| The Daily Show reports about Will Phillips |
[Nov. 20th, 2009|01:45 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  pleased | ] |
I think I utterly love Jon Stewart. His report about the boy who won't be saying the pledge is one of the things which makes me love him. It doesn't hurt that he has woofy Mick Foley stepping in to provide protection for the kid...
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|09:51 pm] |
You know what I'm tired of?
People that I've known for years, that I see in a chat network, and when I ask them "what have you been up to?'", their response is "well, facebook is the best way to keep up with me."
What
The
Fuck?
We're here! We're chatting! Just fill me in on the overview! I'm not going to join fucking Facebook to find out about things that THE PERSON I'M TALKING TO has been doing.
Never mind. I didn't really mean the question when I asked it, I guess. |
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| Taking a stand for gay rights |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|02:58 pm] |
Well, actually sitting down for them.
10 year old Will Phillips, a 5th grader in Arkansas, has decided that he can no longer participate in the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. His family is a straight ally family with many gay and lesbian family friends, and he feels that it is a lie to say that the country has "liberty and justice for all" when it doesn't.
You can watch his CNN interview or read about his stance.
His family is using nursenimue(at)yahoo(dot)com to receive emails and physical mail can be sent to the northwest arkansas center for equality po box. po box 9014 fayetteville, ar 72703.
I'm going to be getting him a very nice thank you card tomorrow. I've been moved to gentle tears a couple of times in the past day or so thinking about this, for reasons I cannot easily explain.
Thanks for your support, Will. You're a wonderful kid. |
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| Berlin, Then And Now |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|07:34 am] |
I still cannot quite get over my visit to Berlin during 1987 while I was living in Germany for a year. The entire experience of East Germany and the divided city still stick with me deeply. I've long wondered how much the city might have changed in the 20 years since I've been there, and particularly since the Wall came down in 1989.
The NYTimes has an excellent (and very clever) illustrative article on how things HAVE changed. I suggest you check it out. It's pretty stunning. |
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| Referendum 71 seems to pass |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|04:20 pm] |
It's hard to tell, exactly, because votes are being counted, but it appears that the Domestic Partnership expansion measure here in WA has passed, although barely. The "yes" votes are ahead by about 20,000 votes at the moment, with about 3/4 of the votes having been counted. Of the still-outstanding votes, more than 2/3 of them are coming from the counties in which the measure is currently winning. I think this means that it's pretty safe to say, it will pass in the final tally.
This is great news.
However, as the State Of New Jersey has already studied with its experiment in "separate but equal" Civil Unions, it isn't a case where separate IS equal. (.pdf link) This is not a new idea -- Brown v. Board Of Education established this generations ago. Now we just have a legal ghetto for the queers here in WA. Bless all those who have more rights and responsibilities in their relationships, but the fight for equality is FAR from over. |
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| Letter to the Editors of Newsweek magazine |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|04:28 pm] |
Subject: Mark Sanford? REALLY?!?!?
Dear Newsweek:
I cannot believe you would bother to print any sort of 2-page article by Mark Sanford, let alone one about Ayn Rand. His actions earlier this year when he went "hiking the Appalachian Trail" while really flying off to South America to conduct an extramarital affair were reprehensible, not only because of his forsaking of his marriage vows, but also because he maintained a ruse which left his state ungoverned for many days. To read a lecture by him about how Rand's philosophy should be recognized because of its core of selfishness was, indeed, reflected in his actions, but it is his actions which speak to the core fallacy of Objectivism. Acting selfishly has no place within the mindset of an elected official; they are elected to serve the needs of those which they represent.
I wish your magazine would regard a person's position within the greater context before allowing their words to be published in your pages, especially with someone such as Sanford whose transgressions are public and who has continued to stubbornly ignore the wishes of his constituents and refused to step down. Allowing him to gain greater recognition within your pages implicates Newsweek as approving of his actions earlier this year, and that leaves all of your pages tainted by his affair and refusal to own up to its implications about his character.
-G.A.
Cheney, WA |
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| Cheney Mayoral Candidates on Ref 71 |
[Oct. 27th, 2009|02:44 pm] |
I have received replies from both of the Cheney, WA mayoral candidates in response to my query about Referendum 71.
C. Allan Gainer wrote a very thoughtful response, outlining how Ref 71 has been difficult for him to decide, as he tries to weigh his own marriage and faith as a Christian against the freedom of choice issues which he respects even though he personally does not feel they are correct. He says that he has not yet made up his mind, but that he is aware that this is a conflict within himself between freedom and religious morality.
Tom Trulove, on the other hand was very terse with his response. He states that he does not see what his position on Ref 71 has to do with his qualifications to serve as Cheney's mayor or how it is even an issue for the city of Cheney. He concludes "How I mark my ballot is not public information."
Given these two responses, I have no choice but to vote for Allan Gainer for Mayor of Cheney. Anyone who does not recognize that, as an elected official in a town, he is representing all the citizens therein and should be willing to discuss matters regarding the rights and responsibilities of those citizens with those he seeks to govern... is not worthy of my vote. |
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| Voting, um... nobody for State Representative? |
[Oct. 26th, 2009|02:09 pm] |
Well, I just called both Susan Fagan and Pat Hailey, who are running for State Representative Pos 1 here in Washington, and had the same conversation with them.
"I am trying to decide my vote in the upcoming election and I am curious what your position is on Referendum 71."
Both of them began by saying how GLAD they were that this issue was going to be put to a public vote, and that they hoped it would send a message to the legislature. I pressed both of them a bit more, and they both basically said that they were not in favor of the measure. Susan Fagan admitted directly to me that if she had been in the legislature last year, she would have voted against the "Everything But Marriage" bill. Pat Hailey gave me a longer answer, about how when her husband of nearly 40 years died recently, she learned that there were all kinds of things which even being married didn't provide for them, such as getting information from the doctor or making sure her husband's property would go to her. She did say that, for her, marriage is between one man and one woman.
I think I'll be writing in the name of some other candidate for this particular race. |
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| fucking CenturyTel, CenturyLink, whatever they want to be called |
[Oct. 25th, 2009|10:30 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  pissed off | ] |
The late night fucking of my bandwidth from my ISP, CenturyTel or CenturyLink or whatever, is happening again.
I had been watching the U2 YouTube stream in high quality video and audio.
Then the late-night bandwidth bork started.
Now I've gone from having throughput of 3447kbps and a nice high quality 1000kbps stream, to having a 200kbps stream, and a reported throughput of 27 kbps.
This is ridiculous! We pay for SERVICE, not random amounts of throughput when they so choose.
Google search terms: CenturyTel CenturyLink DSL ISP bad customer service drop in bandwidth |
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| goosebumps all over |
[Oct. 25th, 2009|09:37 pm] |
Okay, it's silly...
I'm watching the YouTube stream of the U2 concert from the Rose Bowl tonight...
and am getting goosebumps.
I swear, I just saw this show live earlier this week, and I'm getting all emotional over this broadcast.
*sigh*
(oh, and GOOD JOB, YouTube / Google, for actually having the server capacity to pull this off. I would love to see the viewer metrics. This has never really been done on this scale before.) |
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| Tell Them Anything You Want |
[Oct. 19th, 2009|10:08 pm] |
During the many years that Spike Jonze was working on his Where The Wild Things Are movie, he visited Maurice Sendak many times, and interviewed him on camera.
He has created a documentary from those interviews which is showing on HBO, called "Tell Them Anything You Want".
I cannot recommend this 45 minute film highly enough.
I wish I had the energy or focus to type more, but I can barely see the keyboard through my tears. Rarely has a personal portrait touched me to deeply. That it is Sendak, only makes it more affecting.
I wish I could find this movie online to link to for readers, but I cannot. Seek it out. It is worth the effort. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 18th, 2009|08:02 pm] |
I am awash in schadenfreude for the situation of the Balloon Boy family.
It's been determined (thanks to a confession!) that the hoax had been in the planning for at least two weeks. And they will likely be billed for the Search And Rescue effort which may total $2million.
How'd that "publicity stunt" work out for ya? Huh? |
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| Keeping the fingers crossed |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|02:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | hopeful | ] |
There was actually a job that I am somewhat qualified for, actually IN CHENEY (instead of at least a 30 minute drive away), and I managed to pull the materials together and submit an application today. It's for a position with the City, working as the desk clerk for the lighting office. I hope they at least call me in for an interview.
Woohoo! Employment would be a welcome thing after all these months off of work. |
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