MsGuy

T.Y., I have an enduring interest in how homosexuality plays out in different cultures/places/times. If I can work up the energy, I'll do some research on gay life in Cuba and post any useful links here. No promises and it may take some time. If it's O.K. with you, I may use the Chat Line Schedule to practice posting a working link. It's a case of old dogs/new tricks. I wouldn't want to clog up active threads trying to figure it out. P.S. That article is proving difficult to recover. I can recall wandering from one link to to the next, but I can't remember where I started. Such is life on the internet.

T.Y., IMHO America's Cuban policy is still being driven by domestic politics. Obama appears to be trying (cautiously) to use travel and remittance money as issues to separate younger more moderate Cuban-Americans from the mossbacks. Given the minor importance of Cuba to the US, I doubt he will risk much political capital. We can only hope Raul needs tourist dollars more than he needs to be seen as standing up to America. If so, Obama may accommodate him. Just domestic politics for both sides. That said, doesn't your post skirt mighty close to the political line you guys have drawn? Isn't your post really telling people that political posts are O.K. as long as your tone is reasonable and you keep a civil tongue in your head? I enjoy a good rant as much as anyone, but this site just wouldn't be as pleasant to visit if you invited politics in. Politics = angry hateful posts. No practical way to keep political threads civil IMO. I know drawing this line requires judgment calls and I readily concede yall have way more experience than I at moderating a board. Good luck and thanks for all your hard work. Me, I've been poking around in cyberspace trying to find an article on male prostitution in Havana I read last year. It was fairly detailed and written with the help of insiders, so I thought yall might find it of interest. So far I'm only finding stuff 6 to 8 years old. I'll give it another shot tomorrow.

Havana has been called the Thailand of the Caribbean, so Oz should love it there.

Maybe they are from Lake Wobegon and find both Southerners and Blacks exotic. Not enough data here to support any conclusions. I suggest searching Alabama and Atlanta on the escort sites. A few phone calls should uncover a voice they like.

This reads like a blue sky promoter trying to boot-strap something out of nothing. Seems pretty iffy on the business side.

When SCOTUS took control of the Florida recount, it gave the public a distorted notion of the electoral role of the federal judiciary. That was a one off intervention into an extraodinary situation. SCOTUS has strong institutional reasons to keep out of contested elections.

She walks on looking like a Walmart shopper having a bad hair day and stuns you with her voice. She'll be featured Thursday morning on the Early show (CBS) singing in her kitchen. Worth getting up early to hear.

Lordy, who knew 'twat' could rhyme with 'that?" LOL!!! You have to love local accents, Nawth Joirsy always excepted.

Please tell me you meant twit, not twat. Please.

"It is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning." Churchill, after Rommel's defeat at El Alamein. This was an historic victory for which you are right to be thrilled. The clear endorsement of legal and social equality for Gays by the Vermont legislature signals a sea change in America's perceptions of people who are gay. One decisive legislative victory, vigorously and openly contested, neighbor argueing with neighbor in bars, work places and VFW halls all over Vermont, is worth a dozen court opinions. Oz, you are too young to remember, but I lived through the 180 degree reversal of American attitudes toward race. Not all that many had the full 'road to Demascus' experience, but an overwhelming majority, including most racists, came to believe that rascism in the law and in the public forum was unfair and un-American. We about half way through a similar reversal in America's understanding of gays. This particular culture war aint near over yet (and some areas of the country will hold out longer than others,) but I truly believe that we have made it to the mountain top. The promised land is in sight. Hey, less than 50 years ago, Bull Conner was rolling folks down the street with fire hoses. Now Obama sits in the White House. Maybe there's some cute gay Eurasian baby in Hawaii right now that will wind up in the Oval Office. I hope he twirls his baton all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Manhatten has real advantages for a media operation, esp. one that plays off breaking political and finantial news, but, as BigK points out, taxes and operating costs are daunting. At some point CEO's wonder if broadband connections (& maybe a business condo) offer 90% of the benefit at 50% of the cost. Rush's public persona isn't to my taste, but remember that behind all that over the top bluster and those piggy little eyes lies a shrewd head for business.

Yeah, and then how many guys do we have to send to drag back the both of you?

Taking you at your word, please consider the following points: As a matter of common courtesy to your readers, long involved quotes should be attributed. In this case "Richard Lamm, former Rep. gov. of Colorado" would do nicely. Lamm's main argument is that ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity have all proven to be exceedingly dangerous to the unity of states. I agree. I doubt anyone who loves this Republic of ours and who gives the matter any serious thought could disagree. Academics and politicians who advocate policies like bi-lingual education are playing with matches in a powder house. Further, our society obviously pays a stiff economic overhead dealing with all this diversity. That said, all this hoorah over immigration seems over done and mean spirited to me. It's not only liberal politicians and academics who like to play with matches. Like it or not, by an order of magnitude America is the most diverse state in modern history. A healthy dollop of mutual respect and forbearance is both desirable and necessary. This Republic of ours is the most efficient assimilation machine in the history of mankind. Just relax, give it two or three generations, and presto! instant Americans, just with currently unfashionable last names.

If he was anything like the sgt. major I knew, I can well understand the attraction.

Mike Golic, of "Mike&Mike in the Morning" (ESPN), lost his annual basketball bracket bet and will get waxed on camara after the finals. Not a bad looking guy for a former NFL D-lineman, if you like daddy bears.

Conway: My bad. Your remarks were spot on. Futher, you disagreed with and corrected both of us w/o being disrespectful to either of us. Thanks. 2hard2tame: My bad. I took a personal swipe at you rather than responding to your point. Please accept my apology. Everybody: Sorry about clogging up the thread with dead quotes. Despite clear directions provided by the management, I keep screwing it up.

It's more like the moderators here know that when you get to feeling bored, lonely &/or inadequate, you go looking for "old queens" to cyberbully. Political flame wars just don't fit the tone they seek to promote. Just remember Reagan had it right when he said thet the guy that pays for the mike gets to say who speaks.