October 2004 Archives
It’s amazing what people are doing in an effort to keep people from voting. I read this off The Blue Lemur. It would seem that the Republicans will stop at nothing to get their way.
I hate to even ask the question, but if Bush is re-elected, how will we ever know that his victory was real?
As campaigns across the country roll towards their bitter end, politics have grown ever-dirtier, with two flyers raising red flags of racism, RAW STORY has found. Both benefit the Republican Party, though one is unattributed.
In Wisconsin, flyers purporting to be from the “Milwaukee Black Voters League”, (image below) erroneously tell African Americans they cant vote in the presidential election if anyone in their family has even been found guilty of a crime. An image of the flyer is reproduced below.
Not good news folks, but I thought I'd let you know.
Take life as it comes. Don’t let it get you down. Yeah, that’s what we have to do!
Already passed into law:
Louisiana (later struck down in state court)
Missouri
Proposed amendments to make marriage “one man, one woman”:
Mississippi
Montana
Oregon
Proposed amendments to make marriage “one man, one woman” and to go further by making civil union type arrangements illegal as well:
Arkansas
Georgia
Kentucky
Michigan
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Utah
A voter's guide circulating in some Catholic churches in Connecticut and elsewhere says there are five “non-negotiable” issues that Catholics must support as voters to remain in communion with the church.
The “Voter's Guide For Serious Catholics,” produced by a San Francisco-based organization, says abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and homosexual marriage are “intrinsically evil.” (source)
Cool. I'm “intrinsically evil” just in time for Halloween! 
Is it the 1950’s all over again for gay Americans? Apparently, in some parts of the country, it is.
It’s hard to believe that in this day and age that an organization would threaten to blackmail anyone into submitting information about themselves. The threat if they don’t respond is to tell others in the community that they are gay. I guess that they believe, in their quest “to help parents when choosing a school for their children”, that they are trying to keep gays away from their children. Are they insinuating that we are child molesters or do they fear that their children might learn some other valuable lessons about life, such as living a dignified life with honesty?
The way some people in this country think scares me.
A judge has ordered a Texas company to stop sending email masquerading as freedom of information requests to Missouri schools after some administrators were threatened with outing.
The mass emails were sent by Abilene, Texas-based StarProse Corp. seeking information on school administrators, principals and teachers.
The e-mail messages appeared with the subject line, “Open Records Request,” but actually sought personal information. The emails threatened to list as gay anyone who does not respond to the information demand. The company said in the emails that the information was needed “to help parents when choosing a school for their children.” (source)
7:35am - Wake up with Max mauling me. I slept very well last night. I'm feeling great. Kent gets in the shower, and I go downstairs to make coffee.
9:35am - We leave home in route to Monet's Table. For some reason this morning, I'm feeling like listening to Mahler’s First Symphony (“Titan”). Kent finds this odd because Mahler is too heavy for me. Perhaps I'm changing.
9:42am - We arrive at Monet’s Table for breakfast. They always have their regular things to eat, and they always have some specials that are always wonderful. Today, I opt for one of the specials. It’s salmon and whitefish cakes with eggs. Over the salmon and whitefish cakes is a rich lobster-chardonnay sauce. It was just right and was a great accompaniment to Mahler!
While there, Shirley, one of the sisters who owns Monet’s Table, came up to talk to us. We’ve become good friends with the sisters. We talk about what we are doing for Christmas. Somehow, the topic of my birthday came up and I tell her that my birthday is on December 31st. She said that I had to come by because they were having a big celebration. I told her that I may not celebrate this year because I’m not too happy about turning 50. She looked at me and said, “Wait until you turn 78!” She has a point. I stopped complaining. So, instead of going to Cavy’s for my birthday, I suppose we will go to Monet's Table. There is nothing quite like having friends around you at special times.
11:10am - We arrive at Buckland Hills Mall. We decide that we are just going to have some coffee and browse for books. The mall is a very dangerous place for me. I suppose I look a bit strange. I carry my cell phone with me and hooked to my ear is my wireless Bluetooth headset for my cell phone. That attracted all the tech heads that wanted to sell me other stuff, such as this device that you hook to your cell phone to make it come out of your car speakers. I move on and resist the urge to try yet another toy.
We head off to Filene's and leave Filene’s $350.00 poorer. I saw some clothes that I just had to buy because I have a closet full of nothing to wear. I did buy some silk pajamas for those cold winter nights that are coming. I don't know if you've ever worn silk before, but it doesn't suck.
We get back to Barnes and Noble where I buy a few magazines and yet another Rupert Everett movie (I won't bore you with the details). Ok, I will. I bought Another Country. I've never seen it before and heard it was good. I suppose the fact that since Rupert came out of the closet he hasn't been able to find work had something to do with it as well.
1:20pm - We arrive back home and when I pull into the driveway, realize that we forgot to go to the drugstore for a prescription I need (high blood pressure medication - nothing serious, just marginal, but I have a doctor who worries about needle pricks). Me, I just worry about pricks in general.
1:50pm - On our way home, we run across a stop sign that has been re-painted by what I assume to be some of our local school children. The word “STOP” has been painted over and a big question mark is on the sign. I wonder if it’s in reference to where our country stands now on a variety of different issues. Or perhaps it’s in reference to the upcoming election on Tuesday, that will take our country six (6) weeks to figure out who won the election. Personally, I would have painted “!” on the sign. I’ve included a picture of the sign below, along with a few others I took this last week.
2:57pm - Kent breaks up a cat fight. Can’t we all just live in peace?
Tonight we are going to Costa del Sol for dinner tonight at 7:00. It's a nice Spanish restaurant in Hartford.
The stop sign I wrote about
I left for work before the sun was up last Thursday. This was what I saw from our driveway
The open amphitheater at one end of the park. Some of the fall colors are still with us
The Florida Republican Party said it has a list of more than 900 felons who will vote illegally in this year's election.
“We believe this is simply the tip of the iceberg and there could be potentially additional felons who have registered,” said Mindy Tucker Fletcher, spokesman for the Florida Republican Party. (source)
I thought that once a felon had served his time, he/she could apply to have their voting rights restored. It seems fair to me, in a way. People who are equal citizens who pay taxes are allowed to vote. When felons become part of society again, any wages they earn will be taxable, so it seems only the fair thing to do to give them voting rights.
Or am I assuming too much? We tax them but they have no access to their representation?
The folks in charge of the U.S. president’s re-election campaign seem to have forgotten that the first two letters of WWW stand for “world wide.”
Just days before the presidential election, the Bush campaign’s official Web site, GeorgeWBush.com, is turning away Web traffic from abroad. The virtual blockade began Monday, according to Internet traffic analysis company Netcraft.
The site appears to be rejecting visitors from most points outside the United States, while allowing access from most U.S. locations and Canada, according to Netcraft, which is based in Bath, England. The company monitors Web site response times from numerous locations around the globe, including New York; London; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Sydney, Australia.
An attempt by a CNET News.com reader in the Netherlands to access the site brought up an “Error 403 Forbidden” page with the message: “Access Denied: You don’t have permission to access ‘http://www.georgewbush.com/’ on this server.”
Representatives at the Bush campaign office did not immediately return calls for comment. (source)
An Atlanta golf club is expected to challenge the city’s four-year-old gay rights ordinance over a gay member who argues her partner should get spousal club benefits.
Druid Hills Golf Club was ordered by Mayor Shirley Franklin to change its policies about the gay member or face sanctions, citing a 2000 ordinance that guarantees equal rights for gays in public accommodations.
Club leaders recently sent a letter to the club’s 1,100 members arguing the club should not change its policies to provide full benefits for partners of unmarried members. (source)
Didn't we go through this fight once before?
Oh wait! That fight was about black and interracial couples.
Yes, straight marriage in the United States is so sacred that you can measure its sanctity in piles of fresh, green cash for the creators of ‘marriage’ and ‘love’ reality TV shows. You can also measure the sanctity of marriage in how quickly people are willing to throw ‘true love’ to the wayside on public television in exchange for a briefcase full of money.
Who can really believe in the sanctity of marriage in this country anymore? Apparently our President does. After all, he is the political leader in the fight to keep gays and lesbians from obtaining equal marriage rights. As President Bush so succinctly states, “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.” Oh yes, and he also says “we’ve got lawyers looking at the best way” to keep it that way.
Well, I say that if President George Bush believes so strongly that gay marriage would destroy “traditional marriage” – why isn’t he out there campaigning against other threats to the American Family? Why isn’t President George Bush out there hitting the bricks to introduce a constitutional amendment to keep perfect strangers from marrying (or not marrying) each other on television for large sums of cash? After all, aren’t these television ‘love’ reality shows kind of like public prostitution? Surely having millions of Americans watching people screw each other over for money in the name of marriage has far more damage potential for the American family than gay marriage. Or how about when public celebrities (and idols to millions of American youth) like Britney Spears can get married and divorced in the same day. (Oops, Mr. President, I'm afraid I was a little drunk, but I'm straight, so that's okay...) (source)
President Bush said on Wednesday 380 tons of missing explosives in Iraq might have vanished prior to the arrival of U.S. forces and he blasted Democrat John Kerry for making a campaign issue out of it.
“A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief,” Bush told more than 17,000 supporters at an airport rally as he began a day of campaigning in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. (source)
“A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief”.
You mean like taking our country into war with a country when we had no facts about weapons of mass destruction?
You mean going into Iraq to capture Osama bin Laden when we didn't know for a fact that he was even in the country?
You mean promising the American People that this would be a quick war and over in six months when you knew for a fact that it would take us much longer to achieve what you wanted to achieve, which apparently did not include capturing Osama bin Laden? And now, after 1,112 Americans have been killed in Iraq (as of today), and the end to this conflict no where in site, you accuse John Kerry of acting without the facts?
We went to war in Iraq for one reason, to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. How did you put it Mr. President? I think you said dead or alive? Osama bin Laden was the man who was behind the September 11, 2001 attack on America. You said we were going after him. YOU LIED.
You are in no position to criticize anyone for jumping to conclusions without facts.
We have to own this one because we allowed this to happen. Some of the soldiers who did the actual torture of prisoners are now being charged with crimes. The last one, last week, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
While these soldiers are being charged with these crimes, does anyone actually buy that these acts were done by a handful of hoodlums who were acting on their own? I understand that there were specific people who did these acts. I also realize that these acts happened because the atmosphere at Abu Gharib, and our attitude let this happen. But if anyone out there actually believes that people much higher up in the Administration didn't know this was happening, you are deluding yourselves.
I know there are some who think that I am anti-American for saying these things. And yes, I did receive your hate mail. Thank you very much. I also received hate mail for posting the Abu Gharib abuse photos on my website. I was even told that I will hold some responsibility for the deaths of our soldiers because I posted these photos. BUNK! Take that argument to President George W. Bush who sent our troops into harms way without even adequate body armor. Families of individual soldiers had to obtain the amour on their own at a cost of $1,400 for their loved one in Iraq. Our government then refused to even reimburse them for that expense. Totally shameful.
So why would I post such photos? Very simple actually. I’ll explain it by simply saying, “You can’t fight evil by doing evil.” If you are of a religious leaning, you will understand that. If not, let me put it another way.
I think America should be and must be better than the world’s thugs and bullies. We are in a position to set the example on humane and just behavior. We suffered a huge blow on September 11, 2001. We were angry. We went after Osama bin Laden (or so we were being told), let him escape, and ended up beating the hell out of Iraq. And now, after everything is said and done, the irony is that most of the prisoners in Abu Gharib that suffered at our hands, have been freed because it was determined that they hadn’t committed any crimes, other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some are actually trying to get compensation through international legal courts for what happened to them at our hands.
Are their “bad guys” in Iraq who want us destroyed? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean that the entire population does. It also doesn’t mean that the Iraqi’s who don’t want our brand of freedom are our enemies. We are arrogant as hell in this country. We (or some of us), have freedom and equality. We think that everyone in the world should have our brand of freedom. In many countries, that culturally just will not work. Unless of course, we want to destroy their culture and Americanize them. Not even that would surprise me.
The United States has manifestly failed to uphold obligations to reject torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading behavior in the “war on terror” launched after Sept. 11, 2001, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
The human rights group condemned the U.S. administration’s response to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington as one which had resulted in its own “iconography of torture, cruelty and degradation.”
“The war mentality the government has adopted has not been matched with a commitment to the laws of war and it has discarded fundamental human rights principles along the way,” it said in a report.
Amnesty’s report -- “Human dignity denied: Torture and accountability in the ‘war on terror’” -- accused Washington of stepping onto a “well-trodden path of violating basic rights in the name of national security or ‘military necessity’.”
At best, Washington was guilty of setting conditions for torture and cruel treatment by lowering safeguards and failing to respond adequately to allegations of abuse, it said.
At worst, it had authorized interrogation techniques which flouted its international obligation to reject torture and ill-treatment under any circumstances. [...]
Photographs that surfaced in April showed U.S. soldiers posing, smiling and giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts with one another.
A prisoner in one photo was directed to stand on a box with his head hooded, and wires attached to his hands, and was told that if he fell off the box he would be electrocuted. (source)
Already banned in Georgia, gay marriage could sustain another setback when voters decide November 2 whether to amend the state constitution to further forbid it.
More than 3 million registered voters throughout Georgia are expected to cast ballots in this year’s election – pointing to what could be the state’s largest turnout ever. That windfall could seal the fate of gay marriage with a recent poll showing most Georgians are in favor of adding an anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution.
Furthermore, in a 5-2 vote, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the gay marriage amendment, in its current wording, will remain on the November 2 ballot. The ruling came amid a heated dispute between both sides of the issue and just a week before the presidential election. [...]
A majority of Georgia lawmakers want the constitution amended to prevent any court action from overturning the current state law which already bans gay marriage. Opponents of the measure appealed to the courts, saying the version to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot omitted a critical second paragraph that would not only ban same-sex marriages, but threaten same-sex legal unions and domestic partnership benefits, as well. (source)
This is how change happens. I’ve always thought that if straight soldiers could just see their gay counterparts working along side them, the situation would change. I’ve talked with friends who are in the military and many of the straight soldiers know the soldiers who are gay within their unit. They don’t tell their superiors about it, but they know. It’s pretty hard to keep the lie up about why you aren’t dating or at least can’t tell anyone about who you are dating, or have no stories to share when you talk about those people important in your life. I think that most people who you work with, once they get to know you, see that as being greatly unfair.
At the end of the day, the important thing you need to know is if you can trust your fellow soldiers to cover you back. And in the field (such as Iraq), being gay or straight is just not the hot issue anymore.
Hopefully, Congress will get that idea soon, before we loose more good soldiers to don't ask, don't tell.
A new survey from the University of Pennsylvania shows that 50% of junior enlisted service members say gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military. The National Annenberg Election Survey reveals a significant increase since 1992, when two similar surveys found that only 16% of male service members held the same view.
The Annenberg poll follows a report last week from the Urban Institute, which estimates that 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans serve in the armed forces. “Despite the military’s gay ban, service members have seen firsthand the contributions of lesbian and gay Americans,” said Sharra E. Greer, director of law and policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group for gay service personnel. “Heterosexual service members serve alongside lesbian and gay colleagues every day, and they are increasingly comfortable doing so.” (source)
The amendment that seeks to write a ban against gay marriage into the state Constitution could pose problems for straight people in Kentucky if voters approve it next week, say legal experts and those who oppose the measure.
The trouble, they say, is in the second clause of the question, which would declare a “legal status identical to or similar to marriage for unmarried individuals” not valid.
The ambiguity of that language is “like -- looking into the legal well and wondering how deep is it?” said Louisville attorney Sheryl Snyder. “It boggles the mind all the things that this could impact, which is why amending the Constitution should be a very thoughtful process, not something that is lightly done on the issue de jour.” (source)
I'm probably going to get into trouble for saying this with my straight friends, but hopefully, they will understand.
I thought that the argument for amending the constitutions in the states that are going to amend their state constitutions, such as Kentucky, was to protect the sanctity of marriage and keep it “one man, one woman”. Fine. But now that it looks as if straight unmarried couples could be effected by these nasty constitutional amendments, they are all of the sudden concerned that unmarried heterosexual couples will loose some of their benefits.
SO FUCKING WHAT?
I’m pissed as hell that they don’t want to share the burden in this little adventure. This is what discrimination is folks. This is why it’s so ugly. You can’t have it both ways.
Let’s at least be honest about it. You want to keep marriage from the HOMOSEXUALS ONLY. Just say it and be honest about it. But at the same time, you want heterosexual couples to not have to suffer from this law either.
I hope they do suffer right along with the gay couples who will have what few rights they have stripped away. Maybe then, we can start to see change.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Well, your side of the fence just became my side as well. Get used to it.
I apologize to my straight friends who read this, but this had to be said. It’s about conviction and what is right and what is wrong.
Just astonishing. Sometimes you read a story and have to just sit back and wonder, “What is happening to the world?”
(Salt Lake City, Utah) A debate between two Salt Lake City area candidates for the US House of Representatives shows divisions on whether to an amendment to the Utah constitution to ban gay marriage, and uncertainty about whether the Constitution should be used to stop polygamy.
The issue arose during the taping of a debate between Republican Representative Chris Cannon and his Democratic challenger Beau Babka for airing tonight on TV station KUED.
The question was posed by two female polygamists in the audience, and relayed by moderator Ken Verdoia.
Cannon, who supports the proposed ban on gay marriage, said he doesn't know about polygamy.
“I don’t know where we should go. I don’t have an answer,” he said.
Babka said he will vote against the amendment on Nov. 2 because he doesn’t believe the constitution should be used to disenfranchise any group of people.
But he also said he wasn't sure how to answer the polygamy question.
He said religious freedom is important, but he is concerned about the exploitation of women and children in polygamist families. (source)
Renowned baritone and 30-year Metropolitan Opera veteran Robert Merrill has died of natural causes. He was 87.
Merrill’s wife, Marion, told the New York Times the opera star died at home Saturday while watching the first game of the World Series.
Merrill made his Metropolitan debut as Germont in “La Traviata” Dec. 15, 1945, and celebrated his 500th performance there March 5, 1973. He remained on the Met roster until 1976. (source)
President Bush said in an interview this past weekend that he disagreed with the Republican Party platform opposing civil unions of same-sex couples and that the matter should be left up to the states.
Mr. Bush has previously said that states should be permitted to allow same-sex unions, even though White House officials have said he would not have endorsed such unions as governor of Texas. But Mr. Bush has never before made a point of so publicly disagreeing with his party’s official position on the issue.
In an interview on Sunday with Charles Gibson, an anchor of Good Morning America on ABC, Mr. Bush said, “I don’t think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that’s what a state chooses to do so.” ABC, which broadcast part of the interview on Monday, is to broadcast the part about civil unions on Tuesday. (source)
It’s not that I’m smarter than anyone else in America. I’m not. But, every single time, EVERY TIME that the Federal Government or anyone in the Bush Administration talks about gay marriage, they always talk about “if that’s what a state chooses to do”.
This issue is larger than the states. It’s all nice and easy for the President to shrug it off and let the states deal with the issue of how best to turn gay Americans into second class citizens, but they conveniently never mention their roll at the Federal level in this argument.
Folks, there are over 1,000 rights afforded to marriage at the Federal level! This is never mentioned by the Bush Administration because...
I can’t make it any plainer than that.
5:30am - Got up. It's too damn early. Cat is mauling me. In the distance I can hear Kent in the shower. I'm not a morning, afternoon, evening, or night person.
9:30am - I go into the kitchen at work for some coffee, and I see this label on the coffee pot that says, "Breakfast Coffee, not as heavy as real coffee". I'm like WTF?! I immediately think that the people responsible for putting up the protect marriage billboards around the state have struck again in the kitchen! I want REAL COFFEE damn it!
I put on a new pot of the real stuff, and return to my work where I'm on a deadline.
9:50am - Return to kitchen where there are about 6 people hovering over the coffee. I say, "Don't even think of taking all the coffee that I BREWED!" They all stepped away from the coffee pot. Half the pot was left. I got my fix. All is back to normal. I return to my desk to work on deadline. Coffee, like gay marriage, terrorism, and missing enriched uranium, are important subjects to me.
5:30pm - I'm home now. The day went great after the coffee kicked in.
It's so quiet out. The sun is setting, there's a chill in the air, and not even the creatures of the forest are out and about. It's peaceful.
Remember way back in the 1980s, when Dick Cheney racked up one of the most anti-gay voting records in the House of Representatives? In 1988, he was one of 13 members who even voted against funding for AIDS testing and research when it was still called a “gay plague.” Well, Cheney’s come as far as many other Americans, and for the same essential reason. The more people in our families, workplaces and communities come out of the closet, the harder it is to regard them as deviants who need to be cured or converted or jailed. (source)
The maple tree in our front drive way
The fall colors of Vermont
Motion!
A convention on our front porch
Virginia's refusal to allow birth certificates of children born in the state but adopted by same-sex couples outside of Virginia to show the names of both parents is endangering the children a court was told Monday.
A legal brief filed on behalf of three families, two in Washington, DC, and one in New York, who adopted children born in Virginia, says that "Schools, hospitals or others may refuse services or access to records without a birth certificate that specifically names each legal parent." [...]
The Commonwealth of Virginia argues that the form lists a mother and father and officials would not issue birth certificates listing two parents of the same sex for fear that it would confuse the record-keeping system that must be "uniform and consistent."
The Commonwealth also argued that because unmarried couples in Virginia cannot adopt children, the state could not recognize legal adoptions that occur out of state by such couples. A lower court judge agreed, and now the case is on appeal at the Virginia Supreme Court. (source)
So let me get this straight (no pun intended)... Same-sex parents who want to make the adoption of their children legal in Virginia can't because it would mess up their filing system?
You know, I've heard a lot of excuses to discriminate against people, but this one honestly takes the cake.
Way to go Virginia!
It's a scary thought to me, but the next president will probably redefine the United States Supreme Court, replacing at least three of the current justices.
The highlighting below is my own.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the second-oldest man to preside over the nation's highest court and its premier conservative figure, is undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer.
Rehnquist, 80, underwent a tracheotomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in suburban Maryland on Saturday, the Supreme Court announced Monday. It said he expects to be back at work next week when the court will next be meeting to hear cases.
Even so, Rehnquist's hospitalization little more than a week before the election gave new prominence to a campaign issue that has been overshadowed by the war on terrorism. The next president is likely to name several justices to a court that has been deeply divided in recent years on issues as varied as abortion and the 2000 election itself. (source)
The state Supreme Court tossed out Georgia's hate crimes law Monday, meaning state lawmakers will have to revisit a roiling debate that divided them deeply four years ago.
The law barely passed the Legislature in 2000 after bitter arguments about whether some crimes are worse than others when bigotry is in the heart of the accused. It passed only after protections for gay people were removed and the law rewritten to vaguely refer to "bias or prejudice." Of the 48 states with hate-crimes laws, Georgia's was the only one not to specify who would be protected. (source)
Issue 1 is a constitutional amendment regarding the definition of marriage.
The text of the amendment is as follows (highlighting my own):
Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage.
In other words, all civil union arrangements are out, not only for gay couples, but for everyone. EVERYONE. If the state of Ohio believes for one second that Issue 1, if passed, will not effect their economy and the businesses they attract, they are sadly mistaken.
Most people don’t want to live in an atmosphere of intolerance, especially if that intolerance is going to effect them. What about a will, or power of attorney? In the case of Kent and myself, we are drawing those up to take the place of what we can’t have through marriage. In other words, we are trying to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage. If we lived in Ohio, would we even be able to do that, even if we were a heterosexual couple?
The people of Ohio should remember the old saying, “Be careful what you ask for. You may just get it.”
Voters on Nov. 2 will decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and prohibiting public domestic partner benefits for any unmarried couple.
Supporters say state Issue 1, placed on the ballot by a citizen-initiated petition drive, is necessary to ensure activist judges do not alter state law and require Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
The amendment also will insure judges will not look for back doors into marriage by calling it domestic partnership or civil union, said Phil Burress, the Cincinnati-area leader of the campaign to pass the issue.
“If somehow a court says we will not call it marriage, you are going to be unionized, it’s just marriage by another name,” Burress said. “It’s an end-run around the law and destroys the institution of marriage.”
But opponents argue the amendment is too broad and too vague, particularly the second sentence, which forbids a legal status for unmarried individuals “that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage.”
Opponents say the amendment could impact legal contracts, visitation rights or property rights of any unmarried couple. There’s also concern that, although the amendment speaks only of the “state and its political subdivisions,” it could impact a private company’s ability to offer domestic partner benefits. (source)
From this morning's New York Times:
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, make missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.
The huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had monitored the explosives for many years, but White House and Pentagon officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished sometime after the American-led invasion last year.
...
The bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 used less than a pound of the same type of material.
...
Earlier this month, in a letter to the I.A.E.A. in Vienna, a senior official from Iraq's Ministry of Science and Technology wrote that the stockpile disappeared after early April 2003 because of "the theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security.
Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in Iraq, By James Glanz, William J. Broad and David E. Sanger, The New York Times, 24 October 2004
Let's see. President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1st, 2003. So I guess he regards it as part of our "success" in Iraq that 380 tons (that tons, not pounds) of explosives disappeared on our watch. He must, because "the Bush administration would not allow the [International Atomic Energy Association] back into the country to verify the status of the stockpile." The IAEA was involved because the explosives are dual-use, many countries use them as detonators for their nuclear warheads.
A letter published on the York Daily Record:
There's been much criticism of Kerry's innocuous remarks about Cheney's daughter. To quote Paul Begala, "Spare me the righteous indignation." The fact is that Dick Cheney stands behind a president who has vilified the gay community as "sinners" and a "threat to the institution of marriage." If I were running for office with someone who thought so little of any of my children, I know that I would be unable to support him.
Where was Dick Cheney's indignation when our own Sen. Rick Santorum equated homosexuality with bestiality? Would Lynne Cheney say that Alan Keyes "is not a good man" for saying that her daughter's lifestyle is based on "selfish hedonism"?
Who first brought up Cheney's daughter in public? Dick Cheney. On Aug. 24, in response to a question from an audience member about homosexuality, he replied that he thought gay marriage was a decision best left to the states.
The question remains: Does Dick Cheney want to be vice president so much that he is willing to support an administration bent on denying his own daughter basic civil liberties?
This feigned outrage reflects the Republican Party's inability to reconcile their own official views with the reality of their hypocrisy.
PAT WELLEN
WEST MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP
6:17am - Wake up early, even though this is sleeping in for me. Max (American short hair cat) needs huge amounts of attention.
6:30am - I quietly get up and put on a robe (you got it, I sleep naked!), and try not to wake Kent. But he awakens and heads off for the shower. I go downstairs to make us some coffee.
7:30am - We head off to Vernon Diner for breakfast. We usually go to Monet’s Table every Saturday morning, but Kent has a departmental “retreat” all day today starting at 9:00, so that won’t work because Monet’s Table doesn’t open until 9:00.
We talked about the war in Iraq, U.S. policies, our allies, or current lack there of. We also talked about possibly moving to Canada once again. There’s a lot involved with that of course. We would leave our home behind, our jobs, and start a new life in a country that valued us as citizens, where we could be free and be married. Real freedom. But I don’t want to give up on my country yet. I still hope that people will want to be fair minded to gay couples and to let us be equal. We’ll see. I hate talking about this because I don't think we should have to talk about this. It shouldn't be an issue.
8:55am - We are home. Kent is getting ready to leave. I am a bit board and thinking about how nice a hot shower sounds.
2:30pm - Knock on the door. I open the door. Two women are standing there. One hands me a pamphlet entitled, “Would you Like to Know More About the Bible?”, as she says to me, “Would you like to hear what the Bible has to say about you?” I replied, “No, that’s ok. I’ve heard for many years from people just like yourselves what the Bible has to say about people like me.”
With that, I closed the door.
4:00pm - Kent comes home from his meeting. He dresses in work clothes to go out to mow the lawn for the last time this year. A lot of leaves have fallen and litter our yard and driveway. While mowing the lawn, the same two ladies return and give him the “we’re here to save you speech”. He declines. They walk away, hopefully for the last time. Maybe I should just put a big rainbow flag out on my porch, or would that just invite the neighborhood kids to spray paint the word, “F A G” across our garage doors?
5:30pm - Lawn done. Ready to go out to dinner. We head for the mall and end up and Red Robin where I eat a cholesterol-laced “Blue Burger” (greasy hamburger with blue cheese). Yeah, I know, it probably sounds gross to you, but at the time, it sounded good.
7:00pm - My body is saying, “What the hell did you do to me?!” Note to Bill: chill on the red meat.
9:00pm - Watching some dumb movie that I tuned into but didn’t watch from the beginning. Three college-age guys are traveling down the road. One has blue hair, the other is bald from shaving his head, and one has a Mohawk. They look as if they are from another planet. They are crossing the border into Wyoming to buy beer.
The conversation starts off from the bald guy, “Most people think I’m gay, even the chicks, but I’m not gay. But gay guys are totally cool to hang with. I don’t care if others call me a fag.”
The Mohawk guy says, “I don’t know man. I would care if someone called me a fag.”
The bald guy responds, “Dude, they aren’t calling you a ‘fag’, they are calling you a name to make themselves look better. I’m calling you a ‘fag’!” [much laughter]
They arrive at the store and the store owner sees them and thinks that they’ve escaped from the local mental institution. He picks up the phone and offers to call the institution to come and put them back in. The blue-haired guy says, “No, we aren’t from the institution, we are just from England.” The store owner says, “Oh, that explains it.”
Owner’s wife comes out and looks at them in horror. Owner tells his wife, “Don’t worry, they are from England!” She say, “Oh!”, with great relief. She then looks at the blue haired guy and says very slowly as though she is talking to a foreigner, “H e l l o. I t ’ s v e r y n i c e t o m e e t y o u.”
After that they go to the back of the store where the beer is. There are two people talking about the end of the world that is at hand. The three start talking to them about it. “How will you know when it happens?”, the blue-haired guy asks. She said, “There will be devil creatures who will come into this world to take it over.” He asks her, “How will we recognize them?”. She answers, “They will have the sign on them. The ‘666’.”
With that, he starts acting very strangely. He starts dancing around, pulls down his pants, turns around, and displays the tattoo on his butt cheek that says “666”. She screams and runs out of the store. The manager gets his shot gun out from behind the counter, and everyone leaves the store.
I turn off the TV, and say quietly to myself, “What the hell did I just watch?”
I go to bed.
This weekend, Kent and I will be finishing up the information our attorney has requested for the legal documents she will be drawing up for us. I'm hopeful that they will be sufficient when the time comes that they are needed. I worry too damn much about this stuff but I've heard all the awful things that can and do happen. And, after everything, I worry that anything our attorney does, will be contested. I guess there's no way around that. The deadline for me is our travel to San Diego this Christmas. I want the legal papers drawn up before that trip.
And this from the Oregon Statesman Journal:
Marriage is supposed to bestow the benefits of love, comfort and fidelity.
It promises to endure in sickness and health, in times of plenty and want.
But emotion aside, there are many other benefits to being legally married in Oregon.
Married people can sue others for the wrongful death of a spouse. If one is ill, the other half of a wedded couple can visit hospital rooms or make medical decisions without providing legal papers.
They can't be forced to testify against each other in court. If a spouse dies, a husband or wife may inherit their property and money without challenge in court.
None of these benefits applies to unmarried couples.
Even with wills, medical directives and powers-of-attorney, many benefits are not guaranteed if challenged in court, attorneys say.
I'm a bit disappointed in Oregon. I really thought that they would vote Measure 36 down, but it looks now as though it will pass. I know that it's not all about hate. But from my end of things, the receiving end of the different legislations being pushed into law around the country, it feels very much like hate.
It feel like society is telling me, “You FAGGOT! You don't deserve what we have because you are queer and LESS THAN US.” Of course, it's much more sterile than that, but the effect at my end, both real and emotional, are the same. I'm left with more questions than answers. Is my country leaving me behind? Do the really care about citizens like me, or am I just there to supplement their tax base and heterosexual couples who can get married? After all, if anything happens to me, Kent won't see one dime of my Social Security that I have paid into. My 401K retirement will be taxed in one total sum and then given to him, what's left of it. He can't roll it over into his retirement.
And I'm left wondering, is this what Christianity is? It's confusing to me because I've always been a Christian. I was raised a Christian, went to church regularly, my friends were Christian, it was all around me. Either I was totally oblivious to what people thought, or I didn't want to accept the hateful side of it. I'm wondering if it was always there, if that is what Christianity is, and I just didn't see it.
And I'm wondering if I ever understood America. I always thought naively that we all wanted equal rights and liberty for all. Is that all crap? Is that what the bedrock documents that formed the foundation of this country believe, and they've just been hijacked by religious fanatics? I wish I had more answers because this country no longer makes sense to me.
I try not to take it personally. It's not like they are passing these bills so that Bill Cannon won't be equal. It's against one single class of citizens. But, for the life of me, I can't make equality less than personal.
Marital benefits
Federal
There are more than 1,100 federal laws relating to marriage that do not apply to same-sex couples, no matter the outcome of Measure 36 or a lawsuit before the Oregon Supreme Court contesting the marriage licenses issued this year to gay couples by Multonomah County.The benefits include Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments, immigration, taxes and others.
Federal law also gives states the authority to not recognize same-sex marriages from other states. If Measure 36 passes, Oregon would be included, supporters say.
State
There are 279 state laws relating to marriage, including:
Joint state tax filing.Automatic property and money inheritance without a will.
Medical and funeral decisions without a legal directive or will.
Entitlement to child-support money upon divorce.
Right to sue for wrongful death of a spouse.
No requirement to testify in court against a spouse or disclose any confidential information.
Entitlement to deceased spouse's retirement benefits and life insurance.
Right to transfer property and gifts between spouses without state taxation.
Civil unions
Civil unions may extend state benefits of marriage to gay couples, but other states and the federal government can choose not to recognize them. Federal benefits of marriage, such as joint federal tax filings, are not available to civil-union couples.Benefits by contract
Many gay couples hire attorneys or draw up legal documents for medical directives and powers-of-attorney.The contracts may be contested in court. They also may not be recognized in other states. For example, a medical directive does not have to be honored in a state where an Oregon couple is vacationing.
Gay and lesbian couples may own property jointly, adopt common children of the relationship, write wills, gain power of attorney for end-of-life decisions and medical care (unless one partner is still lawfully married).
There are many benefits provided by private companies that may or may not be available to same-sex couples, including family payment plans for health clubs, car insurance, health insurance and retirement plans. (source)
5:30am - Woke up to my 18 pound cat lying on top of me letting me know in his own way that "I'm the most wonderful person in his whole world".
5:45am - Kent comes in to wake me up. It's our "bagel day" at Charlies.
7:10am - Get to work. Feel blah. Work on SQL query problem and realize that it's too damn early for brainy work. Coffee hasn't kicked in yet.
10:30am - Realize that last week was the sixth anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death on October 12th, and I didn't even remember. I'm sad that I didn't, and now that I remember, wonder if anything has changed in Wyoming. I did a quick Google search, and found out that the Fireside Lounge where Matthew's killers met him has closed for lack of business. The Marriage Caravan Express, a bus load of 44 Californians traveling cross-country to campaign for same-sex marriage rights, stopped in Laramie. They had some support, and had a brief ceremony of remembrance outside the boarded up bar. I guess some support is better than what Matthew got. I wish I hadn't searched. Now my mind is going on this. Back to work.
12:20pm - Had lunch (don't ask where, it was a junk food place). The conservatives may be worried. Bill "sex fiend" O'Reilly (I don't personally mind sex fiends as long as they are honest about it, which he isn't) is saying that the race for President is going to be very close. That's good. New York City says it's sunny and beautiful out. I'm wondering what world they live in. Over me, it's cold and cloudy and is starting to drizzle. Back to work.
12:45pm - Read about throw away underwear at Gary's site. It's unsettling.
4:30pm - Completed SQL work and wrote some reports. Time to go home.
5:30pm - Went to the store and bought fillet mignon, portobello mushrooms, peppers, onions, pears (it all works, I promise) for a romantic dinner at home.
6:00pm - Get everything put away, and start marinating the steak. Build a fire in the fireplace with the new oak firewood I had delivered five weeks ago. Pour a glass of merlot, turn on the TV and listen to how much Bush has f@*&*ed up the world today.
6:30pm - Kent gets home. He gets the gas grill going outside and starts the steaks.
7:15pm - Start dinner, turn off the news, enjoy dinner. I go watch TV only to find that it is boring tonight. I opt for some music that I haven't heard in a long while. I listen to Sibelius Symphony No. 2. An awesome work. I'm reminded that the work comes from a different time when America stood for something better than bullying and intimidation. I can hear hope in the work and eventual triumph. Will we be so lucky today?
9:00pm - Go back downstairs and make a cup of Earl Grey tea (with raw sugar - I used to use honey from our own Coventry bees, but have switched to raw sugar for no logical reason, except for the fact that I am an ever-evolving person) to have with my fresh baked apple pie (small slice - girl has to watch his figure!).
9:30pm - Go to bed and hopefully sleep through the night. And on yeah... make this entry.
This is a change. A student who was harassed constantly from 1993 to 1998 because he was perceived to be gay, has lost his case against the school, because he is straight.
His sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with this. The reason for the harassment is irrelevant. The fact that the school did not stop it is totally relevant, and having the principal claim that they didn't have the resources to stop it completely is a cop out. You do what it takes to stop it. Because of this, Mr. Jubran's education and future have been compromised. I think that deserves a bit of consideration, and a hell of a lot more than $4,000 (which was overturned in the ruling).
(Vancouver, British Columbia) A former North Vancouver student who claims he was bullied for five years is appealing a court ruling that said because he is straight he wasn't protected under the law.
Azmi Jubran, had told the Human Rights Commission tribunal that even though he is not gay he was routinely called "faggot," "homo" and "gay" while attending Handsworth Secondary from 1993 to 1998. He had a variety of objects thrown at him and was kicked and spat upon. Students threatened to drop him in acid and to rape him with a broom. During a school camping trip his tent was urinated on.
Principal Terry Shaw testified he had never seen a student harassed as badly as Jubran was, but with almost 13,000 students and only 70 teachers, he didn't have the resources to stop it completely.
The tribunal condemned the attacks and awarded Jubran $4,000 in damages. But, the school board appealed and a judge overturned the commission decision saying that the bullying wasn't homophobic because Jubran is straight. (source)
The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the last pending legal challenge to placing a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and recognition of same-sex couples on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The court ruled 6-1 on technical grounds, saying it did not have jurisdiction over the claim, that opponents did not make their claim far enough ahead of the election and that a lower court had already ruled on the same issues.
"This thing is definitely going to go forward," said David Langdon, an attorney representing Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, which gathered the signatures to place the issue on the ballot.
Opponents had argued the initiative was invalid because it lacked the required summary and certification from the Ohio attorney general, but they said they weren't surprised by Thursday's ruling. (source)
A new poll released this week shows Sen. John Kerry with a slight edge over President Bush among likely Oregon voters. Those same voters also appear to be leaning toward a ban on same-sex marriage in the state. (source)
I'm actually a bit surprised by this. I thought that Oregon would endorse Kerry, no surprise there. But I really didn't think they would be inclined to pass their gay marriage ban. I thought that of all the states that were looking at passing a state constitutional amendment, Oregon would have been the one to decline.
We'll wait and see what happens. If it does pass, what will happen to the marriage licenses issued to gay couples already? I thought they were a more liberal state. Shows what I know about Oregon.
My only experience with Oregon was the summer that Kent and I spent there back in 1976. We were going to summer school together. We were in Eugene, Oregon. It was raining and we came out of this store, both with our umbrellas open. This guy comes up to us and says to us, "Well, aren't we cute with our little umbrellas?"
He was trying to pick a fight because he didn't think that guys should use umbrellas. While he's standing there getting soaked, Kent turns to him and says, "Well thank you. We enjoy them."
With that, we walked away from him, got in our car, and drove away. He looked like he didn't know what the hell had just happened.
A military judge jailed on Thursday a U.S. army sergeant, described in court as a typical all-American boy, to eight years in prison for sexually and physically abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The sentence for Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick, 38, is by far the toughest of those handed down to three soldiers now convicted over abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. [...]
Frederick, who sat impassively through the two-day court martial at a U.S. base in Baghdad, appeared shaken and looked at the floor after judge Colonel James Pohl announced his verdict, which included a dishonorable discharge and a demotion. [...]
In his testimony on Wednesday, Frederick admitted beating and humiliating prisoners, saying he had been trying to prepare them for interrogation.
Frederick painted a picture of life inside the jail in which prisoners were stripped naked, sometimes with women's underwear put on their head and physically and mentally abused.
He also told how Iraqi police smuggled in guns and drugs for prisoners and how he was too scared to report the abuses.
"I was afraid of retaliation by other soldiers. We all walked around with loaded weapons. It was very high stress." (source)
A letter by Christopher Lelandm a novelist and professor of English at Wayne State University. It was posted today in the Detroit Free press.
Source: Slate
If you are like me, you are out there wondering what has happened to American politics. I am approaching fifty years old, and in my entire life, I don't remember the politics being so divisive and mean-spirited. I'm not just talking about the presidential race either. It's across the board, and both Democrats and Republicans are to blame.
The election can go either way at this point. I have no idea who will be elected President. When I hear stories about firms hired to register voters throwing away voter registrations they feel belong to Democrats, I suppose the whole election is up for grabs. And then of course, as with every election it seems, we start hearing stories around this time about how we lack voting machines that are accurate.
As a citizen, I do not want Bush to be our President for four more years. I think he has failed our country in Iraq. I don't feel we are any safer now than we were four years ago. If anything, he has made us more of a target by pissing the entire world off at us. I don't like the way he has divided our country and turned so many of us against each other. In so many areas, he has done to this country what Osama bin Laden was unable to do, turn us against each other.
The Republican Party has been bought, it seems to me, by the radical religious right. Abortion, gay marriage, and school prayer, all have meaning in the religious arena. But, in terms of civil policy, they do not and should not have a say. We call this the separation of church and state, and the line must be drawn in clear and concise terms. At the present, we have a government that is hell bent on severely blurring that line, and much public policy is being formed based solely on religious grounds. That's very dangerous.
At the state level, 12 states will vote on November 2nd on whether to pass a state constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage and, in some cases, even the ability for gay couples to form legal contracts or civil unions. In those states, the arguments being presented against doing that are based on how it will effect unmarried heterosexual couples and what negative legal effects it may inadvertently have on them. No thought is given to how it will effect the legal arrangements of gay couples. They are, after all, people too, aren't they? Are they not still, American citizens?
Think about that for a minute. They are actually placing an amendment into their constitution for the soul purpose of limiting the rights afforded to citizens. All of this is based on religious dogma. It has nothing to do with protecting marriage or protecting children, and the proponents of these hateful amendments can provide no reasonable examples of how allowing gay couples to marry will harm the current state of marriage. It is simple bigotry wrapped up in religious thought and imposing itself into civil matters. The alarming thing is, it's working. We are allowing this to happen.
So, what happens to those of us who don't buy into the religious dogma. Well, we are the outsiders. Right now, in this year, the easy target is homosexual couples. But don't expect that to last. Once the states have finished applying discrimination against gay couples into their state constitutions (and I believe most all of them will succeed in doing that), someone else, some other group, will be the next target. This is the slippery slope that we are going down.
And all of this flies in the face of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which states that no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. It is extremely troubling to me that we are about to have twelve states abridge the privileges of a significant number of their citizens, and deny them equal protection of the laws and yet, no one seems to care.
So if we get to the point that our own United States Constitution no longer matters, what does that leave us with? Answer: a religious state governed by the views of the religious majority.
I took a long walk today at lunch time. I've been depressed lately. When I turn on the news, it's more of the same. Finger pointing and accusations. Right now, the topic is finding who is to blame for the shortage of flu shots. Tomorrow, it will be something else.
So today, I made a decision. In a couple of weeks, my partner and I will officially be voted into second-class citizenship by millions of my fellow citizens in possibly twelve states in this great country of ours. I've reconciled myself that. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but I've done it.
Although I may live long enough to see some sort of recognition of the relationship I have with my partner of 30 years in my state of Connecticut, I will never live long enough to get married in the United States to see it federally recognized. I've reconciled myself that as well. I will never realize what it feels like to be a full fledged citizen with equal rights to everyone else in this country.
So it would seem that my depression isn't because of me. It is because we are about to truly live in a class system where there are not only different economic levels of citizens, but, there will be a class of citizens who do not have equal rights. We've been through this before in this country, and for the first time in my life, I understand exactly the frustration and disappointment that lead to the race riots in this country.
What am I going to do about it? One thing. I'm going to stop caring so much about issues and people who obviously care nothing for us. Today on my walk, I realized that aside from my country declaring openly that I will not be able to be equal, I've always known that I haven't been equal. Yes, I've been able to sustain a lasting relationship with the man I love, buy a home together, live a quiet life together, and, through it all, have happiness in our home. I am going to go back to that. I'm going to go back to simple joys, such as lighting a fire in the fire place on a cold night, making some hot spiced apple cider, and talking to Kent about our day, our lives, and what really matters, our love for each other.
The following editorial appeared today in the Daily Campus, the student newspaper at the University of Connecticut.
It is on a topic that I have been fighting with the Red Cross over for a long time. It's nice to see that some are striving for fairness.
Earlier this month, UConn held its annual blood drive. In accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, people at an increased risk of HIV/AIDS were not allowed to donate. In its Blood Donation Eligibility Guidelines, the Red Cross describes being "a male who has had sex with another male since 1977, even once" as one of the risk factors for infection that makes an individual ineligible to donate blood. This guideline singles out gay men and should be applied to all people who have had unprotected sex.
It is a lifelong restriction and its vague wording does not specify the nature of the sex act. The sexual experiences of gay men vary widely, but the FDA chooses to group all men who have sex with men together and impose harsh restrictions on their ability to donate blood. In contrast, a man who has had unprotected sex with a woman, or a woman has had any sort of unprotected sex, only must wait one year. The same lax ceiling applies to a person who has had unprotected intercourse with a prostitute or an intravenous drug user. This is a slap in the face of all gay men from a usually respectable organization.
An FDA panel agreed to continue to restrict men who have engaged in homosexual activities after reviewing the guideline in 2000 because "they did not have enough scientific evidence" to revise it. Even with the advanced testing implemented in 1999, an FDA officer estimated that two HIV-positive units would be released a year if men were allowed to donate five years after their last homosexual encounter.
The nature of HIV makes a five-year limit too short. After initially manifesting flu-like symptoms, HIV can remain asymptomatic for many years and AIDS usually does not develop for 12 to 13 years. Although the virus is multiplying in the body during this time, the tests the American Red Cross uses to detect it are not 100 percent accurate and they are susceptible to human error. A more cautious waiting period would be 15 years from the at-risk activity - no one should contract HIV from a blood transfusion.
The 15-year period should apply to all people who have had unprotected sex, not just homosexual men. It does not treat everybody equally. The FDA should not limit individuals from donating blood based on who they have had sex with, but on whether or not the sex was protected. It's easy to dismiss the emergency of AIDS if one imagines it is restricted to only one marginalized social group. But the rise of HIV/AIDS infections in homosexual men has slowed and it is time to recognize that AIDS can affect all of us.
Opinion letters from the New York Post that I found interesting.
John Kerry and John Edwards have shown themselves to be two no-class guys by each bringing up Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, for no good reason at the debates.
Both of these men, Kerry and Edwards are without substance.
Pete Calogero
Brooklyn---
Did Kerry take a cheap shot at Mary Cheney?
Sure, he did.
But it pales in comparison to the cheap shot against an entire class of Americans that the Republicans have taken by sponsoring the federal marriage amendment.
It is the height of hypocrisy for the Cheneys and the Republican Party to cry foul about the stigmatization of one private citizen — who happens to be a campaign employee — when their demagoguery disparages all gay Americans.
Dennis Feldman
Manhattan
I don't get it. Republicans are up in arms that Kerry and Edwards mentioned in passing that Mary Cheney is gay. In this morning's New York Times, columnist Bill Safire wrote this:
The memoir about the Kerry-Edwards campaign that will be the best seller will reveal the debate rehearsal aimed at focusing national attention on the fact that Vice President Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian.
That this twice-delivered low blow was deliberate is indisputable. The first shot was taken by John Edwards, seizing a moderator's opening to smarmily compliment the Cheneys for loving their openly gay daughter, Mary. The vice president thanked him and yielded the remaining 80 seconds of his time; obviously it was not a diversion he was willing to prolong.
Until that moment, only political junkies knew that a member of the Cheney family serving on the campaign staff was homosexual. The vice president, to show it was no secret or anything his family was ashamed of, had referred to it briefly twice this year, but the press - respecting family privacy - had properly not made it a big deal. The percentage of voters aware of Mary Cheney's sexual orientation was tiny.
The lowest blow, New York Times, 10/18/2004
Only if a tiny percentage of voters watched the Vice Presidential debate in 2000.
Only if Alan Simpson, a long-time friend of the Cheneys, also delivered a low blow during celebrations at President Bush's inauguration:
In his opening remarks, Mr. Simpson noted, "Not one of us doesn't have someone close to us who is gay or lesbian." Then he invoked Mary Cheney, the daughter of the vice president, who attended the inauguration with her partner. Mr. Simpson said that after Ms. Cheney said she was a lesbian, her father, Dick Cheney, "protected and loved her as his very special, special daughter." (NYT 1/26/2001)
Kerry and Edwards deserve an apology from Safire and his ilk. Mentioning that Mary Cheney is a lesbian is no more embarassing than mentioning that Lynne Cheney is married. Safire will, I hope, assert his essential decency by apologizing with sincerity.
(You'll have to read the last paragraph of the Safire column to understand the last sentence.)
It's been a hectic few days. I had some big projects at work that have been pulling my time away from personal things I'd like to accomplish, such as enjoying the fall colors. With two big projects wrapped up yesterday, I'm hoping to get some hiking and fall color watching in this weekend.
Last night I took Kent to Cavey's in Manchester. They have two restaurants. The upstairs is Italian and the downstairs is French. We went to the French restaurant. It was absolutely an awesome evening. We each had new dishes and I actually learned that I love Foie Gras! They make a mean martini and the wine list is well, pretty much anything you can imagine, right down to a 1955 Mouton Rothschild for $1,255. We opted not to get that bottle because we thought it would be a bit heavy for the dinner. 
We didn't have dessert because I had a chocolate mousse cake make just for the occasion.
My birthday is December 31st. I will be the big 5-0 this year (hard to believe, no snickers from the audience and yes, everything still works thank you very much!), and want to do something wonderful! So, we are thinking of coming down to New York City for a fun time. Any of you NYC bloggers reading this have any ideas for us?
A few things in the news of interest that I should mention.
New York State to honor Canadian marriages for state workers
In Albany, New York, gay partners of New York state government workers who were married in Canada are entitled to the same public pension benefits as married heterosexuals in the state of New York, determined in a landmark ruling on Oct. 14, 2004 by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Of course, this has touched of a furor among conservative groups, with Governor Pataki reviewing the ruling.
NYC Mayor Sues To Block Gay Benefits
New York Mayor Bloomberg is suing to overturn a law that would force companies doing business with the city to offer benefits to the domestic partners of their employees.
In May, the legislation was passed by city council. It was then vetoed the following month by Bloomberg who said that the law would “hurt the city”. Two weeks later, the council overrode his veto by a 41 - 4 vote.
The legislation is to take effect October 26. It would require contractors that do more than $100,000 of business each year with NYC to offer the equal benefits.
The legislation would have made health coverage available to tens of thousands of additional people in the New York City region and because many companies which do business with New York are national corporations it could also provide same-sex benefits to hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
San Francisco has the same policy. They force companies who do business with the city to conform to the city's non-discrimination policy for gay people. United Airlines, who has a huge hub in San Francisco refused to honor it, saying it would cost them too much. After negotiations with United Airlines and San Francisco broke down, San Francisco told United that all contracts would be voided and they could relocate to some other city. United changed it's mind.
Sometimes, it takes brass balls to end discrimination and to have courage. Mayor Bloomberg, if I may, YOU HAVE NO BALLS!
Investigation into Trashed Voter Registrations
This is really disturbing and just goes to show you how far some will go to ensure that one candidate wins the presidency.
An employee of a private voter registration firm alleges that his bosses trashed registration forms filled out by Democratic voters because they only wanted to sign up Republican voters. [...]
“They were thrown away in the trash. I grabbed them out,” said Eric Russell. One of those forms belonged to Daren Gray, who was shocked to learn that the re-registration form he filled out was never turned in.
“I'm pretty mad, upset. I'm still gonna vote,” said Daren Gray. Russell doesn't know how many democratic registrations were tossed in the trash but guesses the number could be very high since Voters Outreach of America operated in Las Vegas for more than two months.
So, the registrations of those that were thrown out will think they will be able to vote on election day. When they show up at the polls, they will find that they were never registered and will not be able to cast their vote. When you start doing this, how much of democracy do you have left?
Recruiters on campus collide with Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
In a week in which Yale Law School celebrated the 25th anniversary of its non-discrimination recruitment policy, federal legislation that would stiffen penalties on colleges which ban military recruiters moved to within one step from becoming law.
If signed by President Bush, the bill, which sailed through Congress on Saturday with an overwhelming majority, would suspend federal funding to colleges that block U.S. Department of Defense recruiters from campus. Many universities, including Yale, had kept the recruiters from their campuses because the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on sexual orientation violates the schools' non-discrimination policies.
And they can get away with this because the homosexual community is the last group of citizens that can still be discriminated against. This will change in time folks. Don't loose your hope and your faith. My personal feeling in regards to don't ask, don't tell is that it's days are numbered. I wouldn't be surprised that within two years from now (if Kerry is elected), it will be gone. The reason: we are loosing too many troops in the war, enlistment of those who can serve is low, and morale is low. They have a stop-loss policy in place just to keep those who are in, and yes, that includes the gay service members. That means, for the sake of this war, they are willing to turn away from the policy to keep members. Talk about hypocrisy.
I also feel that the basic makeup of military personnel have changed. Sure, you will always have the bigots around who don't want to serve with a gay service member, but attitudes have changed just since ten years ago. Most people don't care as long as they can rely on you and you do your job.
I spotted this letter in the Lexington Minuteman.
Who can say why gay marriage is bad?
Thursday, October 14, 2004
I am still waiting for someone who is against gay marriage to explain how it affects him or her. Catherine Ryan's commentary of last week is a case in point. She said that the gay community “has many valid issues that should be addressed, but not at the wholesale destruction of the traditional family.” And then she stopped.
I have heard and read this statement often since last spring, but no one explains it. I do not understand why widening human rights negatively affects those who already enjoy those rights.
My husband and I have a “traditional family,” and we are grateful for the societal and legal supports we have to be strong partners and to raise our children. Our family is not threatened by gay marriage. In fact, our family life is enhanced by our knowing that our friends and neighbors who are gay have the same legal protections and supports to raise their families.
Why would anyone want to deny basic human rights to a whole segment of our society? It isn't just. It isn't fair. It simply is not right.
Margaret Micholet
Eastern High beating may have been gay bashing
By TODD HEYWOOD
The brutal attack at Eastern High School last month may have been an act of gay bashing, possibly resulting from homosexual panic.
Lansing police Detective James Gill and Ingham County prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III have both confirmed that homosexuality appears to have been a factor in the severe beating of the 16-year-old student on Sept. 17. The victim remains hospitalized.
Police arrested Jeremy Lee, 17, who was charged with assault. He is now in Ingham County Jail.
Authorities said the victim is believed to be gay. When asked if the victim’s sexual orientation was the motivation in the Sept. 17 attack, Gill said, “Yes. That is correct.”
Authorities said the attack apparently stems from a verbal confrontation Lee and the victim had last year, when they were both students at Walter French Academy, the defunct charter school. “I think the defendant made an innuendo that the victim might be gay,” Dunnings said of last year’s incident, “and the victim came back with, 'That's OK, I suck your dick.'”
Lee claimed he went to Eastern on the day of the beating to pick up academic records and only saw the other student by accident. Gill said Lee told him he had gone to Eastern “to drop out.”
“He said he heard music coming from a room,” Gill continued. “He went to the room, and the victim came out and brushed up against him. The accused started thinking about what had happened at Walter French and started hitting him.”
But a school official disputes Lee’s contention that he was at Eastern to pick up records. “He was not a student at the school,” Mark Mayes, a spokesman for the Lansing School District, said. “There were no records pertaining to him at the school. He had no legitimate reason to be at the school.”
Jeffrey Montgomery, executive director of the Triangle Foundation in Detroit, said “gay panic” could be involved. Lawyers argued in the Matthew Shepard and Jenny Jones cases, among others, that that the defendants became violent after their sexual orientation was questioned.
“From what’s known about this incident, it seems clear to me it is a very good case of gay panic,” Montgomery said. “We all know gay panic is a potent motive to do damage, sometimes irreparable damage, to victims.”
The Triangle Foundation monitors and tracks hate crimes and other acts of discrimination against the gay community in Michigan.
Lee's attorney, Greg Bell, says he does not believe that homosexuality was a factor in the attack. He said Lee has told him what the motivations were, but Bell declined to discuss them.
Lee has been charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. He is being held on $100,000 bail pending an Oct. 13 court appearance.
The victim, who was in a medically induced coma until recently, is awake but unable to talk, Gill said. The victim does recognize his mother and grandmother, added Gill, but remains in critical condition.
The attack was caught on the school’s security cameras. The assault has led district officials to implement a plan that requires students to keep their student IDs visible.
The hottest post-presidential debate chatter Thursday wasn't about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, the high cost of health care or wayward scowls. It was over the appropriateness of discussing the sexual orientation of Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney.
While the Kerry/Edwards-Cheney family spat made for good sound bites, experts say it was little more than late-season politics at its most partisan.
Mary's mother, Lynne Cheney, said Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry was “not a good man” for mentioning her 34-year-old daughter's lesbianism during Wednesday's debate. Dick Cheney said Thursday that he was “an angry father.” (source)
On my way home last night, they were discussing this on the radio. The show I was listening to was a talk/news show. Some of it is tongue-in-cheek. One announcer stated that although Cheney has referred to his daughter as “gay”, he has never referred to her as a “lesbian”. Perhaps he was upset because, although he knew she was “gay”, he didn't yet know that she was a “lesbian”!
I almost drove my car off the road laughing.
My opinion in this. In the vice presidential debate, it was Cheney who brought up his daughter being gay. He initiated this. It is a well know fact that she is gay (I don't say that proudly) so, as some has mentioned, Kerry did not “out” Mary Cheney.
Having mentioned his daughter's gayness in the vice presid