From my group, Equality South Dakota:

Equality South Dakota
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Mudd, 605.214.1299 or Todd Epp, 605.351.5021

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS RIGHTS OF ITS GLBT CITIZENS

EqSD Applauds Decision Which Gives Hope to GLBT South Dakotans And Their Friends and Families

SIOUX FALLS, SD--Today, the California Supreme Court (click link for decision) made a historic decision to guarantee marriage equality for all of its citizens.

"This is a victory for fairness and opportunity." says Karen Mudd, chair of Equality South Dakota (EqSD), a statewide advocacy organization with a mission to help secure and protect the rights and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) South Dakotans and their families.

"While South Dakotans are unaffected legally by this ruling, we are hopeful that we here in South Dakota will someday have the same opportunity to solidify our families." according to Mudd. This victory energizes our own efforts to continue working for fairness and equality for families in our state."

Same sex couples live in every county of South Dakota, many with children. EqSD is based on the premise that that they deserve the same opportunity to have the same rights and responsibilities as all other couples.

Seeing couples get married in CA will give people here in South Dakota the opportunity to see how giving two people in a committed, trusting and loving relationship strengthens our neighborhoods, towns and cities.

While this is historic, we already know from several years of marriage for same-sex couples in MA that it is not the terrible thing that opponents of marriage say it is. In fact, it's just the opposite. We look forward to the day when committed couples in here in South Dakota have the same chance to legalize their relationships. Equality South Dakota will continue to work for fairness for all families.

Across the country, state equality groups are working to ensure that families of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have the same rights and responsibilities as all other families. Currently, marriage litigation is pending in Iowa and Connecticut , where Federation member groups One Iowa and Love Makes a Family, respectively, are leading efforts to educate the public about the need for basic fairness for all families. In New Jersey, Garden State Equality is aggressively pursuing marriage equality through the legislature, as is New York 's Empire State Pride Agenda in theirs. In states like SD with marriage bans, state equality groups continue to explore other options for providing basic protections for LGBT families.

"Most Americans believe that marriage equality will be a reality in their lifetimes," noted Mudd. "Equality organizations like ours throughout the nation are working hard to achieve the American dream of equality and justice for all. We are all inspired by the CA marriage decision and look forward to the day when every American in every state and territory will have the opportunity to realize their hopes and dreams by marrying the person they love."

Paid for by Equality South Dakota, 610 S. Grand Ave., Harrisburg, SD 57032, Lawrence Novotny, treasurer. Contributions are not tax deductible.

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Technorati Tags: LGBT, GLBT, gay rights, gay marriage, South Dakota, California, supreme courts, law

My Man Crush, Sen. Barack Obama, will have at least one vote in the June primary. I am sending in my absentee/early voting ballot today to the auditor in Canton. It's good to know that Barack won't be skunked.

Speaking of which.

How much do you think Barack will win by on June 3d? Put your predictions in comments.

I predict a solid win for Sen. Man Crush--57 to 43 percent. That might be a little optimistic. But I expect at least a ten point win.

Why?

1. Daschle factor. South Dakota Democrats like Tom Daschle. And Tom Hearts Barack.
2. All the other major Democrats back Barack--Sen. Tim Johnson, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Committee People Sharon Stroschein, Chairman Jack Billion, and Sen. George McGovern all have Obamafever.
3. The Obama campaign is running a field campaign for the primary, the likes of which this state hasn't seen. More staff, more seasoned staff, more volunteers, more money, more resources. And they've been in place about a month longer than Sen. Hillary Clinton's troops.
4. Sen. Obama has won all of the surrounding states already. I'd find it hard to believe South Dakota suddenly loves Hillary more. I'm just sayin'.
5. Sen. Obama needs wins--and big wins--in Montana and South Dakota--the last two primaries--for a post-primary bounce. It is the final knife in the Clinton campaign and an not too subtle sign to the Superdelegates about who has the best chance of changing the electoral map.

But that's why they have elections. The Clinton campaign has been extremely aggressive as of late in our state. June 3d should be fun to watch!


Technorati Tags: South Dakota, primary, Presidential Election, 2008 election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

I again break my self-imposed exile for important news.

My good Republican friend Lee Schoenbeck--former S.D. state legislator, oft mentioned candidate for governor, and great beige hunter--turns 50 years old today.

I can't imagine being that old. Wait, I'm 49 and turn 50 this year. I guess I'll have to face my own mortality soon just as Lee is doing today.

Anyway, hunting buddy and blog commenter, have a wonderful birthday!

Photo: Lawyer, legislator, hunter, and now, AARP eligible--Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown, SD.

Technorati Tags: Lee Schoenbeck, Watertown, South Dakota, legislators, GOP

Here is the latest West Virginia Democratic Presidential Primary information. Refresh occasionally for updates.


Technorati Tags: West Virginia Primary, 2008 election, Presidential Primaries, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

Media Matters has done a study on the invasion of military experts on the nation’s airwaves and cablewaves.  Don’t assume you’re getting unbiased analysis.  There is apparently an agenda—a pro-Pentagon/Bush Administration agenda at work with many of the retired military brass and others who comment on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and other conflicts. 

Item Summary:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805130001

Military analysts named in Times exposé appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on broadcast nets, cables, NPR

A New York Times article detailed the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries, reporting that “the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform” media military analysts “into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.” A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in the Times article — many identified as having ties to the defense industry — collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR. (Read more…)

Full Item Below:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805130001

Military analysts named in Times exposé appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on broadcast nets, cables, NPR

On April 20, The New York Times published an article by investigative reporter David Barstow that detailed the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries. Barstow reported that “the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform” media military analysts, many of whom have clients or work for companies with an interest in obtaining Pentagon contracts, “into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.” A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in Barstow’s article — many identified as having ties to the defense industry — collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR in segments covering the Iraq war both before and after the invasion, as well as numerous other national security or government policy issues.

A spreadsheet listing each of the analysts’ appearances documented by Media Matters is available here.

The following chart lists 20 analysts included in Barstow’s article, the network or networks on which each analyst appeared, and the number of appearances made by each analyst since January 1, 2002, as tabulated by Media Matters:

Military analyst	Networks	Number of appearances identified by Media Matters
David L. Grange	CNN, CNN Headline News	921
Donald W. Shepperd	CNN	713
Barry R. McCaffrey	NBC, MSNBC, CNBC	642
James Marks	CNN	299
Rick Francona	NBC, MSNBC, CNBC	296
Wayne A. Downing	NBC, MSNBC, CNBC	270
Robert H. Scales Jr.	Fox News, National Public Radio	176 (Fox News) 73 (NPR)*
William V. Cowan	Fox News	189
Kenneth Allard	NBC, MSNBC, CNBC	180
Thomas G. McInerney	Fox News	144
Montgomery Meigs	NBC, MSNBC, CNBC	125
Robert L. Maginnis	Fox News	113
William L. Nash	ABC, ABC News Now	96
Paul E. Vallely	Fox News	81
Charles T. Nash	Fox News	54
Robert S. Bevelacqua	Fox News	48
Jeffrey D. McCausland	CBS, CBS Radio Network	43
Timur J. Eads	Fox News	28
Joseph W. Ralston	CBS, CBS Radio Network	19
John C. Garrett	Fox News	8

NOTE: Transcripts for all programs on CNN are available in the Nexis database, but for the other cable news networks transcripts are available for only some shows.

*This figure includes 31 appearances from 2005 and later, when — according to NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik — Scales was no longer serving as an official NPR consultant but rather was an unpaid guest.

Methodology

Media Matters used the Nexis database to tabulate appearances by analysts on networks with which they were affiliated that included discussions of issues related to national security or U.S. government policy. Instances in which analysts appeared on networks other than those with which they were affiliated were not counted. Media Matters counted as appearances both instances in which an analyst appeared as a guest on a show — either live during the show, or in a pre-taped interview aired during the show — either live during the show, or in a pre-taped interview aired during the show — and instances in which a report included a clip of an analyst’s commentary. The study was limited to appearances made after January 1, 2002.

Re-airings of news programs in their entirety were excluded from the study. However, instances in which the same report, interview, or quote was aired on different shows or more than once during the course of the same program were counted as separate appearances in this study. If an analyst appeared several separate times during the same show, Media Matters counted each one as a distinct appearance.

Nexis includes transcripts for all news programs on CNN but for the other cable news networks transcripts are available for only some shows; appearances on programs whose transcripts do not appear in Nexis were not included in this study.

Finally, the Times article reported that some of the analysts “pointed out, accurately, that they did not always agree with the administration or each other” and that “[m]any analysts strongly denied that they had either been co-opted or had allowed outside business interests to affect their on-air comments, and some have used their platforms to criticize the conduct of the war.” In conducting this study, Media Matters did not assess whether individual instances of commentary — or the analysts themselves — were supportive of administration policy.

Technorati Tags: military, commentary, TV news, war covverage, Media Matters

I emerge from my hiatus with some interesting news on the Hunt Trustee litigation against Hyperion’s Albert Huddleston. I have obtained a copy of the Texas lawsuit (click here for .pdf 4-29-08 Original Petition re Vranac v. Legacy, Inc. et al.pdf) as well as a listing of major players in Hyperion from the Texas Secretary of State’s Office (click here Hyperion Mgt team.mht).

The lawsuit is interesting reading, with some literary flourishes not always found in often dry petitions (complaints).

For example:



“… Since his marriage to Mary (Huddleston), Albert has pursued a variety of businesses—always unsuccessfully. Although he holds the title of chief executive officer of Legacy (the Hunt trust’s corporation that produces most of its income), his efforts in that position have been unproductive, expensive, and self-aggrandizing… . “



“… Albert (Huddleston) is well-known for his failed business ventures… . “



“… Albert (Huddleston) also requested that a distribution of an additional $20 million be made to Mary (Huddleston) to fund other misquided projects in Iraq and South Dakota. When Plaintiff informed him he was not agreeable to a distribution for these proposed expenditures, Albert became upset and threatened Plaintiff with a lawsuit… . “

Well, so much for Big Al having the Golden Touch. This is who Gov. Mike Rounds has climbed into bed with on this project.

I’m just sayin’.

Technorati Tags: Albert Huddleston, Mary Huddleston, Gorilla Project, Hyperion, Mary Hunt, Texas, refinery, lawsuits