Daily Archives: January 9, 2010

by | January 9, 2010

Christine Johnson,Lesbian lawmaker in Utah carries baby for gay men

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) will serve an additional role when the Utah Legislature convenes this month. The lesbian lawmaker announced she’s a surrogate mother, carrying a baby for two gay men.

Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, said she decided to become artificially impregnated with sperm from one of the men after the two close friends expressed frustration over the difficulty of adopting a child.
law prohibits unmarried couples from adopting and does not recognize gay marriage.

Johnson, 41, who has a 17-year-old daughter from a two-year marriage, is four months pregnant and expecting on June 21.

“I can very much empathize with their desire to become parents and share their lives with and open their hearts to a child,” Johnson told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m immeasurably grateful to be a mother.”

Johnson offered to be a surrogate at no cost to save the Salt Lake County men the prohibitive cost of hiring one—as much as $100,000.

The men, who were married in California when gay marriage was legal, will pick up the medical costs.

Johnson said she’s aware that many lawmakers in conservative Utah think a child does best with both a mother and a father. She predicts the men will be “wonderful parents.”

“Gender or sexual orientation is less important than children being welcomed into a supportive, loving home,” she told the Deseret News. “This child is going to have an amazing life.”

She has declined to identify the men.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said he thinks having both a mother and father in the home “is the optimum, and what every baby deserves.”

But he added: “I do respect any woman who will carry and bear a child for a childless couple … It’s my responsibility to show respect and love for one of God’s daughters.”

House Speaker David Clark, R-Santa Clara, also a Mormon, agrees. “At the end of the day, it’s the gift of life” that is important, he said.

Johnson said the child will know her as the mother, but that she will have an “aunt-type relationship.”

The man whose sperm was used to impregnate Johnson will have the same rights to the child as any biological father. But under Utah law, his partner cannot be an adoptive parent.

Testing has shown the baby is free from genetic disorders that are more common with later pregnancies. The baby’s sex is still unknown.

Johnson was born on the East Coast and moved with her family to Provo when she was 8. She later left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Johnson said she doesn’t think her constituents will react negatively to her pregnancy. She plans to seek a third term this year.

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by | January 9, 2010

Harry Reid apologizes for ‘no Negro dialect’ comment

Harry Reid the racist bigot

What a joke

WASHINGTON – The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate apologized on Saturday for comments he made about Barack Obama’s race during the 2008 presidential bid and are quoted in a yet-to-be-released book about the campaign.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada described in private then-Sen. Barack Obama as “light skinned” and “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Obama is the nation’s first African-American president.

“I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments,” Reid said in a statement released after the excerpts were first reported on the Web site of The Atlantic.

“I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama’s legislative agenda.”

Reid remained neutral during the bitter Democratic primary that became a marathon contest between Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom Obama tapped as the United States’ top diplomat after the election.

Reid’s comments are included in the book, obtained Saturday by The Associated Press and set to be published on Monday. “Game Change” was written by Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin and New York magazine’s John Heilemann.

The book also says Reid urged Obama to run, perceiving the first-term senator’s impatience.

“You’re not going to go anyplace here,” Reid told Obama of the Senate. “I know that you don’t like it, doing what you’re doing.”

In another section, aides to Republican nominee John McCain described the difficulties they faced with their vice presidential pick, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Steve Schmidt, a senior member of Sen. John McCain’s presidential team, is quoted telling Palin’s foreign policy tutors: “You guys have a lot of work to do. She doesn’t know anything.”

The authors also quote Obama’s initial reaction to McCain’s selection of a little-known governor: “Wow. Well, I guess she’s change.”

Vice presidential nominee Joe Biden was direct. “Who’s Sarah Palin?” the book quotes the then-senator as asking as they left the nominating convention in Denver.

Reid, facing a tough 2010 re-election bid, needs the White House’s help if he wants to keep his seat. Obama’s administration has dispatched officials on dozens of trips to buoy his bid and Obama has raised money for his campaign.

Recognizing the threat, Reid’s apologies also played to his home state: “Moreover, throughout my career, from efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry to opposing radical judges and promoting diversity in the Senate, I have worked hard to advance issues.”

Even before his ill-considered remarks were reported, a new survey released Saturday by the Las Vegas Review Journal showed him continuing to earn poor polling numbers. In the poll, by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Reid trailed former state Republican party chairwoman Sue Lowden by a 10 percentage points, 50 percent to 40 percent, and also lagging behind two other opponents.

More than half of Nevadans had an unfavorable opinion of Reid. Just 33 percent of respondents held a favorable opinion.

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by | January 9, 2010

Conan O’Brien heading to Fox

I like Conan O’Brien more than Leno,  and O’Brien is still willinng to push the envelope where Jay is too busy playing it safe.   Conan,  NBC has burned you more than once.  Go to Fox.   You will own late night.   JD

LOS ANGELES — If “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien decides to leave NBC over its proposed late-night lineup revamp, he might find a warm welcome waiting for him at Fox.

Fox respects O’Brien’s talent and sees him as a good fit, a person at the network said Friday. The person, who lacked authority to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Fox was watching to see how the situation played out but that O’Brien remained under contract with NBC.

Faced with poor ratings for both “The Jay Leno Show” and O’Brien’s show, the network is said to be considering returning Leno to his 11:35 p.m. EST slot and moving “Tonight” to midnight.

Representatives for O’Brien did not immediately respond to requests for comment about his plans.

ABC, for its part, indicated a lack of interest if O’Brien becomes a free agent.

“With all due respect to Conan, we like the late night hand that we are currently playing,” the network, home of “Nightline” in the late-night slot, said in a statement Friday.

Many NBC affiliates have complained that viewership for their 11 p.m. newscasts have plummeted because Leno’s 10 p.m. show is such a weak lead-in.

“I think Jay Leno’s a great performer. He’s just at the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes. There is something wrong with not correcting them,” said Bob Prather, president and chief operating officer at Atlanta-based Gray Television Inc., whose station group includes 10 NBC affiliates.

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by | January 9, 2010

Los Angeles DA calls Murry Indictment story “totally Bogus”

Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the L.A. district attorney’s office, called reports that Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s physician, will be indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter “bogus” when contacted by EW.com this afternoon. The Associated Press reported that a law enforcement source, speaking anonymously, said the case is edging near an indictment and that Murray would be “prosecuted on a theory of gross negligence alleging that his treatment of Jackson was an extreme departure from the standard of care normally followed by physicians.”

The L.A. D.A., Sandi Gibbons was quoted in the AP story as saying, “no final decision has been made.” When contaced by EW on Friday afternoon, Robison stood by that statement. “Nothing has changed,” the D.A. spokeswoman told EW.com. “It’s a bogus report. We don’t have the case.”

A spokeswoman for Dr. Murray sent EW.com the following statement: “We have refused to comment on stories involving unnamed sources and will continue to do so. However, we can confirm that we have not received notice of an impaneled grand jury and Dr. Murray has not been invited to testify. J. Michael Flanagan was added to Dr. Conrad Murray’s defense team this past week. His offices are in Glendale, California.” Flanagan is the attorney who represented Britney Spears in a hit-and-run case. He told the AP he once also successfully defended a nurse who was acquitted in an LA trial after being accused of administering propofol to a patient who died.

Murray has been under investigation for some time in connection with the death of Jackson, which has officially been ruled a homicide caused by acute propofol intoxication. According to previously released court documents, the Houston-based physician allegedly purchased the drug in Nevada and shipped it to California, where he allegedly administered it to the late pop singer on the afternoon of his death.

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by | January 9, 2010

USC’s Pete Carroll close to signing deal with NFL’s Seahawks

Pete Carroll USC Seattle Seahawks

Good riddance.  I am a UCLA fan so this is great news for the Bruins and the PAC 10.  JD

The highly successful coach has reportedly been offered the job of both coach and president at an annual salary of $7 million. His possible departure comes at a bad time for the school’s athletic department.

Highly successful USC football Coach Pete Carroll was close to reaching an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks on Friday evening, headed toward a job switch that would deliver yet another blow to the university’s besieged athletic program.

While USC has come under fire for not properly monitoring athletes — with two investigations involving football — Seattle is offering big money and wide-ranging control.

The 58-year-old Carroll has been offered the job of both coach and president at an annual salary of $7 million for five years, according to a source close to the negotiations who was not authorized to comment on the situation.

Although Seahawks officials did not talk publicly about their interest in Carroll, a contingent from the team, including Chief Executive Tod Leiweke, met with the coach in Los Angeles this week.

Seattle announced early Friday it had fired Coach Jim Mora. Team President and General Manager Tim Ruskell was forced to resign early last month.

Reached at his Hermosa Beach home, Carroll had no comment. Since arriving at USC in late 2000, he has vaulted to the top of the college game — and become one of the winningest coaches in school history — by leading his teams to a pair of national championships and seven major bowl games.

His meteoric rise overshadowed a less-than-sparkling history in the NFL where, during the 1990s, the New York Jets fired him after one season and the New England Patriots after three.

The control Carroll would have as Seattle’s president is important because he thought he had too little say about drafting and signing players in his previous NFL jobs.

Those decisions fell to general managers and personnel directors — an issue that reportedly arose when Carroll negotiated with the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers in recent seasons.

News reports about Carroll meeting with the Seahawks came on the same day USC lost star receiver Damian Williams and tailback Joe McKnight, who both announced they would forgo their senior years to make themselves available for the NFL draft.

For USC, Carroll’s timing could not be worse.

McKnight missed the team’s victory over Boston College in the recent Emerald Bowl, sidelined by an investigation into whether he violated NCAA rules by driving a Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica businessman.

Of even greater concern is an ongoing investigation of former tailback Reggie Bush.

A pair of would-be sports marketers have alleged they gave cash and gifts to Bush, and that his parents lived rent-free in a San Diego-area house owned by one of them while Bush was playing for the Trojans in 2004 and 2005.

Now with the New Orleans Saints, Bush has denied any wrongdoing, but the NCAA continues to pursue the matter.

Carroll’s name was dragged to the forefront of the investigation last month when one of the sports marketers, who is suing Bush to recover alleged gifts, won an appellate court ruling that would allow his attorney to question the running back and Carroll in depositions.

NCAA officials could use any evidence gleaned from the civil suit

“This will play out in open court for the public to see,” said Brian Watkins, the plaintiff’s attorney.

Though Carroll’s reputation has remained largely untouched during all of this, the investigations have sparked some grumbling that he plays loosely with NCAA rules.

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