March 2005 Archives
It's been a little while since I've posted. I just haven't had much to say or the time to say it over the past week. Of course the news is still convulsing with the most recent news of the Schiavo case. Between that and Michael Jackson, I'm watching more and more CBC news broadcasts.
One thing I'm noticing though is the outcry against the judicial branch. Apparently the courts can't do anything right, at least according to some right wingers. I've seen protest signs that say the courts are killing Terry Schiavo... How crazy is this?
First it was the gay marriage issue. All of a sudden the courts in Massachusetts, which had not been decried previously, were assailed with labels of activist judges and the liberal bench. Because they found that gay people have rights, they were immediately attacked from all levels of government from the President on down.
I'm sure I'm skipping more instances of activist judges, but now we have the Schiavo case and once again the court system is being denounced. People are going as far to say that the judges are murderers. I think this is all over the top and ignorant.
This is how our government, our democracy, works. Checks and balances. When the legislative and executive branch overstep their bounds or fail to uphold the Constitution, the judicial branch checks them into place. Why is this important? Because some day those same "activist judges" will be protecting right wingers.
All this divisiveness is bound to wind up back on their doorstep at some point. When people get worked up to the point where they are robbing gun stores to rescue people, they've been pushed past the point of rational action. Eventually, just like the Niemöller quote things will roll around, and they will need protection at some point. I truly hope that there is a judicial branch left to uphold our most basic principles of liberty and justice for them when the time comes. But if they break it down, who will be there when they come for them?
While I understand the gravity and seriousness of the situation with Terry Schiavo, I don't think it needs to be a national issue. I don't understand why Congress created an Act for this one person when cases like this must happen more than once in our country. Why do they not act when someone has been sentenced to death if they care so much about the sanctity of life? And why is it that they seem to care only when a person is near death or not yet born? Many Americans are lacking adequate health care, yet Congress has focused on the health care of one individual. Perhaps if they would show the same commitment and tenacity to universal health care we'd get something done.
So if the Congress is going to address the people's issues one by one, I'd like to mention that I'd like someone to get health care for my sister that won't bankrupt her. (Because if she went bankrupt she'd have little recourse now with the new bankruptcy law). I have a friend who has a drug problem, and since programs are being cut I think he should receive special consideration. Oh, and I'd like to be able to get married so that I can be equally protected under the law, but there's a bunch of people who single me out for discrimination. And if you take that case there's about 3 million more people who would like to speak with you... Anyone else have requests for big brother?
Tonight a customer asked if we carry pot at my store. I told her that we stopped carrying it awhile ago. She shrugged and said that she could really use some. Maybe I should have suggested the garden area to her...
I've been TiVoing Divine Design with Candice Olson for the past week, and now I really want her to come visit my house. She does such amazing things that you wouldn't even think of. I saw one episode where she redesigned a basement room. It looked so small and crazy, but she turned it into an elegant yet functional room. Then there was the episode where the woman was so happy with the design she cried (and made Candice cry too). No way I could ever afford her, but wow!
And even if you don't want to redesign a room, Candice makes her show fun and witty. She makes the funniest comments, and the camraderie with her crew makes it fun to watch. Chico is amazing - how he ever gets so many potlights in one space! Many of the home redesign shows are so alike you almost can't tell what you're watching. Is it Design on a Nickel or Making Spaces? But with Candice, you'll know for sure what you're watching, and enjoy every minute.
Spending some time getting hooked on iTunes with my iPaq.. Of course my boyfriend is going all out and bought an iPod Mini... Songs for 99¢! (and free with various Pepsi products) Who wouldda thought? I need a higher capacity SD card...
Are people this pressed for time that they must multitask in public restrooms? Tonight we found a half eaten bag of Fritos in the womens' room and a Quiznos wrapper in the stall of the mens' room. I mean, is fast food not fast enough anymore?
"Underneath the legal language [of the decision] is a recognition of our common humanity and the common instinct to love and have kin," Lewis told the PlanetOut Network. "The judge recognized that the Constitution protects all families, not just some families. LGBT families are not second-class."Isn't that what this comes down to? Everyone has the right to love who they want, and the desire to protect that person in any and every way possible is universal to all people, straight and gay. (source: Calif. ruling affirms right for gays to wed)
I had wanted to post something funny tonight, but I'm so flabbergasted that I must rant for a moment or two. I apologize in advance.
What the hell is Congress doing? Why are there Congressional hearings about steroid use in baseball? Why not invite psychologists to discuss the sexuality of a cartoon? I think they are almost on the same level. On the news tonight, they referred to steroid use in baseball as a "national health crisis." I about choked on a pretzel. You've got to be kidding, I thought to myself. Congress has deemed baseball player steroid use - what about 500 players - as a pertinent topic. Yet 40 million or so Americans without health care isn't getting much play right now. This is becoming a systemic thing in Washington. Social Security is a looming crisis, while the national debt piles up like trash in a landfill. I sometimes wonder if I've gone insane, but watching D.C. lately I feel like Einstein in a room of clowns.
Perhaps the real issue is that our representatives are on crack. It's not the stuff you find on the street - it's the kind that causes very realistic hallucinations. Maybe we should have hearings about Congressional Crack Use. I think we'd find more issues there than in a typical MLB game.
I think I have an idea for an invention - an oral tampon. If someone begins to go off on a tirade or babble you to death, you would simply insert the oral tampon into their mouth. The cotton would react with the saliva causing the tampon material to expand, just enough for them to stop talking. Kinda like Great Stuff.
I know this is entirely antithetical to my normal viewpoint, but sometimes ya just take a break from reality. So anyone have any ideas for what brand name to give it?
Courtesy of Dan, a related audio clip from the HBO series Deadwood (not safe for work):
Your mouth looks like...
I wrote a little blurb about this topic earlier, but I've had a day to think about it. Pardon me, but I have more to say... It's about this Academic Bill of Rights. With this misnamed bill in place, teachers won't want to bring up anything that could be considered controversial so they can avoid lawsuits from their students. Anything that could be offensive to anyone could mean a day or so in court. So where is the dialogue going to take place?
Take for instance the topic of gays and lesbians. If a professor is teaching education students in a "diversity of learners" class (which does exist), and wants to discuss gay and lesbian youth they may have to skip that topic in order to not offend someone. This would prevent those future educators from knowing about how being gay in school could affect learning. In turn this could bring up the suicide rate for LGBT youth because professionals don't know how to deal with them. So there's just one effect of this "bill of rights."
I think what bothers me most though is the lack of dialogue. If anyone has questions for me about being gay I will certainly listen as long as the person is respectful. If someone wants to debate me about religion vs. homosexuality I will certainly engage them in a respectful manner. This is the life blood of progress and understanding. I have a friend at work who often disagrees with me when it comes to LGBT issues, and I can disagree with her. But we have a dialogue that I think is invaluable. Sometimes she says something to me from her perspective that I didn't think of or didn't understand. It reminds us both that we are more than just our opinions and perspectives - that we are human beings. And this dialogue happens all the time - and it happens in college classrooms.
If you refuse to even talk about the subject, it means that understanding isn't a goal. It means that valuing other peoples' perspectives and opinions is meaningless to you. And it means that any hope of reaching common ground is lost. If the dialogue is gone, what is left? Misconceptions, fear, hate and violence? Then we're going to need yet another bill of rights aren't we?
Another Orwellian title for legislation: the Academic Bill of Rights. Restricting free speech in classrooms everywhere...
I just read an article about the US House passing a faith-based bill that allows for discrimination based on religious beliefs. That alone - I'm dissapointed and shocked. The article addresses the ramifications for LGBT folks which are pretty obvious to me. A Christain group that believes that gays are sinners gets funded by my tax dollars, and if I should need job training they could refuse service to me. Yeah, I get all that...
But what if a religious group felt that women should be barefoot and pregnant? Could it refuse service to women? What if they felt that African-Americans were inferior and shouldn't get job training? Could they refuse service to them as well? And who is paying for this? The very people who could be refused service. What's up with that?
Openly gay congressman Jim Kolbe supported the bill. Again, what's up with that?
This is just making me ill. I think I'll just stop here...
(source: House OKs faith-based bill, hiring bias)
I can understand people dialing the wrong number. We all make mistakes. I can even understand when the phone rings again moments later, only for the person to realize it's not a dialing error but they really have the wrong number. But I just can't get why the same woman called me twelve times tonight asking for the same person. The first two times I told her she had the wrong number. Then I started messing with her. But she was persistent. She just made her latest call 10 minutes ago. I was polite once again and explained that she had the wrong number, again. Whoever this guy is that she's looking for, he's got another thing comin'.
Little kids are often so funny and easily entertained. Not one that I ran into today. While in a classroom of 1st graders, a little kid sat right up front and glared at the adult who was reading to the class. He said things in this awful exorcist voice like, "I know who you are", "I'm watching you", and if we'd look at him he'd sneer at us and snarl, "What are you looking at?" We were just waiting for his head to spin around...
The ACLU is calling for an independant, outside investigation into the torture and abuses that took place in Iraqi prisons. Some say that these practices are necessary to protect us, but I don't think that they represent what America is about. We should be above this. Although there have been trials for individuals' actions, I don't think we've seen the whole picture. When abuses took place on more than one occasion, it leads me to believe that someone higher up is responsible. I haven't forgotten about this, and the world hasn't either. This is not a quest to dethrone Rumsfeld or anyone in particular, but it's about seeking the truth and applying justice where it is due.
If you want more information or to exercise your right to express your view to our goverment, please use the following links:
View the ACLU flash presentation about the issue
ACLU: Demand An Outside Special Counsel for Investigation and Prosecution of Torture Abuses
This is an inadvertent review of the morning talk show Life and Style. I was watching a little TV this morning before starting my day, and saw that Hal Sparks from Queer as Folk was going to be on this show Life and Style. I like Hal Sparks and QAF so I was interested in seeing the interview. I had no idea I was watching the Valley High version of The View.
Before Hal was even on, during the intro of the show, the topic was not Hal Sparks. It was about how one of the hosts had been mean to him when they worked together on E!. Her rationale for being mean was that he was annoying and he made her crazy. But since he was on their show she would have to be nice to him. And she quipped, "sparks may fly with Hal Sparks!" Valley girl laughter ensued with the comment "that's so queer!"
Then they had this Q&A session with a member of the audience. It was funny because they were trying to help this woman with her boyfriend problems, but it was a miserable failure of an attempt. The segment ended with the woman saying "I'll figure it out."
Then more excitement: worst pickup line, diets, makeovers, skin products, fake diamonds... It was almost unbearable, but I watched so far I might as well watch to see Hal Sparks. In the meantime I painted color swatches on the wall.
35 minutes into the show they introduced Hal Sparks. Then we immediately began talking about the host's guilt about having been mean to him. A notable question, since you're on Queer as Folk, are you gay? The interview lasted 4 minutes. That was it.
So I learned my lesson. If I want to watch a show of that format, I'll watch The View. This show was like The View without the maturity.
