Fewer gays being discharged
Washington The number of U.S. military members discharged for making it known they are homosexual declined last year by 15 percent and has fallen by nearly one-half since 2001, the Pentagon said Friday.
The 653 discharges compares with 770 in 2003 and was the lowest number for any year since the Pentagon began keeping track in 1997.
In 2001, at the start of the Bush administration’s global war on terrorism, there were 1,227 discharges under the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which was established during the Clinton administration. It states that homosexuals may serve in the military so long as they don’t make their sexual orientation known and do not engage in homosexual acts.
Mayor renews push for same-sex nuptials
San Francisco Marking the anniversary of his decision to sanction same-sex marriages, Mayor Gavin Newsom on Saturday urged gay couples to back politicians who support gay marriage, saying it is time “to hold our elected officials accountable.”
“It is no longer acceptable for politicians to come to you every election cycle and ask for money and then say, ‘It’s too much, too soon,’ ” Newsom told about 3,000 gay and lesbian supporters during a ceremony to remember the anniversary of last year’s “Winter of Love,” the four-week period when his administration granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The licenses were later voided by the California Supreme Court, which ruled that Newsom had overstepped his authority. A ruling is expected any day on a pair of lawsuits filed by the city and same-sex couples that seek to overturn California’s marriage laws.
Man admits peddling fake Zig-Zag papers
Shreveport, La. A Michigan man admitted scheming to sell cigarette papers that were not only fakes of the popular Zig-Zag brand but also lacked the usual 100 leaves – a five-year scheme that cost the real distributor $1.8 million, prosecutors said.
Wajdi Abdulaziz Beydoun, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit goods, U.S. Attorney Donald W. Washington said. Sentencing was set for May 24. Beydoun faces up to 15 years in prison and a $2.25 million fine.
Beydoun paid a Tucson, Ariz., company $16,000 to print counterfeit Zig-Zag covers that were then smuggled into Mexico, where prisoner laborers used them to repackage rolling papers. While true Zig-Zag packs contain 100 leaves, the faked ones held 32.
The packs were sold for $1.25 each in Louisiana and Dearborn, Mich.
The scheme ran from January 1999 until last August, when a terrorism task force raided Tobacco World stores in Logansport, Shreveport and Bossier City, all in Louisiana. Beydoun, who lived in the Dearborn Heights area, was arrested in Michigan two days after the raid.