Larry’s View

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May 16, 2008

Lesbian talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres and her long-time partner Portia de Rossi are among those planning on wedding bells, as the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday.

In a 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, rejecting state marriage laws as discriminatory. The broadly worded decision is also expected to have the effect of invalidating virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

Lesbian talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres announced her plans to wed her long-time partner Australian actress Portia de Rossi during the taping of her talk show on Thursday (to be aired on Friday in the US), the day the California Supreme Court announced its ruling.
The long awaited court decision stemmed from San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom’s highly publicised move to allow same-sex weddings in 2004. Four-thousand gay couples wed before the Supreme Court invalided the marriages and put a halt to the practice after a month.

Two dozen gay couples along with the city and gay rights organisations then sued.

The turn of events spurred a national dialogue over gay rights and a conservative backlash in a presidential election year which resulted in several states passing constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. Today, 27 states have such amendments.

Chief Justice Ronald George, who wrote the 121-page majority opinion, said the state Constitution’s guarantees personal privacy and autonomy which protects “the right of an individual to establish a legally recognised family with the person of one’s choice.”

He said the Constitution “properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples.”

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who previously has vetoed two bills in favour of gay marriage, issued a statement saying he “respects” the decision and “will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn” it.

However religious and social conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage said the court had overstepped its bounds and are seeking to override the court ruling in favour of same-sex marriage.

Until that happens, same-sex couples are likely to be able to tie the knot in as little as a month. And unlike Massachusetts - the only other state where same-sex marriage is legal, California has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license; meaning gays from around the country are able to go to California to be wed.

Prior to the ruling, California, New Jersey and Vermont have legislation which grants same-sex partners many of the same legal rights as married couples.

The ruling is considered monumental by virtue of the state’s size - 38 million of the total population of 302 million are Californian residents. According to U.S. census figures, there are some 100,000 same-sex couples in California, about a quarter of whom have children.

The California Supreme Court was the first state high court to strike down a law barring interracial marriage in a 1948. The United States Supreme Court did not follow suit until 1967.

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The Globe Tabloid Magazine is published supermarket tabloid in the northern part of America. It was officially founded in the year 1954 in Montreal, Canada by John Vader and Joe Azaria. The previous published name of the magazine was “Midnight”. During the era of 1960s, the Globe Tabloid Magazine had become the tough competitor of the “National Enquirer. In the year 1978, the name of “Midnight” was then changed to “Midnight Globe” in reference to its publisher, the Globe Communications whereas eventually the name was officially changed to “Globe” only. Currently, the Globe Tabloid Magazine is now owned by the American Media Incorporated and being published out of the headquarters of American Media in Boca Raton, Florida.

In the year 1995, the Globe Tabloid Magazine got involved in a controversy where the tabloid had published the autopsy photos of Tejano’s Superstar Selena. Because of this, the magazine retailers of South Texas have quickly snatch copies of the Globe Tabloid Magazines from the magazine store shelves knowing that the photos were printed. The autopsy photos of the late 23- year old Selena Quintanilla-Perez comprise of six colored pictures that were published in the November 14 issue of the Globe Tabloid Magazine. The front headline of the magazine was “Shot in the Back!” and “Exclusive!” which really made every tabloid reader to gain more interested about the contents. The autopsy photos of the late Selena had revealed on how the innocent beauty was gunned down and lying cowardly. It was on March 31 when Selena was actually shot by her former fan’s club president Yolanda Saldivar at the Christi Motel.

In the year 1997, another controversy sizzled up the Globe Tabloid Magazine. Another similar controversy of Selena where the Globe Tabloid Magazine had published the autopsy pictures of JonBenet Ramsey. Also, in the content of the magazine, JonBenet Ramsey was shown to have been beaten and strangled on December 1996 at their family basement. With this revelation, the Globe Tabloid Magazines were taken off in most stands and stores in Boulder, Colorado. Also, the family of Ramsey was very outraged about the controversy that they even comment that they would never lay a single eye on the Globe Tabloid Magazine.

In the year 2003, another considerable controversy had involved Globe Tabloid Magazine again whereas the magazine had published the name of the accuser of Kobe Bryant as well as putting the picture on the magazine cover. In America, media are not allowed to reveal the actual names as well as the photos of the alleged victims of sex crimes. From this restricted rule, Globe Tabloid Magazine was put into another controversial issue.

Currently, the Globe Tabloid Magazine is now more focused on political-oriented and news content, though it still share celebrity contents with its sister newspaper companies.

The person who must deal with a variety of media techniques accurate equipment is a must. Media would usually include film and photos. An essential piece of technology is the scanner. It must be as versatile as possible. The ability to scan a variety of thicknesses and sizes is a timesaver. The best scanners are used for the tiniest objects the size of stamps all the way through to huge blueprints and plans. There are a variety of flatbed scanners for tabloid purposes. The first considerations should be those of color pass and bit depth.

The scanners of the past were limited in that they only confined three passes. Older models were very slow in capturing colors from an image. The only color range then was red, blue and green or RGB. There were 24 bit and 36 bit scanners. These were capable of giving 68.7 billions in color. These have been overtaken by the 48 bit scanner. This scanner is regarded as producing colors that are the most lifelike. This piece of technology is so efficient it captures 250 trillion colors if necessary. Even the human eye is incapable of picking up so many.

There are two kinds of image sensors in flatbed scanners for tabloid. These are the CCD or the CIS. CCD stands for charge-coupled device. It makes use of lenses and mirrors. Reflected light is redirected from a document to the CCD. Because of this sensitive and complicated technology a CCD flatbed scanner is the most expensive. It must be noted that this scanner is also larger and heavier. However, for the purposes of tabloid this scanner is capable of producing superior quality. This scanner is highly suitable for desktop or any other specialized publishing purposes.

A CIS or contact image sensor scanner may be the answer for smaller businesses. In this scanner the sensor captures directly reflected light. This is the reason for it being placed just beneath the scanner bed. This flatbed scanner for tabloid is a lot cheaper. There are portable models because they are so compact and lightweight. Flatbed scanners are able to deliver the following features:

* Flexibility
* Usability
* Quality

A flatbed scanner requires the image to be placed face down on the glass pane. There is a cover that can be lowered to protect it from ambient light. The sensor moves across the glass pane to read the image. Special accessories are needed to scan transparent images. A flatbed is regarded as a cost effective means of getting good quality images.

A color laser tabloid is very much appealing for the readers especially on the printed tabloid pictures. With the latest technology advancements in laser printing, producing a good quality color laser tabloid is always possible. Also, these advancements greatly contribute on the development of variable data presses most likely for a color laser tabloid.

The leading suppliers of digital presses that can give the best quality color laser tabloid include Nexpress, Xeikon and Xerox. These brands greatly provide the best toner-based laser printing for a color laser tabloid. Also, these brands had developed some new resources for short run presses as well as variable data. Try reading some forums about these brands before choosing the best one for your color laser tabloid.

The latest generation of laser printer for your color laser tabloid is the 1200 dpi laser printer, which offers a photo-realistic quality not only for tabloids but also for pre-press shops, graphic studios, repro shops and desktop publishing. The famous brands of 1200 dpi laser printers that you can purchase are the HP and IBM that are traditionally used in business offices for pie charts and other heavy-colored documents.

For your color laser tabloid to appear of best quality, always look for the laser printer that can give you a complete photo print solution in creating greeting cards, photo calendars, photo books and other customized photo products that are toner-based. Check for the laser printer that includes photo systems helpful for your color laser tabloid. Some laser printers for color laser tabloid do have image intelligence software that is incorporated with the printing workflow to ensure the results of crystal clear images with fine crisp text and fine line detail.

A color laser tabloid should have the maximum resolution for laser printing. This mode will ensure the smooth color transitions of color laser tabloid. Nevertheless, a color laser tabloid should always have the combination of photo and digital printing. Digital systems for a color laser tabloid may include colored as well as black and white printing. It may also include the broadest portfolio of offerings for enhancements.

With the latest technology in the printing world, a color laser tabloid should have the all-in-one high impact colors. A color laser tabloid often gets the most attention in most readers. This is because of the competitive look, high quality color and versatility of the output.

Have you heard about the famous novel of “American Tabloid” that was written by James Ellroy and published in 1995? Well, the novel of American Tabloid had been awarded by Time Magazine as the Best Fictional Book of the year 1995 because of its three-part series entitling “Underworld USA”.

The plot of the novel of American Tabloid is initiated on the exact date of November 22, 1958 and describing the scenario of America’s history for five years. After the main plot, the succeeding plot shows on how the three rogue American law enforcement officers had deeply involved in the JFK Assassination. There are also some historical casts in the novel that were featured such as Jimmy Hoffa, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Guy Banister, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., Jack Ruby, Carlos Marcello and Sam Giancana. The novel of American Tabloid was then followed by a sequel entitling “The Cold Six Thousand”. James Ellroy is currently writing for the third and final sequels of the novel entitled “Blood’s a Rover”, which will tentatively be released in 2008.

The trilogy of the novel of American Tabloid blends the stories of American fiction and history concerning the legal and political corruption of the establishments in America between the years of 1958 to 1973. It also covers the exact five years of American history before the actual assassination of JFK.

The structure of the novel of American Tabloid is very deliberate and stylish. The novel has exactly one hundred chapters only whereas most of the pages contain short length of texts. Also, the story content of the novel covers the exact five years of American history. With the fiver years of American history covered in the novel, the book was divided by the writer into five different sections whereas every section does not correspond to the exact year. Furthermore, the novel does not have an epilogue or introduction. All the chapters in the novel of American Tabloid begin with the number of chapter, location of the beginning of actions (normally the city name), and the date of the beginning of actions that is normally expressed in the American style of MM/DD/YYYY. With the dates indicated in the book, the actions of the stories are completely sequential. There are also flashbacks that occur only among the protagonists’ present tense memory.

The five sections of the novel of American Tabloid comprise of Part I (Shakedowns, November-December 1958), Part II (Collusion, January 1959-January 1961), Part III (PIGS, February-November 1961), Part IV (Heroin, December 1961-September 1963) and Part V (Contract, September-November 1963).