Carrie Prejean to appear in traditional marriage ad; gets Liberty U. scholarship offer

Is anyone else puzzled by the response to our new family values spokeswoman? For taking a position against same-sex marriage in a beauty contest, she gets invited to the Dove Awards and offered a scholarship to attend Liberty University during her senior year by Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Now she will soon appear in an anti-same-sex marrage ad.
prejean
Cover (up) Girl and Miss California, Carrie Prejean.
Will she be able to abide by the dress code at Liberty U.? Probably will need some new swimwear…
Before some of my readers get all uppity, let me add that I think Perez Hilton was a jerk about the whole issue, should never have asked such a volatile question and reacted in extremely poor taste afterward. But unless religious conservatives have some kind of answer to our girls about how they can lionize a Miss USA contestant and stress modesty at the same time, I do not see the virtue in giving her the platform.

Obama supporters convicted of voter fraud in Ohio – an update

The New Paltz, NY Times Herald-Record has a story this morning on the conviction of Amy Little, Tate Hausman and Yolanda Hippensteele.

Political organizer from New Paltz guilty of illegal voting
By Alexa James
Times Herald-Record
Posted: April 30, 2009 – 2:00 AM
NEW PALTZ — Conspicuous political mobilizer Amy Little of New Paltz pleaded guilty Tuesday to voting illegally in Ohio during the presidential election campaign.
During the race, Little worked for an independent get-out-the-vote group called Vote Today Ohio. While touting Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the battleground state, she also registered to vote there.
Little, 50, claimed she’d moved from her home in New Paltz to a place in Columbus, near Ohio State University. Her new address doubled as headquarters for Vote Today Ohio. Other transplants in the group also used that location to register to vote in Ohio.
According to Ohio election laws, voters must reside in the state at least 30 days prior to the election and must intend to stay there after November.
“From my perspective, I was within the law,” Little said Wednesday, suggesting she was “targeted by Republicans.”
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles Schneider saw things differently. In court, he said Little and her compatriots chose to vote in Ohio, instead of their home states, in an attempt to sway its electoral college toward Obama.
He sentenced Little, along with Daniel “Tate” Hausman, 32, of New York, and Yolanda Hippensteele, 30, of California, either to spend 60 days in jail or pay a $1,000 fine. Little said she’ll pay the fine.
The controversy also cost Little her role as a paid adviser for Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains. He cut ties with her when the investigation surfaced.
Little plans to continue her political work in New Paltz. The misdemeanor conviction “is such a footnote,” she said. “Obama won by a landslide (in Ohio) and that’s what I was working for.”
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said his office is investigating dozens of voter fraud cases.

Little is probably correct that the numbers of voter fraud cases would not have tipped the election. However, her public quotes portray her as taking it all very lightly. The Ohio law is pretty clear that residency was required to vote in the state. These three people never planned to stay there. It is an open question how prevalent this practice was. I think the conduct of the leaders raises questions about the integrity of the entire Vote Today Ohio operation. Many people came from out of state to work for VTO and get out the Obama vote during Ohio’s “golden week” of early voting. Organizers were asking for places to stay for these out-of-state organizers all over the state. How many of them followed the lead of the VTO leaders?
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien told me yesterday that more indictments are on the way. Court documents relating to the case are here and here.

Multiple pathways to sexual orientation, Part 2

I have referred to this story several times. Seems like a fitting parable for our discussion.

The Blind Men and the Elephant
John Godfrey Saxe
It was six men of Hindustan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind)
That each by observation
Might satisfy the mind.
The first approached the Elephant
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side
At once began to bawl:
“Bless me, it seems the Elephant
Is very like a wall”.
The second, feeling of his tusk,
Cried, “Ho! What have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear”.
The third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Then boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake.”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Hindustan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right
And all were in the wrong.
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

NARTH not petitioning APAs

During his visit to London, Joseph Nicolosi touted the research supporting reparative therapy. He also said on at least one occasion that NARTH was petitioning the American Psychological Association with studies which verify the approach.
From Virtueonline:

Nicolosi said his organization – the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is petitioning the American Psychiatric Association to look at the scientific data.

The BBC News quoted Nicolosi as saying:

“We have a great deal of evidence showing that these individuals are not harmed and that the therapy does work.
“We are petitioning the American Psychiatric Association to look at the scientific data.”

In this BBC News radio interview at about 2:08, Nicolosi says,

We have a great deal of evidence showing that these individuals are not harmed and that the therapy does work…We are petitioning the American Psychological association to look at the data.

It seems clear to me that the APA at issue is the psychological group and not the psychiatric assocition. I asked David Pruden, NARTH Executive Director about the specifics of this petition to the APA. He referred the question to Dean Byrd, past-president of NARTH. Dr. Byrd replied:

NARTH has no plans to petition APA on behalf of reparative therapy (or any other therapy for that matter). Dr. Nicolosi, of course, is free to do whatever he likes.
The Scientific Advisory Committee of NARTH has been working on a number of projects aimed at preserving the rights of individuals to seek psychological care for unwanted homosexual attractions as well as protecting the rights of licensed professionals to provide ethical, effective care for this client population. When these projects are completed and ready for distribution, announcements will be made via press releases on the NARTH website and through other venues.

I am not sure what form a petition would take but it would be important news if some formal research report was available which purported to support reparative therapy (in the sense Nicolosi was using in the term in London – his brand of change therapy). There are various peer-reviewed professional journal articles around which review the available research (I have done two of them) on a host of approaches to behavior and attraction change. In my opinion, those reviews do not present evidence favoring the developmentally based, reparative drive theory and therapy.

Obama supporters found guilty of voter fraud in Ohio

I investigated and followed this story along with Palestra through the Fall. You can get caught up quickly at this post. Months later, the three leaders of Vote Today Ohio were found guilty of voter fraud.
Here is the story from the Columbus Dispatch:

3 voting advocates guilty of fraud
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 3:33 PM
By Barbara Carmen
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Three staff members for Vote Today Ohio, an independent get-out-the-vote organization supporting Barack Obama, pleaded guilty in Franklin County this afternoon to voter fraud.
The three came to Ohio from states where Obama was likely to win in an effort to swing Ohio’s electoral college vote toward their candidate, Judge Charles A. Schneider said.
Given a year’s probation and a $1,000 fine were Daniel Hausman, 32, and Amy Little, 50, both of New York, and Yolanda Hippensteele, 30, of California. They told the court they had good intentions when they registered to vote and cast ballots the same day in early voting at Veterans Memorial.
“I was paying rent and living full-time in Ohio,” Hippensteele told the judge, “I didn’t attempt to vote in another state. … I think it’s all a misunderstanding. I have a profound respect for the voting process.”
Assistant Prosecutor Brian Simms said the three later tried to rescind their registration and cancel their votes; two were successful. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien had warned visiting campaign staff members that they shouldn’t vote here if they didn’t plan to stay after the election.
Schneider told the three that “rescinding your request is like giving back the money once you’ve been caught.”

Amy Little was fired as a campaign adviser to Rep. John Hall (D-NY) after it was revealed that she had voted in Ohio, despite a residence in NY and intentions to return to NY.
Michael Stinziano, Director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, said he expects there may be more such outcomes since his office referred more allegations to the prosecutor.
Lots more on this story here.