Sex, Lies & Video

With thousands of eyes watching, Dr. Carol Gilligan used the medium of video to rebuke Dr. James Dobson and his article in the December 18 issue of Time magazine as reported in these pages here. In the video, Dr. Gilligan unequivocally denounces the misuse of her work to support beliefs she does not hold and conclusions she did not reach. Dr. Gilligan and Dr. Kyle Pruett who joined with her in her condemnation of Dr. Dobson's conclusions were joined by a third researcher, Angela Phillips in refuting the twisting of the truth and downright lies espoused in Dr. Dobson's article. In part her letter states:

"Having read his newsletter; "How Boys Learn to Become Men" on the Focus on the Family web site I was incensed to find that I have been quoted as a source for suggesting that:

"The high incidence of homosexuality occurring in Western nations is related, at least in part, to the absence of positive male influence when boys are moving through the first crisis of child development.""

This is just another example of how the LGBT community is vilified by the leaders of the religious right in their effort to create a theocratic police state in which those who dare not believe as they do would be denied their civil rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Time magazine itself in their online edition posted a rebuttal to the Dobson article written by Jennifer Whistler of Family Pride, a LGBT family advocacy organization, in which she refutes his findings on a point by point basis and concludes by saying:

"The fundamental reality is that all parents, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, are linked in a very real way. We want our children to be safe, healthy and happy. When any of our families are politicized, it is an assault on our ability to protect ourselves, each other and our children. When people like Dobson profess "concern" for the welfare of children, while simultaneously attacking those very children's parents and family structures, their insincerity becomes evident. If their paramount focus is truly the health and well-being of children, then we invite Dobson and his colleagues to join our fight to ensure that all loving families are recognized, respected, protected and celebrated."

Meanwhile Focus on the Family on their Citizen Link website babbles on about the left wing homosexuals being apoplectic over the inclusion of Dr. Dobson's Time article making the statement quoted here:
"The attack against Dr. Dobson has been as unceasing as it has been baseless," said Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issue analysis for Focus on the Family. "The only thing that can explain the vehemence with which gay activists have responded to his commentary is that it galls them for a major publication like Time -- with a circulation of more than 4 million -- to give a platform to someone like Dr. Dobson, who stands for everything they oppose."

I should think we should all vehemently oppose such crap as the put out purporting to be truth.
Read the response of Ex-Gay Watch here where Michele Goldberg says:

"My first reaction to the FOTF retort Left Apoplectic Over Dr. Dobson's Time Platform was "Huh? Oh. What?" I'm rarely surprised to the point of being dumbfounded, but I found I was literally stunned."

the article also quotes Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out as he states:

"Feeling the heat of international condemnation, Dobson turned to character assassination on his webpage this week, suggesting his accusers were hostage to "liberal groupthink." I suppose, as a group, these acclaimed scientists do think that misrepresenting science is wrong. And, of course, it is worth noting that Dobson respected these very researchers enough to quote them last week. He only changed his tune after they upbraided him for unethical and unprofessional conduct."

In other religious news. The "fine" folk at former pastor Ted Haggard's church in Colorado Springs have started an investigation (ie witch hunt) for any one else in their leadership or congregation guilty of misconduct. You will get a hoot out of Don Savages take on the posting of a whistle blowing form on their web site as he wrote in his SLOG on Monday. It seems they want their membership to inform on the leaders and other members who have conduct issues. Click the link, you will ROTFLYAO.

In personal news today, I have both good and bad. Let's get the bad out of the way first and go on to happier things. I received in the mail today the determination by the Appeal Tribunal of the hearing I had just yesterday. The answer arrived too soon to be good news as I suspected and I was right, they have denied my unemployment compensation for the second time. Goliath with money, power and paper won out over David who had lost his slingshot. While leaving me the option of further appeal I really do not want to repeat bashing my head against the monolithic wall simply because it feels so good to stop. My gut reaction to the experience is illustrated by the following cartoon I found elsewhere in the blogosphere . If you substitute state for bear you will catch my drift.



The good news is that the man who interviewed me on the phone yesterday called me today and set up a second interview at 1PM tomorrow telling me to set aside a 3 hour block of time for said interview. I take this for a good sign, for why would a company set aside 3 hours of an executives time to waste on someone they did not want to seriously consider hiring. So hope springs eternal for Uncle Gerry to become once again a member of the working class proletariat.

All that being said, I am in a fairly upbeat mood going into the final five days before Christmas on Monday. I am working on a special post for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day already so be sure to come by and check it out as it is a labor of love and a "Thank You" for your loyalty in spending your time with me here at Nichevo. My readership is increasing on a daily basis as evidenced by the little map in the sidebar. I have readers now on all continents except Antarctica which is not shown, so I don't know if they have computer that work in that weather. Most amazing to me is I have readers in China and Russia where repression of the LGBT community is widespread and vehemently vitriolic. To all you readers in repressed societies, know that you can always come here and find a friend.

I hope you guys like the inclusion of some of my non-human photography her in these pages as I have quite a bit of it and the scenery is every bit as stunning as the representations of the male physique that I regularly present. I hope also that you enjoy the inclusion of music. I am a classical enthusiast (as if you could not tell by the selections so far) and I include the pieces I do because they add to the atmosphere that I am trying to create as well as enhancing the experience without distracting you from the enjoyment of the articles and photographs.

Now I must leave you to your enjoyment of the photography as I must hit the hay and be up in time to prepare myself for the coming opportunities of the morrow. By this time tomorrow I hope to be able to report to you of my reemployment as well as recapping the news that I feel would be of interest to you. So until next time as always, Enjoy!