But if there were to be one, Flahavan said, it could be of specific skilled professionals rather than general conscription. That could mean women would be included, and the cutoff age could be extended past 25 years.

Since 1987, at Congress' request, the Selective Service has had a plan to register male and female health-care workers ages 20 to 45 in more than 60 medical specialties in case the country suddenly needed more doctors or nurses. The proposal would require the authorization of Congress and the president.

More recently, the agency has talked about reinventing itself by registering professionals whose expertise could be helpful in an emergency. That way, the Selective Service could become a national "repository or inventory of special skills," according to the agency's annual report.

The "special skills" draft could offer the option of calling up people in a variety of specialties, such as linguists, computer experts, police officers or firefighters, Flahavan said.

Other government agencies besides the Defense Department could draft those workers, the report states. They could include U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The agency knows what angst such a program could cause, and Flahavan stressed that it is "just a concept" that would require authorization from Congress.

"We're not advocating that it should be done," he said. "All we're saying is ... we've been in this business for [more than 60] years. We know how to run a draft."

John Ray

That is the short title ...probably sounds boring ...but, there is a school of thought that is trying to introduce more qualitative research into social and political policies ...not just statistics (or quantitative). The whole move is predicated on a school of philosophical thought called "phenomenology." What is interesting is that this school has been largely dismissed by philosophers. However, in the 1980's Cultural Anthropologists revived it as the cornerstone of their research methods. Other schools ....particularly the closely related school of political science ...have dismissed their research as soft because it is not grounded wholly in quantitative analytics. It has created an interesting rift and it does have an impact on public policy.

We need to be informed consumers about both methods. We need to know, when we are looking at research, whether it is qualitative or quantitative.

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: HeartStrongOrg@aol.com

Date: Wed, 25 May 2005

Subject: New Film About Reparative Therapy

Hi everyone... Just wanted to forward this press release about this new documentary about survivors of reparative/restorative/exgay therapy.

I participated in this film and my portion will be featured in the DVD release of the film.

HeartStrong.org owns www.exgay.com and a lot of our outreach work is to those who have suffered through reparative/restorative therapy.

Thanks!

Marc

************

Conversations about God,

 and struggling to be Gay

In this timely documentary, FISH CAN’T FLY takes a secular point of view to explore the lives of Gay men and women of faith as they recall their journeys to put their sexuality and spirituality in harmony. While the whole concept of changing ones’ sexual orientation may be viewed with a high level of skepticism, ridicule and even humor by the larger GLBT community, these are the stories of those who have tried.

Finding that their strong religious convictions and faith seemed to be used against them, these are personal tales of people who have participated in " ex-gay" ministries and found in fact that they did not provide a "cure"…. the answers seemed to come from within. The stories they recall are sad, frightening, poignant and yet surprisingly inspiring and enlightening. During our lives, each of us embarks on a journey to find our place in the world. Being

Gay can make that process more difficult ….being Gay and having strong religious convictions can make it doubly hard. This film speaks to the spirit and fortitude of Gay men and women.

The film contains candid, fascinating and heartfelt discussions about God and being Gay. There are even some surprisingly humorous events in hindsight.

This is the second feature length documentary by filmmaker Tom Murray. His previous work, FARM FAMILY …in search of Gay Life in Rural America, had its world