LOTTERY For ANY COUPLE Wishing TO MARRY On Sunday, JULY 24TH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2011

No. 260

www.nyc.gov

MAYOR BLOOMBERG, SPEAKER QUINN AND NEW YORK CITY CLERK MCSWEENEY ANNOUNCE PUBLIC LOTTERY FOR ANY COUPLE WISHING TO MARRY ON SUNDAY, JULY 24TH

Data Collected Since July 5th Shows Number of Couples Seeking to Marry on Sunday Could be Four Times More than the All-Time Single Day High in New York City 

Lottery System Ensures Couples who Arrive on Sunday are not Denied Access

Number of Couples Married on Sunday will be Highest in City History

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and City Clerk Michael McSweeney today announced that due to high demand for marriage services on Sunday, July 24, 2011 – the first day New York State's recently passed marriage equality law takes effect – the City will conduct a public lottery for any couple wishing to marry on July 24th. The lottery will guarantee access to one of the City Clerk's five offices for 764 couples – opposite sex or same sex – on July 24th. Couples wishing to marry on July 24th must register for the lottery by going to the City Clerk's website at www.nyc.gov or by calling 311. The lottery will open for entries at noon on July 19th and will close to entries at noon on July 21st. There is no advantage to registering quickly for the lottery – all applicants who register in time will have an equal opportunity to be randomly selected. There will be a separate lottery for each of the City Clerk's five borough offices and lottery applicants must specify one – and only one – office where they wish to marry. Winners of the lottery will be notified via e-mail or phone on Friday, July 22nd by noon. Couples who already have pre-registered for a marriage license must enter the lottery if they wish to marry on July 24th. All couples selected through the lottery will be guaranteed access to all services at their selected Clerk's Office on Sunday. Couples selected in the lottery are encouraged to arrive in the morning and must arrive no later than 3:45 PM on Sunday. Couples who were not selected through the lottery process should plan on visiting a Clerk's office location at a future date. The Mayor, Speaker and Clerk made the announcement in the Blue Room of City Hall.

"We are going to make history on Sunday, with the eyes of the nation once again turning to New York City," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We've done our homework, and it's clear that the number of couples who want to marry on Sunday is more than the City Clerk's offices could possibly handle. And the last thing we want is for couples to wait on line for hours and hours, only to walk away upset on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. The fairest way to determine who gets the chance to wed on Sunday and ensure everyone can properly plan for their own big day is through an even-handed lottery system. Nobody puts on big events like New York and we will be ready on Sunday for what will no doubt be an historic and unforgettable moment."

"The City of New York will make history on July 24th and we will honor this day in the most meaningful and respectful way possible," said Speaker Quinn. "This efficient and effective process for managing the first day of marriage equality in the five boroughs will maximize the excitement and dignity for all. I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg, City Clerk McSweeney, and everyone on their teams for working so hard to prepare for this momentous occasion. We wish everyone luck in this lottery, and more importantly we wish everyone a lucky, healthy, happy marriage."

"In partnership with Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn, my office has spent the past few weeks preparing for this historic day in New York City," said City Clerk McSweeney. "My colleagues and I are committed to making sure that all couples will be treated fairly and with dignity on this momentous occasion."

In advance of July 24th, the City invited same sex couples to begin the marriage license application process online starting on July 5th.  This allowed the City to collect data to gauge the number of couples possibly interested in marrying during the first days of marriage equality.  

As of this morning, the City Clerk's Office had received 2,661 online applications since July 5th, of which the Clerk has estimated that 1,728 are from same-sex couples. Data collected by the City showed that 54 percent of the online applicants planned to visit the Clerk's Office on July 24th for their marriage license; and that 50 percent of the applicants planned to get married at the Clerk's Office that day.

However, the data collected does not account for the significant number of applicants who typically arrive at a Clerk's Office locations without pre-registering and apply using paper applications on the day they plan to receive their license. Nearly half of all couples seeking a marriage license are not pre-registered on a typical day.

The data indicated that every couple who was interested in getting their marriage license or married on July 24th could not be accommodated and an organized lottery system would prevent couples from potentially traveling to a New York City Clerk's Office and being denied access to services.

The 764 couples expected to be married on July 24th will be the most on any single day in City history. The previous highs were 621 marriages on Valentine's Day in 2003 and 610 marriages on August 8, 2008 (8/8/08). On both of those occasions, most couples who were married had already obtained their marriage licenses before arriving at the Clerk's Offices and did not need a judge to waive the 24-hour marriage waiting period normally required under State law. On Sunday, officials will have to process potentially all three steps for each couple – the license issuance, the hearing for a judicial waiver and the marriage ceremony – while exceeding the previous record for most couples married in a single day by more than 20 percent.

Lottery participants will be required to enter the name of each spouse, contact number, email address, and the borough where they would like to marry on July 24th. The name used by applicants for the lottery must match the name used on the final marriage certificate – to prevent couples from giving or selling their spots to other couples. All couples selected in the lottery will be required to present official proof of identification to take advantage of a guaranteed spot at the Clerk's office on Sunday, July 24th. 

Lottery slots available by borough:

• 400 Manhattan City Clerk's Office
• 112 Brooklyn City Clerk's Office
• 112 Queens City Clerk's Office
• 98 Bronx City Clerk's Office
• 42 Staten Island City Clerk's Office

The numbers for the slots available are proportional to the number of marriages performed at the City Clerk's offices on a normal day.

More than 60 judges from the New York State court system have volunteered to work on Sunday to review requests to waive the 24-hour marriage waiting period normally required under State law and to perform marriage ceremonies for eligible couples. Judges will be on hand in all five boroughs throughout the day.

Lottery winners will be able to get married at their designated Clerk's office on Sunday July 24th between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM. Couples must bring a valid, government-issued identification. The following types of identification are acceptable:

• Driver's license, non-driver identification card, or learner's permit, with photograph, from any state or United States territory;
• Active United States Military Identification Card;
• Valid passport;
• United States Certificate of Naturalization (less than ten years old);
• United States Alien Registration Card; or
• United States Employment Authorization Card.

In addition to proper identification, all couples will be required to have a witness with proper identification. The witness must be at least 18 years of age. The fee for a New York City Marriage License is $35, with an additional fee of $25 for a marriage ceremony. 

Couples not selected in the public lottery will be able to receive marriage services any day following Sunday, July 24th at the Clerk's Offices, which will be open for extended hours – 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM – from Monday, July 25th through Friday, July 29th. Couples are encouraged to begin the marriage license application process online by going to www.nyc.gov. 

On July 6th, Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn and City Clerk McSweeney announced New York City Clerk's offices in all five boroughs would be open for a full day of business on Sunday, July 24th and fully prepared to implement New York State's new Marriage Equality Law for all couples.

- 30 -

Contact:  Stu Loeser / Marc LaVorgna / Mark Botnick (212) 788-2958

                Jamie McShane (Speaker) (212) 788-7177

Social Security's Health Status and You

I just had a conversation yesterday with some FB friends. There was a lot of concern and lots of questions on Social Security's health status. I have printed this post from http://money.msn.com/retirement By MarketWatch.com: 

Forget for the moment whether there's the political will to tackle the financial problems affecting Social Security and Medicare as outlined in the respective trustees' reports. There's a more practical issue at hand, especially for those for whom Social Security and Medicare represent a part, big or small, of their retirement security plan.

Social Security currently runs a surplus, but that trend is expect to reverse, and by 2037, its Trust Fund is projected to be exhausted. At that point, current benefit levels would exceed the revenue replenishing the system, creating a growing shortfall. Medicare faces a similar fate in 2024. So what should current and future Social Security beneficiaries do to maximize or protect their benefits?

Don't act rashly

First and foremost, don't let media coverage scare you into rash action, said Andy Landis, a principal with Thinking Retirement and the author of "Social Security: The Inside Story." "I've spoken with some pre-retirees who say something like, 'I'd better sign up for Social Security now, before they reduce the payments. They can't reduce mine once I sign up.' That's not sound planning."

First, Social Security typically changes very slowly, with reforms announced for years and then phased in over more years, said Landis. For example, today's talk of possible Social Security cuts is generally aimed at those under 50 or 55. Second, by taking Social Security too early, you're guaranteeing yourself a pay cut for life. Stick with the plan, especially if you planned to wait for higher payments at a higher age.

Others share that point of view. The good news for current beneficiaries is that they would not be affected by any changes. "The changes will most likely be prospective," said Craig Copeland, Ph.D., a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

And don't worry too much, either

Landis also advises against buying into any media-created Social Security "crisis." "Social Security is solvent for decades to come, and the glass is three-quarters full even after that," Landis said. "How many programs, public or private, can say that with confidence? Can you name one private company that can say the same?"

Others are in the same camp. "I do not think the trustees report is of particular importance," said Matthew Greenwald, president of Matthew Greenwald & Associates. "The Social Security system has some financial pressures that are not that difficult to address. It could be some affluent retirees will get less and/or that affluent workers will pay more, but these will be at the margins. Overall, I think people can and should count on the Social Security system acting basically as it does under currently enacted law."

And, Nancy Altman, co-chair of the Strengthen Social Security Campaign and chair of the Pension Rights Center, said this: "With respect to whether the benefits will be there, it is important to understand that Social Security is currently in surplus and is projected to remain so for more than another decade, even with no congressional action whatsoever. Its projected shortfall over its conservative 75-year valuation period is a manageable 0.6% of GDP. . . . The question of how large the benefits should be and how to finance them are political questions, not economic ones. All past Congresses have ensured that benefits were always paid on time, and there is no reason to think future Congresses will be less responsible."

Sure, Social Security faces long-term shortfalls, Landis said. "But the numbers we're seeing now have been expected since the mid-1980s," he noted. "It was always expected that Social Security financing, overhauled in 1983, would get us partway through baby boomer retirements in the 2030s. Later generations would decide how to steer Social Security after that. It's sort of like your next birthday -- it's hardly a surprise because you could see it coming."

Then again, face the facts

It is a reasonably safe bet that the Social Security program will be with us for a long time to come, but federal budgetary conditions may ultimately require some downward adjustments in benefits for high earners and/or increases in the retirement age, said Eric Toder, co-director of the Urban Institute's Tax Policy Center.

Given that, future beneficiaries who will likely face some sort of reform should consider, if nothing else, how to maximize their benefits under the current law of the land.

The most effective method for maximizing benefits is to continue to work as long as possible, said Copeland. "Given the actuarial adjustment of delaying retirement past age 62 and the normal retirement age, continuing to work and delaying benefit claiming would do the most to maximize one's benefit," he said.

Others, including Kent Smetters, an associate professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the founder of Veritat Advisors, said Americans should work at least to their full retirement age, if not to age 70.

And Dallas Salisbury, the president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, said, "I would tell anyone who can wait to take Social Security until 70 to do so. I tell people to assume they will get between 75% and 100% of the promised benefit. To try to build a plan that works with the 75% and view any more as gravy."

For her part, Anna Rappaport, president of Anna Rappaport Consulting, said it would be wise to keep your skills up to date and be prepared to work longer. "And be sure to have disability insurance in case you need it," she said.

Meanwhile, Bob Jennings, author of "Understanding Social Security and Medicare: Practical Answers and Planning in an Easy to Read Format," offered this advice for future beneficiaries. "There are two things to remember about Social Security benefits," he said. "First, your personal benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings during your lifetime. And second, if you have been married to anyone for at least 10 years, you qualify to get half of their benefit if it is higher than your own."

With that in mind, here are some simple actions Jennings advises to maximize your benefit:

• Travel around if you want after college, but start earning some decent income within five years, because you have only 35 years to build the benefit.
• Work lots of overtime while you are young. These early-life years will be adjusted for a wage index -- inflation -- when you retire and give you a potentially much greater monthly check.
• Watch the timing of bonuses. "You get no credit for earnings over the FICA limit ($106,800 for 2011), so if you are at or above that number this year and expecting a bonus, you might want to defer it to next year to get a better earnings report next year," he said.
• If all else fails, marry well and stay married for at least 10 years.

• Bone up

  It might not come as a surprise, but Americans' knowledge of the intricacies of Social Security and Medicare is lacking. So one way to make sure that you maximize your benefits is to learn as much as possible in advance about the ins and outs of what could represent a big portion of your retirement plan.
  "Individuals should be aware of what happens to their Social Security benefits so they can plan around them by increasing their savings or adjusting their retirement age," said Copeland. "Any changes that may be made to Social Security will have some effect on future workers' retirement finances. Accordingly, workers must adjust to any changes, which are fairly limited to saving more or working longer."
  Greenwald said most people do not maximize their benefits because they are not tactical about when to claim benefits, especially those strategies a husband and wife can use. "In some cases, for example, a lower-paying wife should claim as early as possible and a husband as late as possible," Greenwald said. "The key is to do a careful analysis. Most people do not do that, and they should."
  Getting a handle on the strategies that a husband and wife should use is critical, according to Rappaport. "My best advice to people is: Be sure to evaluate claiming alternatives and consider spouse benefits when they do. Many people will benefit from claiming later, and too many claim early."
  For her part, Altman said that workers who are insured under Social Security have discretion concerning when to claim their retirement benefits. "The decision regarding the age to first claim benefits, which is an actuarially neutral decision from Social Security's perspective, turns on personal circumstances," she said.
  If you're unsure of your expected benefit, get an estimate from the Social Security Administration website (you can find the agency's benefits calculators here.) Also read the National Academy of Social Insurance report "When to Take Social Security: Questions to Consider."

  Save early, save often

  Social Security is supposed to provide a basic floor under retirees' incomes, but it is only one source of retirement income, the others being workplace pensions and other private savings, said Toder.
  "Middle- and upper-income workers have always needed to supplement Social Security with resources from other sources to maintain their living standards in retirement," said Toder. "Given the decline in the number of workers covered by defined-benefit plans and the likelihood that federal budgetary conditions and rising medical costs will compel future retirees to bear a higher share of their health costs than they do today, it is more important than ever to start to save for retirement early."
  For his part, Smetters said people need to increase their savings. "People still need to save more, especially as Medicare is also in trouble," he said. "Families who are only saving in their employer-based plans are probably not saving enough."
  Others agree with that advice. "The (trustees) reports are another reminder that we all need to save more, save often, essentially save until it hurts," said Michael Wilson, CEO of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. "Social Security was not intended to provide an individual's complete retirement income."
  
  
  

 

What is Wrong In Staten Island, NY? Democrat Together With Republican Vs Democrat

In Staten Island, NY One Republican ( Michael Grimm) Representative in Washington DC is willing to let the nation's economy go to hell and one Democratic State Senator (Diane Savino) refuses to criticized him...but she does criticizes the Democratic President....Anything wrong With this Picture????? Let me just post the following report from
silive.com  You make up your own mind:


By Judy L. Randall 

Advance file photoRep. Michael Grimm adamantly opposes any new taxes as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With debt ceiling talks mired in political rancor, and threatening the nation's creditworthiness and fledgling economic rebound, Rep. Michael Grimm and House Republicans continued yesterday to invoke their no-new-taxes mantra, while President Obama warned that an Aug. 2 default would mean a sharp spike in interest rates that would cost consumers more than new taxes.

The president also told congressional leaders yesterday that they must craft a "big deal" that would raise the debt ceiling and reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years.

Grimm and fellow Republicans are pushing a "Cut, Cap and Balance Plan," eyeing a vote on Wednesday.

Grimm said the GOP majority will propose $111 billion in cuts for fiscal year 2012, rolling back non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels. There will be no cuts to veterans, Medicare or Social Security, he claimed.

"2008 wasn't so long ago," said Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Republicans also will look to scale back federal spending over the next decade, beginning with 22.5 percent of the gross domestic product in 2012 to 19.9 percent in 2021.

He said the 20 percent level had been in place for nearly 30 years, adding, "Only recently has it hit 23 percent."

Republicans also will seek passage of a balanced budget amendment.

"States do it," said Grimm. "Why shouldn't the federal government?"

However, critics say a balanced budget amendment is unrealistic because it requires a two-thirds vote by both the House and the Senate.

Senate approval of that amendment seemed extremely unlikely in a vote set for the next few days.

At the same time, Senate leaders from both parties worked on their own fallback measure that would allow Obama to raise the debt limit without a prior vote by lawmakers, discussions that now have expanded to include House officials and top White House aides.

That plan was likely to include limits on spending across thousands of government programs, and possibly a down payment on cuts, as well.

As part of that proposal, a panel of lawmakers would recommend cuts in benefits programs by the end of the year, with the House and Senate required to vote yes-or-no on the package without possibility of changes.

"If they show me a serious plan I'm ready to move," declared Obama at his second news conference of the week, even though he said he wanted a far more sweeping deal that might even have raised the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 if Republicans would increase selected taxes.

"We are obviously running out of time," he said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said, "Now the debate will move from a room in the White House to the House and Senate floors," an indication that the daily closed-door negotiations on Obama's home ground were a thing of the past.

Earlier this week, during a closed-door meeting with House leadership looking to stand firm on debt negotiations, Grimm, a former FBI agent told members: "I've had a gun to my head. Literally. Didn't blink then; won't blink now."

In May Grimm joined other Republicans in voting against raising the debt ceiling, saying the spending cuts were too few and too insignificant.

"There's no question that a failure to raise the debt limit and defaulting on our obligations could have detrimental consequences," Grimm said. "However, it would be even more irresponsible to raise the limit on our nation's maxed-out credit card without also putting an end to the reckless spending."

Yesterday, a leading Island Democrat, state Sen. Diane Savino, said she had not spoken to Grimm about current negotiations and was reluctant to criticize him.

But she said the "leaders and the president need to stop this petty fighting," calling it "the worst kind of politics with some real implications"

James Franco is Single Again

According to tonicgossip.com James  Franco is single again

The actor revealed thaht he and his long-term girlfriend Ahna O’Riely is over, adding that the actress grew tired of the amount of time the couple spent apart.

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes star told Playboy: “That [relationship] lasted about four or five years. We’d been living together in L.A. and then [I] came to New York to go to school for two years. Then I signed up for more school at Yale. I think that was it for her.”

The 33-year-old also revealed that he wanted a role in the Twilight saga thanks to a school project at Yale University.

Franco also opened up about his experience hosting the Oscars earlier this year, saying that he felt trapped by the material.

Photos by WENN

Anonymous Members Raided by FBI

​In the past adamfoxie* has reported on this group, therefore I  was interested when I learned of the FBI raid.  This is the group that brought down the website of the homophobe Westboro Church for a few days.


By Joe Coscarelli   http://blogs.villagevoice.com

 A day after the online sect LulzSecurity pulled their own hack on Rupert Murdoch, members of the most the widely-known hacking collective Anonymous, from which LulzSec spun off, have been raided by the FBI. (There doesn't seem to be a direct connection other than the media attention currently being showered on all parties mentioned.) Three search warrants were executed in New York at the homes of young adults thought to be involved in the internet mischief that took down websites for Visa, PayPal and more, Fox News reports. But the group isn't scared, at least publicly. "It doesn't matter how many people the 'FBI' arrest," one member tweeted today. "Whether they are core members or not. #anonymous have started something unstoppable." As a matter of fact, Anonymous claims to be in possession of emails from News International servers -- the very News Corp. properties in hot water over the ongoing phone hacking scandal in the UK.

According to Fox News, "Anonymous is a loose collection of cybersavvy activists inspired by WikiLeaks and its flamboyant head Julian Assange to fight for 'Internet freedom' -- along the way defacing websites, shutting down servers, and scrawling messages across screens web-wide."

And although Fox note that the "targets of the FBI searches are all in their late teens to early 20s," and that a previous arrest in London was of 19-year-old Ryan Cleary, there's not much reading between the lines, which The Daily Attack is happy to do, calling the FBI action "a campaign, not a crackdown" and noting that the "teenagers and young adults ... are merely charlatans and foot soldiers of the cultural resistance (with a rare exception, or two)."

As the Guardian reported, "The more sophisticated hacktivists use technology that makes their connection anonymous on the internet, so authorities and other internet users cannot see who is behind the computer," while the so-called foot soldiers are just "'average internet citizens,' whose location can be discovered through the IP address."

Meanwhile, both Anonymous and the smaller, but more recently active LulzSec are targeting News Corp. -- owners of Fox News, it should be noted -- threatening to release emails tomorrow, in addition to various log-ins and passwords, as was teased yesterday.

[jcoscarelli@villagevoice.com / @joecoscarelli]

Married Ex-Gays Stay Homosexual Contrary to What AFA Says

by Dave Rattigan  http://www.exgaywatch.com

The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer and ex-gay activist Greg Quinlan, of PFOX, present a litany of myths and half-truths in this AFA Radio interview:

But one particularly prominent and consistent theme in the segment, as Jeremy Hooper at Good As You points out, is the PFOX claim that “ex-gay” is an orientation comparable to gay or straight. The primary reason for this bizarre notion is that anti-gay, ex-gay activists like Quinlan and Fischer want to claim that ex-gays are victims of hate crimes on account of their orientation, and therefore if anyone deserves so-called “special protection,” it’s ex-gays.

This is familiar territory. In 2010, PFOX tried to coerce the Walt Disney Company into including ex-gays in its anti-discrimination policy. I concluded:

If it were about sexual orientation, PFOX would have to concede that ex-gays are already protected. Are ex-gays same-sex attracted? Then they are homosexual, and are therefore protected. Have they overcome same-sex attractions to become opposite-sex attracted? Then they are heterosexual, and are therefore protected. Do they now have heterosexual relationships? Marriages? Then they have the same rights as every other person in a heterosexual relationship or marriage. Do they have no sexual relationships at all? Then they have the same rights as every other celibate person.

What unique attraction or relationship is the ex-gay trying to protect by insisting he be included in a sexual orientation policy?

But that was over a year ago. Since then, research has suggested that men in mixed orientation marriages — that is, married ex-gays — remain just as gay in orientation. And the data comes from an unlikely source: Mark Yarhouse, a social scientist at Pat Robertson’s Regent University and one of conservative evangelicalism’s foremost researchers into sexual orientation change.

Yarhouse, best-known for the 2007 Jones-Yarhouse study with Stanton Jones, drew his latest conclusions from asurvey of 106 husbands and 161 wives in mixed orientation marriages. The men had an average age of 45 and had been married 16 years. Conservative Christian therapist Warren Throckmorton summarizes the findings for us:

[The data] demonstrates that the Kinsey scores shift more toward the heterosexual side when the participants were asked about their sexual behavior but when asked about their attractions, fantasies, and emotional attachments, there was no change. The Kinsey Expanded scale included an average of participant Kinsey assessment of behavior, attractions, fantasies and emotional attachments. … At any rate, the results are consistent with what I am finding as well. People adapt their behavior to their beliefs and commitments but their orientation does not shift, on average.

This is consistent with what we’ve seen and claimed here at Ex-Gay Watch, too. Sexual orientation cannot be made to change; behavior can. (Incidentally, Throckmorton says his own research suggests that men in mixed-orientation marriages actually tend to become more gay over time.)

The honesty of this research is welcome. It does, however, raise an ethical issue for Yarhouse, according to Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin. Yarhouse is something of a darling of the Christian Right for his previously published studies on sexual orientation change. So will he let himself continue to be used as a propaganda tool for anti-gay religious conservatives like Fischer and Quinlan? Or will he speak unambiguously to such ideologues about the reality of ex-gays and the myth of “change”?

Categories:PFOXTags:AFA, Bryan Fischer, ex-gay, Greg Quinlan, Jones-Yarhouse, Mark Yarhouse, mixed orientation marriages, PFOX, research,science, studies