October 2005 Archives
I've been listening to some commentary about the political troubles in DC - VP's aid indicted, Frist under investigation, and DeLay also indicted. Then there's Mr. Noe who was indicted in OH for his fundraising for the Bush campaign. I hear people on the left who are saying, "Oh happy day!" and they're excited that all this bad news has befallen the Republicans. I'm not exactly fond of things the GOP has done over the past 5 years, but I'm not happy for their recent downturn.
Just remember, either we all look good together or we all look bad together. And in the eyes of Americans and the rest of the world, none of us are looking that great right now.
I just read a moment ago that Rosa Parks died yesterday at the age of 92. I'm saddened. She was like a role model for me, especially when I was young. I read about her and admired her bravery and willingness to stand up for her beliefs. It was her example among other strong and couragous people that inspire me to this day. Our country was changed by her actions, and better for what she made us think about.
Never let anyone tell you that one person cannot make a difference.
"Iraq was at core a war of choice, and extraordinarily expensive by every measure - human life, impact on our military, dollars, diplomatically," said Mr. Haass - NY TimesInteresting that this topic seems to wax and wane in the public consciousness, even though some fundamental questions have never been answered. Why does the topic need renewed if the topic was never resolved to begin with? I'm still wondering why exactly we didn't find the weapons, and why our government pushed so hard on what seems to be faulty information. This CIA leak case makes our country look juvinille, unprofessional, and unbelievable. If any good should come out of this whole circus I hope that some action is taken to rectify the problem, and that we remember the issue so that it doesn't happen again. (source: Leak Case Renews Questions on War's Rationale)
This evening I was working on my computer kinda late, and decided to step outside for a moment. Mind you it was about 2:30am. So I'm standing out there getting my fresh air when a car comes slowly down the road in front of our house. I notice it doesn't have its lights on when it slows almost to a stop in front of the house. It pulls into our neighbor's driveway and stops there. I didn't see anyone get out of the car, but it was really too dark to tell. I went inside thinking something isn't right here. I looked out the window at the neighbor's house to see if maybe some lights would come on, but I remembered that I hadn't seen my neighbors all day. Now I'm thinking someone's going to rob their house, so I went around and turnout on every last one of our exterior lights.
At that point I thought I've been watching too much TV and being paranoid. It's probably nothing. But my neighbors are about in their 70s and doubtful they were having a late night visitor. And still the car sat there at the end of their driveway. Finally when I saw a shadow move in the yard I decided to call the police. Our police dept. responded in like a minute, and I saw the officer walking around outside with his flashlight. Next thing I knew he was in our backyard with another guy! Shortly after they both left.
I couldn't help but call the police back to see if anything was wrong or if there was any reason to be concerned. Turned out this guy lost his dog, and apparently the dog had run into the woods behind our house. I figured it would be something stupid, but if my neighbor saw someone wandering around my house at 2:30am, I would be happy if they called the police.
A new Best Buy just opened nearby so this evening we went for a visit. Nice store, but the layout took some getting used to. One thing that I found interesting was the Windows XP Media Edition devices. I'm a big fan of TiVo which runs on Linux, so I was interested to see how the Windows machine worked. At first as I was playing with the remote I was impressed. Everything ran smoothly and quickly. That was until I got to the screen where I wanted to play a video, and the thing crapped out. Poor Windows...
Tonight I'm installing Fedora Core Linux on my laptop. You know how every few years you just have to do a clean install because everything just starts to slow down. Well, I decided that perhaps it's time to investigate options other than Windows. A Mac would be sweet, but school requires Internet Explorer and Macs are just too expensive. We'll see how this goes. So far it's installed, but I'm updating and having to hit "Yes" every 2 seconds because something's not signed. Arg.
Tonight I spoke for a speakers bureau at a local university about LGBT issues. I've done well over 100 speakers bureaus, and have had all kinds of experiences at them. It's usually a very rewarding experience just as tonight was. One of the interesting things is hearing other people's stories. My own story is much different from some of my friends who are older, have been married, have kids, came out in the 60s and 70s, etc. It's enlightening.
Tonight I learned something new about a part of the community that I had never considered. On the panel was a transgender man. As he spoke I found that I related to much of what he was saying - the whole "feeling different growing up," finding resources to deal with issues, family issues, coming out, and all that. There are many commonalities between gays and lesbians and transgendered people. But one thing that I had not considered is that many trans people have different ways of dealing with their "past lives."
When someone comes out as gay or lesbian, they are still the same person. Granted some people may not see it that way, but I think most do. But when someone transitions from male to female, many people, often including the transgendered person themselves, see them as a different person. Some people integrate their lives as the opposite gender into their current self, but others leave the whole "other person" behind. Some vehemently deny their previous existence in favor of who they are now. I'm not saying either way is right or wrong, but it's interesting that it's a whole new dimension of coming out that I never considered.
This past Friday was the annual Underpants Run in Hawaii. Now that would be a different kind of race to attend! I wonder if Fruit of the Loom is a sponsor? You'd have to be sure to wear supportive underwear for that one. Boxers could be a problem. As would a thong I imagine.
(source: Underpants Run an annual event before world Ironman triathlon championship)
Today is National Coming Out Day - so if you've chosen today to come out, congratulations. However, if you should decide to come out any other day that's just as wonderful. You won't get the embroidered T-shirt though.
I went to a hate crimes candle light vigil this evening (sponsored by the non-profit that I work with). It was to remember victims of hate crimes, especially Matthew Shepard whose death was 7 years ago tomorrow. I think it reminded us that we need to recognize the sacrifices of those who have come before us, that we still have a long way to go, and that we should honor those lost by reaching towards a hate-free society.
One man also spoke of hate crimes that are perpetuated by LGBT folks. I thought his point was interesting. It was that although society supplies the "hate" part of it, sometimes we provide the crime ourselves. In his case, a friend of his was rejected by his parents and shot himself. Other times people turn to alcohol and drugs to deal with an intolerant society. I think it's important that while we concentrate on dealing with external hate crimes, we should be aware that we all need to take care of each other.
(further reading: A note from Judy Shepard; LGBT student poll: 9 in 10 harassed)
I realized today that if you abbreviate Black and Decker you get B & D - otherwise known as "bondage and discipline."
The only thing [in life] that you have to do is die. Everything else is a choice.
-Lou Tice
I got very nice comments from my professor about one of my assignments this week. YAY! So I guess school is going well for the first week back.
A blog that I've long read and admired, Bill and Ken't Place, wrote a piece on civil unions in Connecticut. I have to say I agree with most of what he said. A civil union is like a seperate drinking fountain for people of different colors. Perhaps the hetero population thinks they're giving us what we want, but you know the gay agenda - we're never going to stop until we take over the entire world! (insert Dr. Evil laugh here). But civil unions are also the closest thing to a recognized relationship that gay people have. When people see that gay people can be in relationships and the world doesn't end, perhaps full equality will be just a little closer.
I don't think I would have a civil union myself, but to those who had them this weekend, I wish you many happy days.
(source: Couples ready for Conn. civil unions)
