• A researcher from their team ruined an opportunity by scheduling dueling real estate agents to look at a property for sale at the time, leaving me to sort out the mess with the agents instead of following the agreed to plan. Operation ruined.
  


• On a mission to gain information, the same researcher became inebriated and ruined an information seeking operation. By speaking about the mission prematurely, individuals were tipped off. Operation ruined.

• The project leader was given information by me and said it was not something he knew. Weeks later, the story changed and he claimed he had known the information, but hid that fact from me. Either he was lying when I told him or he was lying later... either way, it's a lie. Case setback, negatively affected.
  

Law enforcement officials are trying desperately to apprehend - and save the life of - an alleged blackmailer who supposedly met with a bloody rebuke at the hands of state law enforcement officers after attempting to extort $200,000 from a prominent S.C. Republican official, multiple sources have confirmed to FITS.

In addition to these sources, a senior agent at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has confirmed details of the alleged extortion drama to FITS, and sources even closer to the top at SLED tell us that the agency has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requesting that they look into the matter.

Rumors of the alleged drama have been making their way through South Carolina political circles in hushed tones for several months now, first reaching our ears last November.

We initially dismissed the accusations as too far-fetched to be true, however we began to dig deeper after sources at SLED confirmed details of the alleged incident to us.

Support for the LGBT Community
http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/

-- Barack Obama, June 1, 2007

• Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
  
  
• Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
  
  
• Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
  
  
• Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
  
  
• Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
  
  
• Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
  
  
• Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
  
  
• Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.

Happy inauguration, Mr. President
Gay rights leaders in their own words
From Washington Blade staff report

The Blade asked prominent figures in the gay rights movement to compose welcome messages to President-elect Barack Obama as he takes office. Some of the responses are shown below.

“As you take office after the most successful campaign in history, I hope you do not forget the extraordinary everyday people you met when you first began your work as a community organizer. Your job, like then, is to bring fairness and equality for all and to make America a better place. Please do not disappoint those most in need of your leadership. Keep making change. Keep making history.”
— Mike Rogers, Page One News Media

1. Denial: "Do you know who I am?" (While tossing down a business card from the US Senate.)
2. Anger: Scream at the cop who arrested you.
3. Bargaining: I can plead guilty to make this go away, even though I am innocent.
4. Depression: Well, I am sure he isn't exactly thrilled with losing the Senate seat.
5. Acceptance: I'll drop the appeals. Yep, I'm guilty.

AP: Larry Craig Drops Appeals

Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has reached the end of the road in his effort to reverse his conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting, one of his lawyers said Thursday.

Attorney Tom Kelly said Craig had decided against asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to void the conviction. The decision means the legal wrangling in the case is over.

"We've concluded that the Supreme Court would not accept this for review," Kelly said. "It would be a futile exercise."

Thursday was the 30-day deadline for Craig to ask the high court to review a Minnesota Court of Appeals decision that went against him. The Supreme Court typically grants only about 25 percent to 30 percent of those requests, according to court figures.

The Idaho Republican was arrested June 11, 2007, by an undercover police officer conducting a sting operation against men cruising for sex at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The senator quietly pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine, but changed his mind after word of his arrest later became public.

As his political career disintegrated, Craig insisted he was innocent and that he was not gay. He said the officer had misconstrued his foot-tapping actions in the airport bathroom.

Last month, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected Craig's bid to withdraw his guilty plea. It affirmed a lower court decision that his plea was "accurate, voluntary and intelligent" and that it was supported by the evidence.

Craig did not seek re-election in November for the seat he had held for 18 years. He was succeeded Tuesday by political veteran Jim Risch, a Republican former lieutenant governor, governor and state senator.

THE most difficult thing about the cloned puppies is not telling them apart, but explaining why they don’t look exactly alike. This was the problem Lou Hawthorne faced on a recent afternoon hike with Mira and MissyToo, two dogs whose embryos were created from the preserved, recycled and repurposed nuclear DNA of the original Missy, a border collie-husky mix who died in 2002.