BRUSSELS—Will it work?
The deal euro-zone leaders hammered out in the early hours of Thursday sparked a world-wide stock rally. But the market moves belied widespread caution about the accord among economists and analysts—and even some of the decision-makers in the debt crisis.

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Perplexity

“…upon the earth distress•Strongs 4928: sunoche, soon-okh-ay´; from 4912; restraint, i.e. (figuratively) anxiety: — anguish, distress. of nations, with perplexity•Strongs 640: aporia, ap-or-ee´-a; from the same as 639; a (state of) quandary:—perplexity.
•Strongs 639: aporeo, ap-or-eh´-o; from a compound of 1 (as a negative particle) and the base of 4198; to have no way out, i.e. be at a loss (mentally):— (stand in) doubt, be perplexed….”
—Luke 21:25

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption•Strongs 629: apolutrosis, ap-ol-oo´-tro-sis; from a compound of 575 and 3083; (the act) ransom in full, i.e. (figuratively) riddance, or (specially) Christian salvation: — deliverance, redemption.
•Strongs 575: apo, apo´; a primary particle; “off,” i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative): — (x here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.
•Strongs 3083: lutron, loo´-tron; from 3089; something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figuratively, atonement): — ransom. draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

Many pointed out the summit announcements lacked critical details that must be hashed out in the weeks and months ahead, and then put into effect. “The implementation challenge is as high, if not higher, than the design challenge,” Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, which runs the world’s largest bond fund, warned in an interview.

Others were pessimistic on the fundamentals, arguing that neither the deal to cut Greece’s debt by 50% nor the plan to boost the firepower of the euro zone’s bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF, would be enough to quell Europe’s torrid debt crisis.

Only the European Central Bank’s continued support of the region’s bond markets can prevent an eventual further downward lurch in confidence, many argued. Some analysts saw the deal’s lack of measures to boost economic growth as an Achilles’ heel.

Indeed, the markets most critical to the euro zone’s financial health reacted coolly. Interest rates on sovereign bonds for Italy and Spain—the two big economies most at risk from being sucked deeper into the crisis—fell modestly but were still higher than is comfortable for cash-strapped governments: Yields on 10-year Italian bonds were around 5.7% and those on Spanish bonds about 5.3%.

That may signal investor skepticism about the leaders’ plans to deploy financial engineering with bailout funds in an effort to lure back bond investors and thereby lower the borrowing costs of Spain and Italy.

Euro-zone governments hope to do this in two ways—each designed to attract a different class of investor.

In the first, Italy and Spain use EFSF finance in effect to insure a proportion—say 20%—of their new government bond issues in case of default. Such guarantees, tradable separately from the bonds, are aimed at providing comfort to traditional bond investors who have been fearful they may not be repaid.

But it’s not clear the guarantees will do the trick. In the first place, sovereign bond markets generally either have no defaults or large defaults in which investors take sizable losses. Small defaults hardly ever happen—so investors may not be comforted by a modest insurance policy.

Success also depends on whether investors believe the guarantees will act as advertised. If they pay out in the event of a default, and then the bailout fund chases after the defaulting government for the money it has just lost to bondholders, the bondholders won’t be better off. They’ll just be fighting with the EFSF over the remaining limited funds available from the defaulting government.

The fact is, governments have no idea whether investors will bite on the insurance plan. They are now likely to embark on exercises to gauge what percentage of insurance on bonds would be both enticing to investors and cost-effective for the governments.

In the second model, special-purpose vehicles seeded with “first-loss capital” from the bailout fund are aimed at enticing sovereign-wealth funds and other investors to buy euro-zone government bonds.

Prospects for this model are highly uncertain: Some analysts argue the key to success here is for European governments to spend a lot of political capital persuading potential investors, such as China, to come on board.

The plan would stand a greater chance of success, they say, if the International Monetary Fund could be persuaded to give its imprimatur to the vehicles and monitor recipients’ economies. The IMF played a similar role in the past when it helped create funds aimed at recycling surpluses from oil producers to hard-hit oil consumers after the oil-price hikes of the 1970s.

Some of the investors targeted in this plan may have big-picture strategic reasons to sign up: Perhaps, for example, they want to avoid a collapse of the euro-zone to preserve an alternative reserve currency to the dollar. If so, they might even be willing to invest at lower interest rates than commercial investors. Whether they will is, at the moment, guesswork.

Another major leg of the agreement is a proposal to halve the value of Greek government bonds in private hands—some €210 billion of Greece’s €350 billion total government debt. European Union officials said they hoped the deal would slash €100 billion from the debt burden—which would lower Greece’s debt to a still-lofty 120% of gross domestic product in 2020.

Jens Weidmann, head of Germany’s Bundesbank and a member of the European Central Bank’s governing council, Thursday warned that writing off some of Greece’s debts may ease pressure on Athens to continue with tough fiscal austerity measures. “There can’t be any impression that the haircut or public aid from partner countries is a comfortable way out of self-inflicted problems,” he said.

From the perspective of reducing Greece’s debt, it’s a substantial improvement over the deal euro-zone leaders agreed for Greece in July, and later tore up, analysts said. That would have left Greece’s debt in 2020 at 163% of GDP.

But some noted that Institute of International Finance, negotiating on behalf of the private sector, had committed only to “work…to develop a concrete voluntary agreement” on Greek debt. “An invitation to agree to a haircut is not the same as a haircut,” said Sony Kapoor, managing director of economic and financial think tank Re-Define.

What percentage of bondholders participate is critical: If a high proportion refuse, the deal won’t achieve the advertised debt reduction. IIF managing director Charles Dallara said in an interview Thursday he expected participation rates to be “very, very high.”

The deal, he said, would likely be a “simple straight voluntary exchange,” far less complex than the menu of options offered under the proposal agreed in July.

However, the latest deal has a wrinkle: The new bonds with lower face value that bondholders will receive in exchange for their old bonds will be issued under English law, says Mr. Dallara—not Greek law, which governs the old bonds. That will make the task of any future debt restructuring—which analysts say cannot be ruled out if Greece’s economy continues to shrink—so much more difficult.

—William Horobin contributed to this article.

A homosexual activist group will be filing a lawsuit this month on behalf of gay, lesbian and bisexual military service members in legal same-sex marriages who want spousal benefits for their partners.

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Days of Lot

“And as it was in the days of Noe•Strongs 3575: Noe, no´-eh; of Hebrew origin (H5146); Noe, (i.e. Noach), a patriarch: — Noe., so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise•Strongs 3668: homoios, hom-oy´-oce; adverb from 3664; similarly: — likewise, so. also as it was in the days of Lot•Strongs 3091: Lot, lote; of Hebrew origin (H3876); Lot, a patriarch: — Lot.; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus•Strongs 5024: tauta, tow-tah´; neuter plural of 3588 and 846 as adverb; in the same way: — even thus, (manner) like, so. shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed•Strongs 601: apokalupto, ap-ok-al-oop´-to; from 575 and 2572; to take off the cover, i.e. disclose: — reveal..”
—Luke 17:26-30

“Remember Lot’s wife.”
—Luke 17:32

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption•Strongs 629: apolutrosis, ap-ol-oo´-tro-sis; from a compound of 575 and 3083; (the act) ransom in full, i.e. (figuratively) riddance, or (specially) Christian salvation: — deliverance, redemption. draweth nigh•Strongs 1448: eggizo, eng-id´-zo; from 1451; to make near, i.e. (reflexively) approach: — approach, be at hand, come (draw) near, be (come, draw) nigh..”
—Luke 21:28

The legal move is evidence of a further chipping away of the Defense of Marriage Act and not unexpected, say supporters of the federal law.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network announced its plans over the weekend, according to CitizenLink, a Focus on the Family media outlet.

DOMA defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife,” and the word “spouse” as “a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife” for the benefit of federal laws for items such as federal employee benefits.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN, explained to The Huffington Post that under DOMA, health care coverage and housing allowances – both of which can account for up to 40 percent of a service member’s compensation – are limited to heterosexual couples.

Many people weary of the push against DOMA had already expressed concern prior to the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a policy that banned open homosexuality among service members. DADT was officially lifted last month. They feared that such a demand by gay activists, like asking for spousal benefits, would take place. The concerns brought before the U.S. Department of Defense have never been addressed, say DOMA supporters.

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“Before DADT was repealed, many of us warned the goal was always to get rid of DOMA,” Douglas E. Lee, a founding member of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, was quoted by CitizenLink as saying. “The hints recently about gay literature, recruiting quotas, formal attempts to get rid of DOMA – all this was predicted. It certainly is not surprising. A dismissal of DOMA would open up the military, which is exactly what their intentions were, to all kinds of things. So it’s a very serious issue.”

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis says the timing of the lawsuit is the result of careful planning and not a coincidence, CitizenLink reported. Gay activists have been aiming to take down marriage all along, said Maginnis.

The lawsuit comes as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to consider a bill next month to repeal the 1996 federal marriage law.

Younger generations are leading the way toward greater tolerance and social acceptance of gays and lesbians in the United States, according to new research.
While the nation remains deeply divided on gay marriage, the vast majority of Americans support basic civil liberties and freedom of expression for homosexual people.

Days of Lot

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. ”
—Luke 17:26-30

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

This wasn’t always the case. In 1973, 70 percent of Americans felt homosexuality was “always wrong,” the report revealed. By 2010, the percentage of those who felt that homosexuality was “always wrong” had dropped to 44 percent.
The findings show a clear “trend toward greater tolerance regarding homosexuality,” said Tom W. Smith, director of the General Social Survey at NORC and author of the NORC report, in news release last week.
The researchers found a dramatic increase in support for same-sex marriage over the last 20 years, jumping from an 11 percent approval rate in 1988 to 46 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, 40 percent remain opposed.
“There is a large generation gap on the issue [of same-sex marriage],” noted Smith. While 64 percent of those under age 30 support gay marriage, just 27 percent of those aged 70 or older feel the same.
The findings, based on a national survey of more than 2,000 people, also showed more general acceptance of homosexuality among younger people. In 2010, only 26 percent those under age 30 said they believed same-sex behavior is “always wrong.” However, 63 percent of those 70 and older held that belief.
Public attitudes on the issue are highly polarized, the researchers found. Although 44 percent of those surveyed felt that sex between two adults of the same sex is “always wrong,” 41 percent thought such behavior was “not wrong at all.” Only 11 percent of the people surveyed fell somewhere in the middle.
Although the nation remains divided on feelings towards homosexuality, a significant increase occurred in support for civil liberties for gays and lesbians over the past two decades.
Support for a gay person’s right to speak publically jumped to 86 percent in 2010 — up from 62 percent in 1972. Meanwhile, support for homosexuals teaching at colleges or universities rose to 84 percent in 2010, up from 48 percent in 1973. The researchers also found more people approved of library books that cast a favorable light on homosexuality. Support for these books rose from 54 percent in 1973 to 78 percent in 2010.
More information
The Pew Charitable Trusts provides more information on same-sex marriage.

Philip Dawkins’ ambitious, substantial and deeply impressive new play, “The Homosexuals,” begins with a disaster: Catherine Zeta-Jones winning the Tony Award.

Days of Lot

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. ”
—Luke 17:26-30

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

“For singing,” spits out Peter, one of the group of gay Chicagoans whom this play follows — or, more accurately, whose lives it rewinds through the first decade of the 21st century. He peers at the results of the 2010 Tonys in his copy of the Tribune. Peter (Scott Bradley) is an old-fashioned homosexual: he likes his news on paper. The young man breaking up with him, Evan (Patrick Andrews), is of a different breed altogether. He was in grade school during the height of the AIDS crisis. And although he is vaguely aware of iconic gay plays like “The Boys in the Band” and “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” he read them in a class promoting diversity. He did not live them. And he surely does not care about swishy musicals.

Precisely what that means for this young everyman is at the core of Dawkins’ sweeping drama, one that begins at the end of the decade and progressively moves back in time, finally ending with another Tony Award house party just after the turn of the millennium. With a little more work, Dawkins will have a play that deserves some major subsequent productions after this About Face premiere at the Richard Christiansen Theatre. He clearly wants to update those earlier plays that charted the ways gay American men, scarred by discrimination, found family and community in each other.

Dawkins does so by turning that conceit on its head. “The Homosexuals” begins with togetherness but charts a progressive course towards isolation, as its central characters love and lose each other and Evan, part hero and part anti-hero, tries to figure out what it means to be gay in a decade when, as his friend Tam (Elizabeth Ledo) wryly observes, “there are no dirty words. Every term has been reclaimed and is now either empowering or ironic.”

Empowering. Ironic. Where does that leave a young man, arriving in Chicago from Iowa at the age of 20? What does it mean to be gay in a decade that contained the promise (and, for some, the disappointment) of the Obama presidency? Those questions are all under review, as is the question of whether those powerful gay communities, formed in crisis, are becoming increasing fractured. Whether that represents diversity or dissipation is the real question of this very fine new play.

The show, though, is hardly tough medicine. This is an accessible, easy-to-grasp piece about life as it is currently lived, and it comes with plenty of humor. In some ways, it reminds me of the contemporary gay plays that were produced at the Bailiwick Arts Center in the early 1990s and that have, of late, become more rarer. (Why that’s the case is exactly what this play is about.)

About Face has been an ambitious company, but it has rarely come up with a show that its huge potential audience will really want to see. This will be just such a show. Note the affordability of the tickets.

That said, the acting in director Bonnie Metzgar’s simply staged production is uneven, as is some of the pacing. Bradley, a huge talent in the right play but too much of a caricature here, doesn’t find the pain his character needs. And there are some other performances that, frankly, fall mostly flat. Indeed, the entire cast would be well advised to dial up the energy a couple of notches and really let lose, Chicago-style. But there is one performance here — from Stephen Cone, who plays a quiet young man named Michael — that’s so beautiful, it sticks with me as I write. And Ledo plays a ladyfriend to gay men (excuse the euphemism), and is at once a familiar character-type and a completely different take on the genre. She’s spectacularly funny and honest. Benjamin Sprunger, who plays a character named British Mark, is very effective. And although I think Andrews has further to go, his Evan is rooted in all the right complexity.

Dawkins needs to make a few cuts, especially in the last scene, which needs to go much faster. He needs a more arresting end to his first act. And I think he needs to get to the main order of business more quickly. But those are minor matters. A fascinating counterpoint to the parade that will pass it by this weekend, “The Homosexuals” is an important new gay play, out of Chicago. This is a chance to see it at the start of what should be a fabulous trajectory.

The vast majority of countries around the world have become more accepting of homosexuality, with the exception of Russia and other former socialist countries, a new study has found.

Days of Lot

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. ”
—Luke 17:26-30

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

The report, compiled by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, examined general trends in over 30 countries regarding their attitudes towards homosexuality, and is based on five surveys conducted in different countries between 1988 and 2008.

Approval of homosexuality increased in 27 countries and decreased in only four: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Russia, the study noted.

The growth in approval ratings was stronger than the decline.

The study rated the top five most tolerant countries regarding homosexuality as the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and Belgium, according to the survey.

The bottom half of the list consisted of seven ex-socialist states, East Asian nations, Latin American countries and Cyprus, South Africa, and Turkey.

In Russia, 59 per cent of the population felt that homosexual behavior was wrong in 1991 compared with 64 per cent in 2008, the study showed.

In Russia on Saturday, Moscow police detained three global gay rights leaders and dozens of Russians in a violent end to a rally that activists tried to stage near the Kremlin wall despite a ban.

The small crowd of young marchers was attacked by members of an ultra-Orthodox group who had successfully lobbied Moscow to ban the event.

Organizers said the three Westerners and most of 30 Russians were released after a few hours of detention.

Christians’ pets will be without owners if the Rapture comes, so nonbelievers are willing to rescue them — for a fee.

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Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption•Strongs 629: apolutrosis, ap-ol-oo´-tro-sis; from a compound of 575 and 3083; (the act) ransom in full, i.e. (figuratively) riddance, or (specially) Christian salvation: — deliverance, redemption.
•Strongs 575: apo, apo´; a primary particle; “off,” i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative): — (x here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.
•Strongs 3083: lutron, loo´-tron; from 3089; something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figuratively, atonement): — ransom. draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

When my beloved Tankie died, a friend gave me a copy of “Dog Heaven,” a sweet children’s book. The drawings of happy dogs romping in an afterlife were comforting, even though I didn’t buy the concept.

But what if the book is wrong? What if there’s not a life after death for dogs, cats or other household pets? And what if the Rapture comes and you’re spirited off, leaving your critters behind? (Some people believe the Rapture will happen as soon as May 21.)

Two organizations that we know of are willing to arrange for their post-Rapture care by nonbelievers for a small price.

For $135, and $20 for each additional pet, Bart Centre’s Eternal Earth-Bound Pets USA will have your pet picked up within 24 hours after the Rapture — guaranteed! — and adopted, Washington Post columnist John Kelly reports. So far more than 250 people, mostly in the Bible Belt, have taken Centre up on this. The contract is in effect for 10 years — good to know in case the May 21 prediction is off. If the 10 years expire before the Rapture comes, perhaps you can renew.

Centre and his 44 contractors in 26 states are pet-loving atheists who have sufficient space to take the usual types of household pets, including birds and hamsters, into their homes to live out their lives. Adoption of large animals like horses and llamas is available in Montana, Idaho, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Likewise, After The Rapture Pet Care, co-founded by a Christian and a nonbeliever, has a network of non-Christian volunteers who will provide a similar service for a $10 fee. Post continues after video.

The Senate voted Saturday afternoon to repeal the ban on gays in the military, marking a major victory for gay rights and an end to the 17-year old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

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Days of Lot

“And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.”
—Ecclesiastes 12:5-8

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption•Strongs 629: apolutrosis, ap-ol-oo´-tro-sis; from a compound of 575 and 3083; (the act) ransom in full, i.e. (figuratively) riddance, or (specially) Christian salvation: — deliverance, redemption.
•Strongs 575: apo, apo´; a primary particle; “off,” i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative): — (x here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.
•Strongs 3083: lutron, loo´-tron; from 3089; something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figuratively, atonement): — ransom. draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

The bill now heads to President Barack Obama, who plans to sign it into law, overturning what repeal advocates believed was a discriminatory policy that unfairly ended the careers of thousands of gay members of the military over the years.

The 65-31 Senate vote marked a historic – and emotional – moment for the gay-rights movement and handed Obama a surprising political triumph in the closing days of the 111th Congress. The legislation had been left for dead as recently as last week after Senate Republicans blocked efforts to advance it, yet on final passage, the bill won unexpected support from eight Republicans.

The repeal, which would not take effect immediately, ushers in a major cultural shift for a military that has operated under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy since the first year of Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Shortly after the final tally was announced, a handful of top White House officials, led by Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, congratulated and hugged gay-rights leaders who had gathered just off the Senate floor.

“It’s a historic moment,” said Jarrett, who had never attended a vote before. “It wouldn’t have happened without Congress obviously, the president’s leadership and so many people across the country who became engaged in the issue … Everybody played a vital role in today’s success.”

The Senate vote capped months of uncertainty about whether Congress or the federal courts, where gay-rights advocates are fighting the ban, would act first to repeal the policy.

The real drama had already come a few hours earlier when the repeal bill cleared a crucial procedural hurdle. The 63-33 cloture vote was three more than needed to beat back a Republican filibuster.

With support from all but one member of the Democratic caucus and help from six Republicans, the bill overcame the 60-vote threshold required to move forward.

The Republican senators voting “yes” with the Democrats in the cloture vote were Mark Kirk of Illinois, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, George Voinovich of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine. Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and John Ensign of Nevada joined the six other Republicans in bucking their party on the historic final vote.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who previously stated he opposes repeal, was the only Democrat to miss the vote, apparently because of a family “holiday gathering,” his spokeswoman said.

Obama called the Senate vote an “historic step” toward ending a discriminatory policy that weakens America’s national security and violates the ideals troops risk their lives to defend.

“By ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay,” Obama said in a statement. “And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love.”

“Today’s vote said that if discrimination has no place in America, it has no place in the Armed Forces,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters. “It said that we don’t care who you love, as long as you love your country.”

With Republicans taking control of the House and gaining more power in the Senate in the new Congress that convenes in January, there was increasing urgency from Democrats and their gay-rights allies to approve the repeal in this lame-duck session.

For those who have fought to overturn the policy for nearly two decades, the Senate’s action was “akin to the Berlin Wall coming down,” according to one activist.

“Today, America lived up to its highest ideals of freedom and equality,” added Joe Solmonese, the president of the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign who was on hand for the vote. “Congress recognized that all men and women have the right to openly serve their country. Plenty of people had already planned the funeral for this legislation. Today, we pulled out a victory from what was almost certain defeat just a few days ago.”

Senators who championed repeal framed the vote as a major new step forward for civil rights. Since 1993, more than 14,000 service members had been discharged from military service under the “don’t ask” policy.

“It took too long, but remember Dr. [Martin Luther] King said, ‘The moral arc of the universe may bend slowly, but it always bends toward justice,’” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a lead sponsor of the legislation. “Today, we’ve done justice.”

A recent Pentagon report, based on a broad survey of the U.S armed forces, concluded that repeal would not harm military readiness or troop morale. That finding was supported by testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Nearly eight in 10 Americans support allowing gays to openly serve in uniform, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released this week.

But Republicans, led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), pointed to comments from the leaders of the Marines, Army and Air Force who say repealing the policy while the military is engaged in two wars adds stress to an already-stretched force and poses significant risks for troops.

Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos said earlier this week that allowing openly gay men and women to serve could lead to “distractions” and “mistakes” that “cost Marine lives.”

“I don’t want to permit that opportunity to happen, and I will tell you why,” said McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who called it a “sad day.” “If you go up to Bethesda, Marines are up there with no legs, none. We have got Marines at Walter Reed with no limbs.”

McCain, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, also took issue with Reid for holding lame-duck votes on the repeal and an immigration bill called the DREAM Act. The Nevada Democrat is living in a “bizzarro world,” said McCain, one of a handful of Republicans who have threatened to block ratification of the new START nuclear-arms treaty with Russia because of Saturday’s votes.

“I do think that by jamming this through at this time, in the way it was done, makes it much harder to continue to work on the START treaty. And I think it’s more likely than not that it will be moved over to next year,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“I think you can only poison the well so much around here, but we’ll see what Sen. Reid does. …” Cornyn added. “If he is going to try to deny us an opportunity to offer amendments and close off debate, I think we need to pack it up and go home and come back in January.”

Reid fired back, arguing that GOP obstinance would hurt national security.

“They’re going to vote against an international treaty dealing with nuclear weapons because they had to vote on the DREAM Act and ‘don’t ask, don’t tell?’ Now that’s real statesmanship,” Reid told reporters.

“They’re saying that because we are making our military strong by outlawing discrimination, they want to make America weaker by making it easier for terrorists to get nuclear weapons.”

The repeal measure, passed by the Senate Saturday, already cleared the Democratic-controlled House this week along a mostly party-line 250-175 vote. It now goes directly to the president for his promised signature.

The repeal, however, wouldn’t take effect immediately. Obama, Gates and Mullen would have to certify to Congress that they have reviewed the Pentagon report on the impacts of repeal, that the Defense Department is prepared to implement repeal and that doing so would not harm military readiness, troop morale, and recruiting and retention.

The policy would be repealed 60 days after the president submits the document.

“It is therefore important that our men and women in uniform understand that while today’s historic vote means that this policy will change, the implementation and certification process will take an additional period of time,” Gates said in a statement. “In the meantime, the current law and policy will remain in effect.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, would head up implementation of the changes, Gates said.

“Successful implementation will depend upon strong leadership, a clear message and proactive education throughout the force,” he added.

Manu Raju and Shira Toeplitz contributed to this report.

House Speaker-to-be John Boehner (R-Ohio) is telling the Smithsonian Institution to pull an exhibit that features images of an ant-covered Jesus or else face tough scrutiny when the new Republican majority takes control of the House in January. House Majority Leader-to-be Eric Cantor (R.-Va.), meanwhile, is calling on the Smithsonian to pull the exhibit and warning the federally funded institution that it will face serious questions when Congress considers the next budget.

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Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption•Strongs 629: apolutrosis, ap-ol-oo´-tro-sis; from a compound of 575 and 3083; (the act) ransom in full, i.e. (figuratively) riddance, or (specially) Christian salvation: — deliverance, redemption.
•Strongs 575: apo, apo´; a primary particle; “off,” i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative): — (x here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.
•Strongs 3083: lutron, loo´-tron; from 3089; something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figuratively, atonement): — ransom. draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

CNSNews.com had asked both congressional leaders if the exhibit should continue or be cancelled and both indicated it should be cancelled.
Also this morning, CNSNews.com contacted the press offices of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), House Minority Leader-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) and Jim Clyburn (D.-S.C.), the third-ranking Democrat in the House, and asked them the same question. These congressional leaders have not yet responded.
“American families have a right to expect better from recipients of taxpayer funds in a tough economy,” Boehner’s Spokesman Kevin Smith told CNSNews.com. “While the amount of money involved may be small, it’s symbolic of the arrogance Washington routinely applies to thousands of spending decisions involving Americans’ hard-earned money at a time when one in every 10 Americans is out of work and our children’s future is being threatened by debt.
“Smithsonian officials should either acknowledge the mistake and correct it, or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January when the new majority in the House moves to end the job-killing spending spree in Washington,” Smith said.
When asked to clarify what exactly Boehner meant by calling on the Smithsonian to “correct” their mistake with the exhibit, Smith responded in an email that Boehner wanted the exhibit “cancelled.”
Cantor, meanwhile, said the exhibit should be “pulled.”

“This is an outrageous use of tax payer money and an obvious attempt to offend Christians during the Christmas season,” said Cantor. “When a museum receives taxpayer money, the taxpayers have a right to expect that the museum will uphold common standards of decency. The museum should pull the exhibit and be prepared for serious questions come budget time.”
The exhibit, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” includes video images of an ant-covered Jesus on a crucifix, male genitals, naked brothers kissing, men in chains, Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, and a painting the Smithsonian itself describes in the show’s catalog as “homoerotic.”
It is being presented at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where it opened on Oct. 30 and is set to run throughout the Christmas Season before closing on Feb. 13
David C. Ward, a National Portrait Gallery historian who is the co-curator of the exhibit, told CNSNews.com: “This is an exhibition that displays masterpieces of American portraiture and we wanted to illustrate how questions of biography and identity went into the making of images that are canonical.”
The Interior Department appropriation for fiscal 2010 provided $636,161,000 for the Smithsonian Institution.
Smithsonian Institution Spokesperson Linda St. Thomas said that the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery itself received $5.8 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2010. St. Thomas told CNSNews.com, however, that federal funds are not used to pay for Smithsonian exhibits themselves, including the “Hide/Seek” exhibit, but instead pay for the buildings, the care of collections exhibited at Smithsonian venues, and museum staff, including the salaries for curators of exhibits.
Among the donors who provided support for the “Hide/Seek” exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery are The Calamus Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The John Burton Harter Charitable Foundation, and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

ending a strong message to Defund, Repeal and Replace this disastrous bill. Dr. Dave Janda discusses the rationing component inherent in ObamaCare, and the only solution being electing representatives like Dr. Rob Steele on Nov. 2nd

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Editors Note: If This Is True, the strong will devour the weak as iniquity abounds.

Iniquity Abounding

“And because iniquity•Strongs 458: anomia, an-om-ee´-ah; from 459; illegality, i.e. violation of law or (genitive case) wickedness:—iniquity, x transgress(-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.
•Strongs 459: anomos, an´-om-os; from 1 (as a negative particle) and 3551; lawless, i.e. (negatively) not subject to (the Jewish) law; (by implication, a Gentile), or (positively) wicked:—without law, lawless, transgressor, unlawful, wicked. shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
—Matthew 24:12

Time To Look Up

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption•Strongs 629: apolutrosis, ap-ol-oo´-tro-sis; from a compound of 575 and 3083; (the act) ransom in full, i.e. (figuratively) riddance, or (specially) Christian salvation: — deliverance, redemption.
•Strongs 575: apo, apo´; a primary particle; “off,” i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative): — (x here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.
•Strongs 3083: lutron, loo´-tron; from 3089; something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figuratively, atonement): — ransom. draweth nigh.”
—Luke 21:28

Chemist says tests show “toxic solvent” 2-butoxyethanol that “RUPTURES red blood cells”

(See video below)

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Pestilences

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences•Strongs 3061: loimos, loy´-mos; of uncertain affinity; a plague (literally, the disease, or figuratively, a pest):—pestilence(-t) and earthquakes, in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

Time To Look Up

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy•Strongs 1311:diaphtheiro, dee-af-thi´-ro; from 1225 and 5351; to rot thoroughly, i.e. (by implication) to ruin (passively, decay utterly, figuratively, pervert):—corrupt, destroy, perish. them which destroy•Strongs 1311:diaphtheiro, dee-af-thi´-ro; from 1225 and 5351; to rot thoroughly, i.e. (by implication) to ruin (passively, decay utterly, figuratively, pervert):—corrupt, destroy, perish. the earth.”
—Revelation 11:18

Foretaste of Revelation

“And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
—Revelation 8:9

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama – If tests results are true, the absorbent boom being brought to Margaret Longs house on Cotton Bayou may already be too late.

WKRG.com News
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**My chemist found the corexit,” she yells to a neighbor. She first got suspicious when she saw something in the water she had never seen before. She even took photographs, “Some times it’s about the size of a half dollar. Some times it streams along and its like floating sand.”

When the opportunity arose she took some samples. “It was floating in the water. A boat goes by making a bigger wake than its suppose to and it came over the seawall and I had puddles of water along here.”

She got samples and sent them to chemist Bob Naman in Mobile whose tests results show 13 point 3 parts per million of the chemical dispersant corexit.

“I knew I was right,” she says was her first reaction. “I knew that this that I had seen floating was something I had never seen before.”

Margaret Longs tests results of sand and water at Cotton Bayou will not be the last word. The city of Orange Beach, who is already doing their own independent studies, now has more incentive to find out what really in the water.

“It concerns me,” says Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon. “And what it means is that we’re going to aggressively go and try to find that corexit. We’re going to start more aggressive testing in Cotton Bayou and other places and we’re going to up the number of tests we run. Our job is going to be go find it, if it’s there.”

Long has no doubt it is there. “There is an anger yes, very much an anger. I fear what the long term affects are going to be.” Her only question now is what will be done about it

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