail, return receipt requested.

(B) A domestic partnership terminates when the earlier of the following occurs:

(1) One of the persons in the domestic partnership dies; or
(2) Ninety (90) days elapse after both partners file a notice of termination of domestic partnership; or
(3) Ninety (90) days elapse after one partner files a notice of termination of domestic partnership and provides the City Clerk proof that the notice of termination of partnership has been mailed to the other partner at the last known address, or that the partner cannot be located or refuses to accept the mailed notice. A properly mailed notice which is returned as refused or undeliverable shall be adequate proof.

(C) If any of the criteria under Section 2-6-2 cease to exist, the parties shall be ineligible for any benefits based upon the domestic partnership unless otherwise provided by law or the employer.

(D) When an employer permits or provides benefits to the domestic partner of an employee, the domestic partner may be eligible to continue to receive benefits for a period of sixty (60) days after the death of the employee. The employer shall give the domestic partner written notice by U.S. mail, postage prepaid, at the address provided by the employee stating whether such benefits are available to the partner. Said notice shall state the date on which group benefit coverage, if any, terminates, and shall state the right, if any, of the domestic partner to transfer benefit coverage to a nongroup plan without lapse of coverage and without providing evidence of good health.

(E) No person who has registered as a domestic partner pursuant to Section 2-6-3 of this Chapter shall be eligible to file a new application for registration as a domestic partner until ninety (90) days have elapsed after the domestic partnership has terminated. (Ord. 94-3647, 11-8-94)

2-6-5: RECORDS:
The City Clerk shall maintain records of domestic partnership statements, showing the name and address of applicants for domestic partnership, and the date of application, certification and termination of domestic partnerships. (Ord. 94-3647, 11-8-94)
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ILLUSTRATION: Map of Iowa City circa 1868.

Kansas: "To state fact is to play politics" or the truth about Greensburg, Iraq & the National Guard

The Kansas City Star's Mike Hendricks weighs in today on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' battle with the White House over National Guard preparedness.

No, to state fact is to play politics, we are told — at least when those facts embarrass the Bush administration.

Also see Hendricks take on Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback's entry into the discussion.

Kansas City's U.S. attorney makes #9 in the scandal

By Diane Silver

Kansas City's Todd Graves was pushed out for being too independent? Seems so. He was pushed out to bring in someone to try to sway the Missouri Senate race? Quite possible.

Talking Points Memo has the latest.

The New York Times editorializes:

Mr. (Brad) Schlozman’s short stint in Missouri — he left after about a year — appears to be another case of the Bush administration’s politicizing federal prosecutors’ offices. Mr. Graves was reportedly on a list to be fired, and clues are emerging about why. He said this week that when he interviewed for the job, he was asked to name one attribute that describes him. “I said independent,” he said. “Apparently, that was the wrong attribute.”

The Kansas City Star reports that concerns in Sen. Kit Bond's office about a controversial fee system may have played a role in Graves departure, but then the same article quotes Bond's office as saying, well no, those concerns had nothing to do with it. And oh yes, there was no wrongdoing, as proven by an investigation.

The Washington Post reports on why Graves firing and its timing is important.

After reviewing all of this, I have to say that my trust in the Department of Justice is certainly at an all-time low.

"Sebelius is right," & an "unmistakable emptiness" in Greensburg, Kansas

By Diane Silver

Kansas' biggest newspaper and The New York Times weighed in today on the debate over whether the National Guard is stretched too thin to adequately respond to disasters.

In an editorial, The Wichita Eagle praised the federal government for its response to the Greensburg tornado. But the newspaper also noted that the event "underscored Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' long-standing concerns about state National Guard equipment shortfalls."

The Eagle editorializes:

She and other governors have a valid concern about readiness.

Because of equipment and personnel diverted to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, "50 percent of our trucks are gone," she told NBC's "Today" show. "Our front-loaders are gone. We are missing Humvees that move people."

Sebelius raised concerns as far back as December 2005, when she wrote then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asking the Pentagon to replace National Guard equipment sent to Iraq.

She's still waiting.

The Pentagon has told Sebelius that Kansas probably will see two-thirds of its equipment and vehicles restored within six years. But 2013 seems a long time off on a weekend like the one Kansas just experienced.

As a resident of Tornado Ally with storm clouds on the horizon, I don't find it particularly comforting that Kansas won't get even two-thirds of its vehicles restored before 2013. The Eagle adds:

Sebelius is right to press for a higher level of Guard readiness on the home front.

Meanwhile, The New York Times takes a look at the National Guard shortages, including the fact that last year all 50 governors signed a letter to President Bush. The letter asked "for the immediate re-equipping of Guard units sent overseas."

For nearly two days after the storm, there was an unmistakable emptiness in Greensburg, a lack of heavy machinery and an army of responders. By Sunday afternoon, more than a day and a half after the tornado, only about half of the Guard troops who would ultimately respond were in place.

It was not until Sunday night that significant numbers of military vehicles started to arrive, many streaming in a long caravan from Wichita about 100 miles away.

...Nonetheless, the governor and officials in other states again expressed concern that the problem could occur again as the stretched National Guard system struggled to respond to disasters at home while also fighting overseas.

As State Senator Donald Betts Jr., Democrat of Wichita, put it: “We should have had National Guard troops there right after the tornado hit, securing the place, pulling up debris, to make sure that if there was still life, people could have been saved. The response time was too slow, and it’s becoming a trend. We saw this after Katrina, and it’s like history repeating itself.

------

Illustration: Yet another great Richard Crowson cartoon from The Wichita Eagle. This is just a tiny slice of a much larger cartoon.

Kansas: Lawrence City Commission to take up domestic partner registry on May 22

By Diane Silver

The Lawrence City Commission has set the date of May 22 for the next phase of the debate over the domestic partner registry.

Contact the City Commissioners to politely urge them to vote yes, and make plans to attend the meeting.

Lawrence City Commission meetings are held on Tuesday evenings at 6:35 p.m. in the City Commission Meeting Room, First Floor, City Hall, 6 East 6th Street. The meetings adjourn at 10:30 p.m. unless extended by the Commission.

Breathlessly catching up with the U.S. attorney scandal's reach into Kansas City

By Diane Silver

Good grief! It's impossible to keep up with what's happening in the U.S. attorney scandal, and I'm only talking about the Kansas City portion of it. It now appears that KC's own U.S. attorney, Todd Graves, may have been the 9th attorney fired, and well, there's much more.

Talking Points Memo has the goods on Graves leaving and Missouri Sen. Kit Bond's involvement in both booting him out and trying to get him more time to complete his cases. (Note the original information is hidden behind the KC Star's new outrageously priced paywall. And yes, I know that the whole thing is confusing.)

Watching Those We Chose has:
Graves Pushed out for Performance Reasons.
One of Bond's Staffers Wanted Graves Gone

The Washington Post has Lawmaker's Aide Targeted Prosecutor

The Kansas City Star on why Congress wants Bradley Schlozman to testify. It looks like he will testify on May 15. Schlozman took over for Graves and pursued voting fraud indictments that are now beginning to look fishy.
---------
Photo: Kit Bond

Kansas: Correcting the record on one of Phill Kline's new hires

By Diane Silver

After an inquiry from this blog, the Johnson County District Attorney's office has changed it's description of the career of the new Domestic Violence Unit chief.

Originally, the office of Phill Kline reported that the new chief, Sue Carpenter, was "most recently" a managing partner at the Overland Park law firm of Tomes and Dvorak. In fact, Carpenter never held that position and was never a partner in the firm.

This is an issue because the competency of Kline's staff has been called into question by several people who have posted comments on this blog. Outgoing prosecutors from the district attorney's office have also complained about the qualifications of newly hired staff.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Jonathan Tomes, a partner in Tomes and Dvorak, said Carpenter worked for his firm from 2000 to 2004 and that her final job title was "senior associate."

After being asked about the discrepancy, Kline's Public Information Officer Brian Burgess said via email that Carpenter's title at Tomes and Dvorak was “chief counsel and associate partner.”

Tomes told In This Moment, "We didn’t have a setup where we were going to make anybody else partner. It was just Tomes and Dvorak. Certainly, if we were going to make anyone else partner, we would have made Sue one. She was overqualified."

Carpenter was in private practice by herself for the "last two years prior" to starting at the district attorney's office, Burgess said.

"The mistake is mine and was made while trying to put together a press release on short notice," Burgess said in his email.

Carpenter became section chief in late April after Kline fired her predecessor, Jacqie Spradling.

At the time Carpenter was touted in a press release from Kline's office that read (emphasis is mine):

Sue joins the staff with 15 years of experience as a prosecutor with the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, where her duties included child abuse prosecution, as well as sexual assault and drug cases. Sue has prosecuted numerous homicide cases and has extensive experience in domestic violence. In addition, she has 14 years of experience in private practice, most recently as a managing partner with the law firm of Tomes & Dvorak.

That press release was changed to reflect Burgess' version of Carpenter's titles on the office web site at about 8 this morning.

Since Carpenter was named to the domestic violence position, information came out about Carpenter's censure by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1991.

Kansas Gov. Sebelius dukes it out with the White House & wins

By Diane Silver

[updated 8:15 a.m.]
In the aftermath of of the Greensburg tornado, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius raised some very real concerns about the impact of the Iraq War on the state's ability to respond. The White House jumped into the fight.

As far as I can tell this morning, the score is Sebelius 1; White House, zero.

At issue is whether the National Guard has the equipment it needs to provide disaster response. Sebelius said she is concerned about the National Guard's ability to respond to more than one disaster.

Here's the key point, with emphasis from me, from The Kansas City Star:

Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state’s adjutant general, said the Kansas National Guard’s equipment had been reduced about one-third from prewar levels, which were already low.

Bunting said that the Guard had the resources to handle the Greensburg cleanup but that the initial response was slowed somewhat by equipment shortages. He added that those resources were being stretched to the limit in Greensburg.

Over the weekend, he said, Kansas officials had real concerns about the potential for more tornadoes and major flooding elsewhere.

“The reality is, we should be able to do two or three (disasters) at the same time,” Bunting said. “Now we can do one and maybe one more small one. It just leaves you pretty tight.”

...

Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said it was frustrating that the governor’s comments had further fueled the partisan battle over the war in Iraq because that was not her intent. Corcoran said Sebelius was only repeating what she and other governors of both parties had been warning for more than a year.

The Wichita Eagle also reports:

According to a spokesman for the Guard, the state doesn't have about half the tractor-trailer trucks it ordinarily would for moving heavy equipment from armories in eastern Kansas to the western Kansas disaster site. Also, the guard has only about 30 of its usual complement of 170 "medium tactical vehicles," high clearance cab-over trucks that are used to transport equipment, personnel and supplies.

.....

On Tuesday, Snow criticized Sebelius, saying the federal government was prepared to supply what Kansas needed but that the governor had not requested aid beyond "FM radios."

He also appeared to lecture the governor about how to seek help from the government during the emergency: "If you don't request it, you're not going to get it."

Later, he corrected himself and said "the state has requested a mobile command center, an urban search and rescue task force, a mobile office building, 40 two-way radios, and coordination calls between Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, to determine if they need extra Black Hawks (helicopters)."

[update]

Think Progress has the background on this.

What was lost when Greensburg, Kansas, blew away

By Diane Silver

I received this story in an email from my friend Anne. She lives on a ranch, which is thankfully undamaged, but she had a private therapy practice in Greensburg.

After reading her email, I realized that I wanted to share it with the world. I find her story to be both heartbreaking and enlightening. So often those of us who don't live in small towns criticize them without even knowing them.

Anne just gave me permission to post this. Here is what she says about the once-great place of Greensburg, Kansas. First, listen to her good news, and then hear her thoughts about what has been lost.

Here's Anne's story:

Susan & I went up to Greensburg yesterday to pack up my private practice - I can't believe my good fortune. I rented a room in a 3 bedroom modular home in the southeast part of town. All of my office furniture, books, framed items etc were intact, not even wet, because the roof had not blown off that part of the house!! Only two items were destroyed & they were just knickknacks.

There is shredded insulation on almost everything & everywhere. Yuck. Also, the house is just trashed - broken glass, wet carpet in most of it - house molding, chunks of wood, random pieces of metal, papers everywhere, sheetrock in chunks all over. There was a piece of corrugated steel about 2 feet long/wide on one of the chairs in the waiting room! We found a sharp piece of something embedded in the wall. Some of the curtain cords had wrapped very tightly around a strip of curtain. In the corner in one room there was a pile of shredded wet grass or probably wheat. Strange stuff.

So we packed up my stuff and went and checked on some other areas we know. It's awful, just horrendous.

Greensburg is very dear to me. It's where I had my first job after getting my masters. I worked there for 5 years in community mental health. I consider it a comfortable small town for me where I know a lot of people.

After doing case management in San Francisco where I had clients get jumped the day they got their check or convinced to smoke crack by a neighbor when the check came in, I found the home of the "World's Largest Hand Dug Well" to be so generous and kind to the clients. People really seemed to care and take their time with my clients with severe mental illness. It was truly heartwarming.

My financial person, Christee, is there, my favorite frame shop, Starla's Stitch and Frame, an amazing soda fountain at Hunter Drug Store with yummy lime-aids, a wonderful vintage clothing store, Snootie Seconds, a huge antique mall in an old church, Fran's Antiques, - so many little things - & for some of you who know my slight fixation on high hair, that is where I have had my hair made into glorious beehives and other stylist dos by Debbie at The Last Tangle.

So all those places have evaporated. It's unsettling, disturbing and unbelievable. I am so sad for all the Greensburg folks. It will truly never be the same.

My heart goes out to Anne, Christee, Debbie and the owners of Starla's, Hunter's, Snootie Seconds and Fran's, and to all the people of Greensburg.

Help Greensburg rebuild.
--------------------------

Photo: Residents return home to a town where even the trees have been turned into sticks. See the entire photo (#8), which is so much more powerful than this tiny sliver, at The Wichita Eagle.

Kansas Tuesday: Tornadoes, floods, struggle

By Diane Silver

Up here in northeastern Kansas, we dodged the tornadoes that did such horrendous damage in Greensburg, but it is wet, wet, wet.

A good friend of mine had ankle deep water in her basement in Topeka and an inaccessible laundry room. My 100-year old house with its unfinished, limestone basement is a bit damp in the basement, but I don't have any major problems yet. I'm one of the lucky ones.

May the sun keep shining today!

The Lawrence Journal-World highlights the rising waters.

The Topeka Capital-Journal covers evacuations inside the city limits.

As always, the best coverage from Greensburg is at The Wichita Eagle.

Let me know if you're having problems or know of anyone who is struggling.
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PHOTO: A woman wades through water in Lawrence's Burcham Park. See the complete photo and the rest of the gallery at the Journal-World.

Kansas: The 1991 censure of Phill Kline's new domestic violence chief & other worries

By Diane Silver

The Kansas City Star today explored the public censure of Sue Carpenter, who took over the Johnson County domestic violence unit after new District Attorney Phill Kline fired the former chief.

I have to admit to being of two minds about this story. I knew about this more than a week ago and decided to sit on it until I could investigate it in depth. I'm pleased to see that the Star put some time into the story. I hadn't, yet, been able to look into this. The Star raises some valid issues and does a good job of looking at all of what happened.

I can see why this incident is worrisome. It ended in an overturned conviction and Shawnee County having to pay $250,000 to the wronged defendant. The Star reports:

In an interview this week, the president of the Johnson County Bar Association said the censure was a concern to many.

“Whenever someone spends two years in custody and it (the case) gets reversed because of prosecutorial misconduct and then not refiled, you’ve got to worry about their (the prosecutor’s) decision-making abilities and the exercise of their discretion. And we are worried,” said Scott Gyllenborg, a defense attorney and a former Johnson County prosecutor.

The factor that makes me unwilling to scream about this, though, is that this event occurred 16 years ago. Obviously, serious mistakes were made in 1991, but then again, I remember committing more than few idiocies in my career. Thank goodness, none of them sent anyone to jail.

What worries me more is the fact that a respected and experienced assistant DA who, as far as I know, was never censured was let go. I'm also concerned by a little throw-away paragraph in the middle of the story. It reads:

Carpenter was an assistant district attorney in Shawnee County from 1979 to 1993, according to that county. She also spent about two years working for Tomes & Dvorak, Chartered, of Overland Park.

I suspect I'm missing something. Perhaps a bit of information got cut out of the story, but what I'd like to know is whether Carpenter was working as an attorney recently. I hesitate to make much out of this because I haven't had a chance to check on it myself or to check with reporter Diane Carroll, but something is not quite right with that paragraph.

If it is reporting on ALL of Carpenter's experience as a lawyer, then what has she been doing recently? If her two years as a private practice attorney came immediately after her work in the Shawnee County DA's office, then Carpenter hasn't practiced as an attorney since 1995 or 1996.

Is this true? Or am I reading this wrong? Inquiring minds want to know.

Senate considers judge who believes gays aren't fit to raise children

By Diane Silver

ACS blog points out the controversial nomination of Judge Leslie H. Southwick to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. ACS reports:

In S.B. v. L.W., Judge Southwick joined a concurrence arguing that persons who "choose . . . the homosexual lifestyle" are less fit to raise children than straight parents.

This is just one of the problems that is concerning ACS. The Alliance for Justice has more.

You must now register to comment on this blog

By Diane Silver

The days of anonymous comments are over on this blog. You must now register with Google in order to comment. People can still hide their identities by using an alias.

Before I changed to the new Blogger, I had limited comments to only registered users, but the change over seemed to cut off some of the old commentators. I think there's been enough time now, though, for folks to figure out how to register.

Let me know if you have any problem registering with Google.

Kansas: Oh Greensburg

By Diane Silver

How does a town recover from something like this? A tornado more than a mile wide took just about everything.

The photos posted by the Wichita Eagle are devastating. The Eagle is also running a fairly good blog with frequent updates of the situation. You can also show your support for the town and sign a guestbook here.