Sunday, November 11, 2012

Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender & Queer Jamaica: Vatican vows ...


* Twin Vatican editorials come after U.S. elections, decisions in France, Spain

* Vatican says supporting gay marriage part of "politically correct ideology"

* Says will never stop fighting gay marriage

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The Vatican, reacting to strong gains for gay marriage in the United States and Europe, on Saturday pledged never to stop fighting attempts to "erase" the privileged role of heterosexual marriage, which it called it "an achievement of civilisation".

For the second consecutive day, Vatican media weighed in with forceful editorials restating the Roman Catholic Church's unequivocal opposition.

"It is clear that in Western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union," Father Federico Lombardi, said in a tough editorial on Vatican Radio.

Voters in the U.S. states of Maryland, Maine and Washington state approved same-sex marriage on Tuesday, marking the first time marriage rights have been extended to same-sex couples by popular vote.

Same-sex unions have been legalized in six states and the District of Columbia by lawmakers or courts.

Lombardi's editorial on Vatican Radio, which is broadcast around the world in some 30 languages, called the votes myopic, saying "the logic of it cannot have a far-sighted outlook for the common good".

Lombardi, who is also the Vatican's chief spokesman as well as director of Vatican Radio and Vatican Television, said there was "public acknowledgement" that "monogamous marriage between a man and woman is an achievement of civilisation".

WHY NOT POLYGAMY?

"If not, why not contemplate also freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry?" he said.

Polyandry is when a woman has more than one husband.

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but homosexual acts are. It says the rights of homosexuals should be guaranteed but that their unions should not be recognised as equal to heterosexuals and they should not be allowed to adopt children.

The constitutionality of restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman is widely expected to be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court soon.

The powerful U.S. Catholic Bishops conference, which is already at odds with the administration of President Barack Obama because its health care law obliges most employers to cover contraception, is expected to take a lead in trying to influence the court's decision.

Earlier this week, Spain's highest court upheld a gay marriage law, and in France the socialist government has unveiled a draft law that would allow gay marriage.

An editorial in Friday's edition of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said local Catholic Churches in many countries around the world were "the sentinels of religious freedom" for opposing gay marriage.

It called support for gay marriage "an ideology founded on political correctness which is invading every culture of the world".

"The Church is the only institution to say that, while persecuting homosexuals in undoubtedly unjust, opposing marriage between people of the same sex is a point of view that must be respected," the Vatican newspaper editorial said. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://glbtqjamaica.blogspot.com/2012/11/vatican-vows-to-fight-gay-marriage.html

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Saturday, November 10, 2012

12-Step Programs Help Teens Battle Addiction | Psych Central News

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 9, 2012

12-Step Programs Help Teens Battle AddictionNew research finds that 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous, known as a successful intervention for adult alcoholics, can also? be an effective treatment strategy for young adults.

Specialists from the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Butler Center for Research at Hazelden, found that young adults undergoing addiction treatment benefited from regular participation in 12-step-based self-help groups after discharge.

Study findings are published electronically in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

?Very little is known about the effects of 12-step attendance and involvement on outcomes for young adults. Our study shows that 12-step community resources, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), can provide local, accessible and cost-effective recovery resources for young adults during a stage in life when such support is rare,? said John F. Kelly, Ph.D., of the Center for Addiction Medicine.

Kelly authored the study with Robert L. Stout, Ph.D., of Decision Sciences Institute in Providence, Rhode Island, and Valerie Slaymaker, Ph.D., of the Butler Center for Research at Hazelden in Center City, Minnesota.

?Alcohol and drug use is high among young adults in general compared to other age groups. Young people who are in early recovery from addiction face a tough time finding social support and supportive peer networks,? said Slaymaker.

?Because typical AA and NA groups are mostly comprised of middle-aged adults, we were pleased to find young adults can affiliate and fully engage in these support groups, and their engagement improves substance use outcomes over time.?

Researchers analyzed over 300 young adults, ages 18 to 24, attending multidisciplinary, Twelve Step-based residential treatment for alcohol or other drug addiction.

Investigators focused on the extent to which participation and active involvement in community 12-step groups contributed to substance use outcomes over the course of one year following discharge.

Average AA/NA attendance peaked at approximately three times per week at three months post-discharge, and dropped to just over once per week at the one year follow-up.

Greater attendance was independently associated with higher abstinence days, even controlling for a variety of other factors such as motivation. An even stronger relationship was found for active group involvement, such as speaking up during meetings ? an effect that grew over time.

Experts say the data suggest that merely attending community 12-step groups, while helpful, will only take a young adult?s recovery so far. Consistent and active involvement maintains and increases the benefit of participation, resulting in sustained and improved outcomes over time.

Source: Butler Center for Research at Hazelden

Intense young man photo by shutterstock.


APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2012). 12-Step Programs Help Teens Battle Addiction. Psych Central. Retrieved on November 10, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/11/09/12-step-programs-help-teens-battle-addiction/47406.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/11/09/12-step-programs-help-teens-battle-addiction/47406.html

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London mayor opposes sale of Henry Moore sculpture

FILE - In this June. 3, 1996 file photo of Henry Moore's sculpture "Draped, Seated Woman". A cash-strapped authority in east London says it's selling a valuable Henry Moore statue over the objections of leading British arts figures including director Danny Boyle. London's Tower Hamlets Council said late Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, that "Draped Seated Woman," which stood for years on a public housing complex in the city's East End, would be sold "due to the massive government cuts we are facing." (AP Photo/PA, File) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE

FILE - In this June. 3, 1996 file photo of Henry Moore's sculpture "Draped, Seated Woman". A cash-strapped authority in east London says it's selling a valuable Henry Moore statue over the objections of leading British arts figures including director Danny Boyle. London's Tower Hamlets Council said late Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, that "Draped Seated Woman," which stood for years on a public housing complex in the city's East End, would be sold "due to the massive government cuts we are facing." (AP Photo/PA, File) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE

(AP) ? The mayor of London on Thursday urged a cash-strapped local government not to sell an iconic Henry Moore sculpture that once stood in one of the city's poorest areas.

Entering a dispute that pits the value of art against the cold realities of austerity Britain, Mayor Boris Johnson said it would be "a tragedy" if "Draped Seated Woman" was not on public display.

But authorities in Tower Hamlets ? one of the poorest of London's 32 boroughs ? say they have no choice but to sell the artwork to help make up for funding cuts.

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman said the decision to sell was made reluctantly, "but I have a duty to ensure residents do not suffer from the brunt of the horrendous cuts being imposed on us."

All levels of government are facing cuts as Prime Minister David Cameron's administration slashes billions in spending in a bid to curb the national deficit. Tower Hamlets Council says it must make 100 million pounds ($160 million) in savings by 2015.

Estimates of the sculpture's value range from 5 million pounds to 20 million pounds ($8 million to $32 million).

Arts figures including Moore's daughter Mary and "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle have led a campaign to keep the sculpture in public hands, and the Museum of London has offered to house it.

Moore, one of Britain's best-known 20th-century artists, sold the sculpture to the council's predecessor in 1960 for a token price in order to enrich the lives of the area's poorer residents.

The bronze sculpture, nicknamed "Old Flo," stood for years on a public housing complex in the borough. When the project was torn down it was moved in 1997 to a sculpture park in northern England.

Johnson said Moore had intended the sculpture "for the benefit of local people in Tower Hamlets."

"It will be a tragedy if nothing can be done to ensure it goes back on public display in the borough as originally intended," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-11-08-Britain-Henry%20Moore/id-5f77ca1eb7b2451db8a49b75c92313c8

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

A second chance for Johnny Cash's childhood home

Under the guidance of Arkansas State University, fund-raising and restoration is well under way with the ultimate goal of returning rundown Dyess, Ark., to some of its former glory.

By Bryan Kay,?Correspondent / November 6, 2012

The home of country singing legend Johnny Cash in Dyess, Ark., before it was acquired by Arkansas State University. The university is heading a project to restore the house, where Cash grew up during the 1930s, as a historical site and tourist attraction.

Courtesy of Arkansas State University

Enlarge

On a fine sunny day in late summer, a prison work gang is busy clearing litter from the grounds around Dyess City Hall in the heart of town, providing a portentous sign.

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This settlement of just a few hundred, created during the Depression as part of President Franklin D.?Roosevelt's?New Deal project, is the childhood home to that well-known advocate of the incarcerated, country music legend Johnny Cash.

The figurative relevance of the low-risk prisoners (guilty of minor crimes), who are frequent visitors?according to the Dyess mayor, runs deep.

Perhaps more than most places, Dyess, located in Mississippi County, Ark., a short drive west of the Mississippi River, is all about second chances:?Back in the 1930s, the brand-new government colony was a second chance for the Cash family after the economic ravages of the Depression and the poverty of their former home in Kingsland, Ark.?

Today, Dyess is poised on the?precipice?of a second chance of its own.

Under the guidance of Arkansas State University, fund-raising and restoration is well under way in the settlement with the ultimate goal of returning rundown Dyess to some of its former glory ? this time as a tourist attraction. One of the centerpieces, and almost certainly the biggest draw, is set to be Cash's boyhood home, a farmstead on the edge of town.

The colony-turned-city is a?dilapidated shadow of the vibrant farming community it once represented. Back then it was buttressed by the bounty of cotton fields and a population that topped out at about 3,000. The area has been in decline since the end of World War II, a process that accelerated in the 1960s and '70s as locals struggled to survive on the flood-prone land, says Dyess Mayor Larry Sim.

These days, the cotton is long gone. There are fewer than 500 inhabitants, and the town is located in a region that statistics indicate is one of the most economically deprived in the nation: In Mississippi County, 25.5 percent of the population live below the poverty line, compared with 13.8 percent nationally, according to US Census Bureau data.??

Ruth Hawkins, director of Arkansas Heritage Sites, the office at Arkansas State University in nearby Jonesboro that leads the project, hailed the restoration as a potential boon for the local economy. The project also includes the transformation of the old administration?building into a museum and new home for city hall.

?It is projected this is going to have a major impact on the Arkansas Delta, one of the poorest regions in the country,? she explains. "We are focusing on the heritage of the?town ? not just Johnny Cash but historic Dyess itself. We project about 30,000 to 50,000 visitors a year. We are looking [at creating] 100 new jobs and about $10 million in [annual] revenue for this area.?

Known as "Historic Dyess: Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash", the visitor attraction hopes to tell the story of Dyess and how it produced not only Johnny Cash, but also fellow country stars Gene Williams and Buddy Jewell, as well as a string of other successful individuals, including? current Arkansas Commissioner of Education Tom Kimbrell. A biking and walking trail connecting the center of Dyess with the Cash farmstead is also planned.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/j6zZQKZ4Dx0/A-second-chance-for-Johnny-Cash-s-childhood-home

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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Asia-Europe Meeting: build growth with cooperation

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) ? Leaders from Asia and Europe called Tuesday for closer cooperation between the two continents in addressing the current global economic and financial crisis.

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, also unequivocally affirmed the euro's future.

A two-day Asia-Europe Meeting in Laos was attended by leaders and ministers from 51 countries, including new members Norway, Switzerland and Bangladesh.

The meeting, known as ASEM, endorsed closer economic ties between the two continents to promote stronger and sustained growth. Combined, the two regions produce half the world's GDP and have 60 percent of the world's population.

The crisis in Europe has affected not only most economies there but also their trading partners in Asia. But Van Rompuy said there was no sign of Asian resentment that it was being asked to carry its ailing European friends.

"There was no blame game," he said. "Rather a clear sense that in Asia as well as in Europe, we are all on the same boat."

The leaders also reaffirmed a commitment to fight against trade barriers that have crept in some places as a result of the crisis, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

He said there was "a strong rejection of protectionism" and a commitment to the "importance that trade can have for strong sustainable growth."

Although not on the ASEM agenda, the issue of financially battered Greece was on many minds at the summit.

Greece's international bailout creditors are demanding a series of painful spending cuts and tax hikes in exchange for rescue loans. Debt inspectors from the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund, collectively known as the troika, are preparing a report on the state of Greece's compliance with its bailout terms.

Van Rompuy played down fears of problems with the disbursement of Greece's next bailout payment.

"I urge the Greek government and leading political parties to decide what is needed to reach a final agreement with the troika," he said.

The next ASEM summit will be in Brussels in two years.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-europe-meeting-build-growth-cooperation-164452912--finance.html

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