MARYLAND: Appeals Court Makes It Easier To Fake Referendum Signatures

In a ruling that is already being celebrated by NOM, by a 5-2 decision the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that election officials may no longer contest illegible signatures on referendum petitions.

The Court of Appeals this week released its reasoning behind last fall’s decision on a Montgomery County ambulance fee referendum. The court decision will affect political efforts statewide, and signature-gatherers said it will make their task easier. Everything from local questions to a referendum on gay marriage, if such a measure passes the legislature, could feel the impact. Elections officials in Montgomery had rejected thousands of signatures on petitions last year because of the way voters signed their names. The elections officials blocked a referendum seeking to undo a newly passed fee for ambulance service, and that decision was upheld by a Montgomery circuit court judge. But in September, the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court and ordered the referendum placed on the ballot. It didn’t say why, until Tuesday.

Scribble any signature you like. As long as the printed name matches that of a registered voter, the petition will be counted. GOP activists are quoted in the above-linked article as saying they are "thrilled" with the ruling. Why wouldn't they be?

Journey Into Manhood 2010: Now With MORE Hot "Ex-Gay" Man-Rubbing!

Journey Into Manhood, the backwoods "lets hug that sweaty homo-sex outta you, dude" conference has announced its 2010 schedule. Via Christian Newswire:

Surveys of past Journey Into Manhood participants indicate that four out of five men surveyed have experienced a decrease in homosexual attractions. More than half report an increase in heterosexual attractions, while nine out of 10 report a decrease in distress or shame. Ninety-five percent say they would recommend the program to others. Although Journey Into Manhood is not a religious weekend, it has been endorsed by the founders of both the leading Catholic and Jewish ministries serving people who are working to resolve unwanted homosexuality. It has also been endorsed by one of the world's leading psychologists supporting sexual reorientation: Dr. Joseph Nicolosi (NARTH).

Journey Into Manhood, is coming to England October 29 to 31, then to the U.S. states of Texas (Nov. 12 to 14) and Florida (Dec. 3 to 5). Journey Into Manhood is a 48-hour immersion in self-discovery, catharsis and emotional healing for men who feel that their homosexual attractions stem largely from unhealed emotional wounds and unmet needs, including, oftentimes, a history of alienation from male peers. Each weekend is peer-led by about 20 volunteers, including men who have resolved homosexuality themselves. The cost is US$650, including meals and accommodations at the camp or retreat center.

You may recall straight reporter Ted Cox went undercover at a recent Journey Into Manhood. An excerpt from his creepy experience:

At one point, the staff members all sang out in unison, their voices filling the high walls of the camp lodge. Somewhere in the room, a man sobbed over the sound of the music. It was the first night of “Journey into Manhood,” a 48-hour weekend retreat designed to help gay men become straight. In that room, about fifty men — some thirty “Journeyers” and fifteen staff members — sat on the carpeted floor of a ranch lodge two hours outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the men, except for a few of the staff members, struggled to overcome their attraction to other men. Sometime during all that holding and touching and singing, while I was cradled in the Motorcycle position, I felt it: the unmistakable bulge pressing through his tight jeans. It was the first time in my life I had a felt another man’s erection.

Check out the Journey Into Manhood website. If you can bear it, here's their promotional video.

Arizona GOP Accused Of Fielding Fake Green Party Candidates

Democratic Party officials in Arizona have accused the GOP of creating fake Green Party candidates in order to split the Democratic vote in November.

The complaint names Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix; Steve May, a Republican candidate for the Legislature; and a House Republican staffer as complicit in an effort to register at least a half-dozen people as Green Party members so they could run as write-in candidates in last week's primary election. Republicans accused of the ploy denied any wrongdoing. Under state election law, it only takes one write-in vote for a person to qualify as a Green candidate on the Nov. 2 general-election ballot. The newly minted Green candidates have been disavowed by the Arizona Green Party and are running in races in which Democrats are believed to be competitive. Those races include secretary of state, treasurer, Arizona Corporation Commission and several legislative contests in swing districts.

One of the suspicious Green Party candidates is the roommate of the daughter of an Arizona GOP official.

UPDATE: JMG reader Homer notes that one of the accused GOP scamsters, Steve May, is an out gay man.

(Tipped by JMG reader Band)

The Revolution Will Be Tweeted

As Andrew Sullivan has exhaustively documented over the last few days, the most fascinating aspect of the brewing revolution in Iran is the way that internet social media, particularly Twitter, has worked to unite, inform, and inspire the rebels.

Twitter, the online service designed to tell the world - in 140 characters or fewer - how your day is going or your date went last night, has unwittingly become the most trusted name in news in the micro-blogosphere. The often-mocked social networking Web site has provided some of the most riveting real-time coverage of the uprising in Iran, where supporters of pro-reform presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi took to the streets again Monday. Iranian activists circumvented the regime's attempts to block Twitter, flooding the site with their accounts of the day's violence. Supporters of defeated reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi protest Monday in Tehran. The Iranian government has tried to block Twitter. "It's 2:25am and I can hear gunshots and people shouting in Kaveh Blvd, It's nightmarish!... no, It is really a nightmare!" posted one Twitter user identifying herself as ****** in Tehran.

Late Monday afternoon, it became impossible to keep up with the stream of "tweets." Sympathetic computer experts from around the world tweeted back, offering solidarity in the form of help in evading government censorship. In many cases, people outside Iran provided the Internet addresses of uncensored computers that allowed protesters to bypass the Twitter filter. But the Iranian government caught on and began blocking the addresses as soon as they were posted, Twitterers reported. "They are screening Twitter!" one Iranian wrote Monday afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon Twitter temporarily canceled a planned maintenance downtime after Sullivan and numerous others pointed out that the interruption could affect the events in Iran.