Miscellaneous: February 2005 Archives

It’s true... I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag if my life depended on it. So when Kent and I take day trips around the state, it doesn’t really take too much to get me lost. One time, I went to see a friend in Manchester, Connecticut (the “black hole” of the state). I was lost for almost two hours just trying to find my way back home! When I finally came upon a freeway sign, I was on the other side of the University of Connecticut at Storrs, Connecticut.

So now, I don’t worry about it. We both decided that my sense of direction is so horrible, that we bought a car that at least knows where it is. “Take the Next Right... In half a mile, take the first left.” You get the idea. It talks in a masculine, somewhat aggressive, yet understanding voice. And no matter where I am, I can just say, “Go Home”, and it will take me home. Kinda like those red slippers did for Dorothy!

Gay men employ the same strategies for navigating as women - using landmarks to find their way around - a new study suggests.

But they also use the strategies typically used by straight men, such as using compass directions and distances. In contrast, gay women read maps just like straight women, reveals the study of 80 heterosexual and homosexual men and women.

“Gay men adopt male and female strategies. Therefore their brains are a sexual mosaic,” explains Qazi Rahman, a psychobiologist who led the study at the University of East London, UK. “It’s not simply that lesbians have men’s brains and gay men have women’s brains.” (source)

On the heels of a new report by the Government Accounting Office showing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has cost taxpayers more than $200 million since its inception in 1993 a group of congress members has announced plans to introduce legislation to end the ban on gays in the military.

More than 10,000 service members have been discharged over the last 10 years under the policy according to statistics from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Since 9-11 the number of gay discharges has dropped which SLDN says is an indication that when the nation’s security is at danger the military turns a blind eye to gays serving in the armed forces. (source)

Well, we all pay for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. But as I read this article, I was also listening to the news on a different topic, that of “stop loss”. Because of “stop loss” soldiers who have completed their tour of duty can be called up for duty several times after their military careers are over. They are unable to leave the military because when President Bush declared that the United States was in a state of “nation emergency”, stop loss kicked in.

Except that is, for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. You can still be kicked out of the military for being gay. I know the essence of the policy is terribly unfair and unjust and has been the destruction of many military careers. But after listening to these soldiers who are going back to Iraq for a second or third time, you have to wonder if the gay soldiers who have been kicked out are the lucky ones.

I honestly believe that our government doesn’t care about our troops. I’ve always been against the war in Iraq, but I’ve always supported our troops. I feel for what they are going through. I feel that to our government, they are nothing more than a number, and that’s a tragedy.

I suppose after Abu Ghraib, none of this should come as a surprise. One can hope that the lives of women in Iraq would improve over time. But, once we leave, I have little hopes of that happening. If they couldn’t even be protected from our troops (some of whom have allegedly raped some of the women), the people who came to “liberate” Iraq from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, what hope do they have after we leave?

I can’t even imagine what their lives must be like. To be abused in this manner, but to know nothing else or have hope or even knowledge of what life could be.

LONDON -- Nearly two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, women there are no better off than under the rule of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

In a report entitled “Iraq -- Decades of Suffering,” it said that while the systematic repression under Saddam had ended, it had been replaced by increased murders, and sexual abuse -- including by U.S. forces.

Washington promised that the overthrow of Saddam would free the Iraqi people from years of oppression and set them on the road to democracy. But Amnesty said post-war insecurity had left women at risk of violence and curtailed their freedoms.

“The lawlessness and increased killings, abductions and rapes that followed the overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein have restricted women’s freedom of movement and their ability to go to school or to work,” Amnesty said.

“Women have been subjected to sexual threats by members of the U.S.-led forces and some women detained by U.S. forces have been sexually abused, possibly raped,” it added. (source)

New York City officials are halting efforts to identify the remains of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.

The city’s medical examiner's office says it has exhausted DNA technology that allowed it to match bodies and body parts to the list of the dead. The office says it has nearly 10,000 bone and tissue fragments it cannot identify.

No remains have been found for 1,161 people killed in the attacks, more than 40 percent of the 2,749 people killed overall. (source)

This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table. - President George W. Bush, February 22, 2005

I guess I have a very narrow view of what gay is, or maybe I just live in a world completely different from others. I would never that even thought that Shrek or Shrek 2 had any gay overtones to them. When I watch movies such as this, it never even occurs to me. To get my attention in a movie to demonstrate that it’s got a gay character in it, you pretty much have to kiss and do the sex thing to get my attention. Suggestive eye contact isn’t enough for me because to me, that could simply imply, “Wow! I love your hair!”

I think what concerns me more than Shrek 2 having anything in it that could possibly be construed as “gay content” or a “gay character”, is the fact that there are people out there who are so super sensitive to anything gay (as though it’s some disease), they will make it gay, even if it isn’t. Does that qualify for some sort of phobia?

At any rate, now I have to see Shrek 2 to see what it’s all about. I saw the first one (by mistake I might add), and never went to see the sequel.

Shrek 2 is the latest animated film title to be “outed” by Christian fundamentalists in the U.S.

On its website the Traditional Values Coalition is warning parents about the cross-dressing and transgender themes contained in the hit DreamWorks feature, now on DVD.

“Shrek 2 is billed as harmless entertainment but contains subtle sexual messages,” says the coalition, which describes itself as a grassroots inter-denominational lobby with more than 43,000 member churches.

“Parents who are thinking about taking their children to see Shrek 2 may wish to consider the following.”

The article then proceeds to describe one of the characters, an “evil” bartender (voiced by Larry King) who is a male-to-female transgender in transition and who expresses a sexual desire for Prince Charming.

In another identified scene, Shrek and Donkey need rescuing from a dungeon by Pinocchio and his nose, which is made to extend as an escape bridge by getting the wooden boy to lie about not wearing women’s underwear. (source)

Moral of the story: People with long noses are evil. Women’s underwear is evil. People with long noses who actually wear women’s underwear are the Spawn of Satan (especially if that person happens to be transgendered). I’m sure somewhere in the Bible, it says so.

First we had the “twinky” defense, and now I guess we have the “Zoloft” defense. Dan White, a former supervisor of the City of San Francisco, was convicted of killing in cold blood Mayor George Moscone and fellow supervisor Harvey Milk back on November 27, 1978. Harvey was gay. During the trial, Dan White’s attorney argued that Dan was not of his right mind because prior to committing these murders, his entire diet consisted of junk food, specifically, Twinkies.

This became known as the “Twinky Defense” and over time, there have been others, such as the “homosexual panic defense” that argues that a homosexual (usually a man) was murdered because he made “unwanted sexual advances” towards another man. This is still being used today. The man who committed the murder was driven, because of this homosexual panic, to commit the murder because he was so terrified of homosexuals and the sexual advance, that he had no other recourse than to violently murder the homosexual. I good example of this was the result of what happened on the Jenny Jones Show.

But now we are in the midst of yet another kind of case where the defense attorney is arguing that his client murdered his grandparents because he was on the prescription antidepressant Zoloft. This is not the first time this antidepressant has been blamed for this. I seem to recall other cases (although I am unable to cite them) where similar things have happened with this drug. Years ago, Zoloft was prescribed to me during a time I was going through deep depression. The drug made me extremely irritable and it seemed that every little thing annoyed me. I did research at the time and found that on two occasions, others had committed murder because of the use of this drug. I remember Kent and I talking about it at the time. A short time later, I refused to continue taking the drug. For me, I thought it was unsafe. I knew I would not harm another human being while in my right mind, but we all have to understand that these drugs are geared to effect exactly that, the mind. And, they are powerful.

Another issue that brought me little comfort during my time of being treated for depression, was the fact that my psychiatrist would always start his explanations of how the drug worked with “... we THINK it works by...”. In other words, the medical community really does not understand the human brain well enough to know exactly how these drugs work.

Given that, and the fact that we as a society are medicating ourselves more than any time in history, doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Given my past experience with Zoloft on a personal level, I can understand how it would change someone to such a degree to drive them to do some act that was not in their nature to do while in their normal state of mind.

I’m not say this to defend this young man, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison. But I don’t think we can so easily explain this away, if we really want to be fair.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A 15-year-old boy who claimed the antidepressant Zoloft drove him to kill his grandparents was found guilty Tuesday of murder.

Christopher Pittman hung his head as the verdict was read after about six hours of deliberations. He was sentenced about an hour later to the minimum of 30 years in prison with no chance of parole. [...]

But prosecutors called the Zoloft defense a smoke screen, saying the then-12-year-old Pittman knew exactly what he was doing three years ago when he shot his grandparents, torched their house and then drove off in their car. (source)

This is a follow-up story about the gay pinguins. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I want them to be as they are, but they are endangered. I would hate to see them go extinct. It's odd to me that they can't be artificially inseminated.

A German zoo which suspects its entire male penguin population might be gay has now said the birds can remain as same-sex couples.

Humboldt penguins are an endangered species. So when the six humboldts in Bremerhaven failed to breed, the zoo became concerned.

The penguins had been observed trying to mate with each other, and spent months sitting on stones trying to get them to hatch.

Tests revealed all six penguins were male, so the zoo flew in four females from Sweden.

Director Heike Kück said they wanted to see if the birds were really gay, or just lacking in opportunities.

Gay groups around the world deluged the zoo with angry emails and phone calls. The zoo now says its penguins have shown no interest in the new arrivals.

They say the same sex couples are too well-established, and the males can remain gay if they choose. (source)

Original Story on 02/13/2005

This is a very small step forward in an extremely conservative state. Utah has elected an openly gay man to the Utah Senate. Granted, he won by only three votes, but maybe that is progress.

Gay activist appointed to Utah Senate

SALT LAKE CITY -- The first openly gay member of the Utah state Senate was sworn in Monday. Addressing colleagues in one of the most conservative legislative bodies in the nation, Democrat Scott McCoy, 34, said his sexual orientation will not define his work as a lawmaker.

“The fact that I am gay is certainly one of the characteristics with which I have been endowed by my creator and it is an important part of who I am as a human being,” he said. “But it is certainly not the only characteristic that defines me, just as none of my colleagues can or should be reduced to any one of their many characteristics.” [...]

McCoy was selected by party delegates over the weekend to finish the remaining two years of a term vacated by Democratic Sen. Paula Julander, who resigned because of health problems. Julander had asked that her husband, Rod, be elected to finish out her term; McCoy beat him by three votes. (source)

02/15/2005 Update - German zoo says penguins can stay gay

This is kind of a cute story about pairs of gay penguins. The zoo keepers have been wondering why no little penguins are coming along. It turns out the the majority of the penguin pairs are gay. And yes, I do happen to think that they are a very handsome gay couple, for penguins.

A German zoo has imported four female penguins from Sweden in an effort to tempt its gay penguins to go straight.

The four Swedish females were dispatched to the Bremerhaven Zoo in Bremen after it was found that three of the zoo's five penguin pairs were homosexual.

Keepers at the zoo ordered DNA tests to be carried out on the penguins after they had been mating for years without producing any chicks.

It was only then they realized that six of the birds were living in homosexual partnerships. [...]

But introducing the Bremerhaven penguins to their new Swedish friends may not be as successful as hoped after earlier experiments revealed great difficulties in separating homosexual couples.

In case they show no interest, the zoo has also flown in two new male penguins “so that the ladies don't miss out altogether”, Kueck added. (source)

After trying to get them to mate, there were protests from gay and lesbian groups. We know what persecution feels like. The penguins are just being who they are. I say, leave them alone!

A plan by a German zoo to test the sexual appetites of a group of suspected homosexual penguins has sparked outrage among gay and lesbian groups, who fear zookeepers might force them to turn straight.

“All sorts of gay and lesbian associations have been e-mailing and calling in to protest,” said a spokesman for the zoo in the northwestern city of Bremerhaven on Friday. [...]

“Nobody here is trying to break-up same sex pairs by force,” the zoo’s director Heike Kueck told public broadcaster NDR. “We don’t know if the three male pairs are really gay or just got together because of a lack of females.” (source)

And finally, the results of trying to get the gay male penguins to mate with females. I found this under a headline called “Penguins stay fairy” from an Australian news source. And yes, I do find the title offensive.

The female penguins were flown in especially from Sweden in an effort to encourage the Humboldt penguins at Bremerhaven Zoo to reproduce.

But the six homosexual birds showed no interest in their new companions and remained faithful to each other.

Zoo director Heike Kueck said: “The relationships were apparently too strong.”

A keeper confirmed that the male couples had adopted rocks, which they guarded like eggs in their caves. (source)

I say, take some of the rocks away, and give them some real eggs so they can adopt their own little ones. I bet they would make good parents.

I honestly don’t understand why they are so surprised that the President is going back on his word here. After all, this President has lied about so many things. Why should this be any different?

When you make deals with someone of questionable moral character, you shouldn’t be surprised when he stabs you in the back and runs with what he can get from you (your votes).

They got exactly what they voted for. If it weren’t so painful for all of us to have to deal with in the next four years, I would say to them, you got exactly what you deserved. But, we are all stuck with it.

President Bush may pay a price for pandering. Social conservatives are disappointed that Bush is making Social Security reform and economic issues his priority while essentially ignoring one of their chief goals: passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Some religious conservatives say the “political capital” that Bush has claimed as a result of his re-election should be spent on promoting a marriage amendment since, they believe, they played a vital role in the victory.

A coalition of major conservative groups recently warned Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, that some of the capital could be at risk unless the president pushes Congress to approve a marriage amendment.

“We couldn’t help but notice the contrast between how the president is approaching the difficult issue of Social Security privatization where the public is deeply divided and the marriage issue where public opinion is overwhelmingly on his side,” the coalition, called the Arlington Group, said in a letter to Rove. (source)

A small sign, but a “gay activist” was elected to the Utah State Senate. For those of you who know Utah, a highly Mormon state, this is really quite incredible.

SALT LAKE CITY - With his parents and partner looking on, activist Scott McCoy was sworn in as a member of the Utah Senate on Monday, becoming the first openly gay member of one of the most conservative legislative bodies in the nation.

The 34-year-old Democrat called the moment historic, but stressed that his homosexuality will not define his work in the Senate.

“The fact that I am gay is certainly one of the characteristics with which I have been endowed by my creator and it is an important part of who I am as a human being. But it is certainly not the only characteristic that defines me, just as none of my colleagues can or should be reduced to any one of their many characteristics,” McCoy said. (source)

It is time to open a new chapter in our relationship, and a new chapter in our alliance. America stands ready to work with Europe on our common agenda, and Europe must stand ready to work with America. After all, history will surely judge us not by our old disagreements, but by our new achievements.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses European intellectuals on US foreign policy in the world, at Paris Science Politique Institute (source)

Wrong!

Why must Europe stand ready to work with America when America told most of Europe to take a flying leap? Honestly, I wouldn’t give our arrogant country lip service for how we’ve treated others. Now that the war in Iraq is going badly, we suddenly want Europe’s help.

For a smart person, Rice says some of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.

Ms. Rice told her audience of students, teachers and current and former French officials that Americans and Europeans have had their greatest successes when they refused to accept an unacceptable status quo and put their values to work for the cause of freedom.

Did it ever occur to her that the U.S. policies may have been “an unacceptable status quo” to Europe? She just doesn’t get it, and neither does her boss.

Other Interesting News...
Brushing your teeth may help to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack, research has suggested.

Baby size linked to cancer risk

India Begins Human Trials of AIDS Vaccine

People with too much time on their hands

I don’t feel like writing. I was going to write about something, but it’s one of those days where I can’t focus on anything. Everything I read about is too depressing. Or maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m depressed and the world is normal.

Kent is in Germany, and I miss him. I’m going to have a nice hot cup of tea, wrap myself up in a nice warm blanket, and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Do I watch the State of the Union address tonight, or not?

On one hand, I feel that it is my duty to watch, as an American citizen. On the other hand, I would be listening to someone speak as my President, when he is no President of mine. I did not elect him. I think he is an absolute buffoon. And, he has made it absolutely clear that, as a gay American, he doesn’t want to represent me. There is no love loss.

So, I’m going to watch something else, more entertaining and more thought provoking. Say... Smallville. I hear that someone on Smallville is going to finally learn the powers of Clark Kent. That’s much more enlightening than this State of the Union address is going to be.

Besides, I already know the state of the union. The President will say that our state of the union is “strong”, yet, we have never been more divided as a country in recent history, and he shows no interest in uniting us.

He will say that we are “winning the war on terror”, as we see more and more of our boys come home in body bags every day.

He will say that we are seeing “free elections in Iraq”, and that “democracy is winning” around the world, without mentioning that it is our brand of democracy that we are peddling to the people of Iraq, whether they like it or not.

He will say that we need to protect marriage against the gays, yet will never mention the 55% divorce rate or the frivolous marriages doled out on TV for the sake of entertainment.

He will say that we need to abolish Social Security so that people can be assured that they will have a retirement. Yes, I’m sure the stock market is a very secure place to play with your retirement money. Just remember, for every dollar you make, someone else will be making two dollars off your money.

He will say that we are a compassionate nation because we gave $30 million (later revised to $300 million because $30 million made him look like we weren’t pulling our weight) for the tsunami disaster.

My community has seen how compassionate he is. When I think about it, I get that warm-fuzzy-tingly feelin’ all over.

You see, you didn’t know I had the script he was going to be reading tonight, did you? So there’s really no reason to listen.

If anyone is looking for some tax tips this year, the Gay Financial Network has an excellent article entitled "Navigating Income Taxes for Married Same-Sex Couples". Give it a read.

As it turns out, there is no one “gay gene”. According to a new study from the University of Illinois, multiple genes and not just the sex chromosomes are involved in determining sexual orientation. They also believe that environmental factors are also likely to be involved.

The religious fundamentalists are not happy about this. The findings add to the debate over whether sexual orientation is a matter of choice. I’ve known that since I was six years old when I knew, for the first time in my life, that I was different. So, none of this is a surprise to me.

Dr Mustanski said the next step would be to see if the findings could be confirmed by further studies, and to identify the particular genes within the newly discovered sequences that are linked to sexual orientation.

“Our study helps to establish that genes play an important role in determining whether a man is gay or heterosexual,” he said, but added that other factors were also important.

“Sexual orientation is a complex trait. There is no one ‘gay’ gene”. (source)

Of course, there is a little voice deep inside me that asks the nagging question, “Where is all of this going? Why is this important?”

Scientific research is all well and good, and if it takes some scientific study to prove once and for all that we don’t choose to be homosexual, that’s great. If that’s what it takes to make it easier for people to give us equality, I’m all for it.

The darker side of the reasoning is that they are looking for some way to do away with us, to eradicate homosexuals from existence. If they have the genetic map to what causes homosexuality, would they try to change that genetic makeup and prevent it? Would they tell an expecting mother that her child would be a homosexual, in order to give her the choice to abort that life?

Nothing would be more effective in eradicating homosexuals from the face of the earth than to do it before we even had a chance to exist. All this energy that is being spent on trying to secure equality for us in society would go away. The issue of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would go away. The issue of homophobia and gay bashing would go away. Many in society would think all of that would be for the betterment of society if we wouldn’t exist.

And the really scary part of that is, they would think this from a point of view that they are being “compassionate” in saving us all the heartache and pain we go through from being different. It would never occur to them that maybe they are the problem. It would never occur to them that because of being homosexual, there are qualities and traits that are specifically gay, that we add to society. Some of the greatest gifts given to mankind have been from homosexuals. Do you really think that is coincidence?

Of course, if this were to happen over time in say, 100 years, we will be gone. No one will be left to talk about or speak up for the ones, us, that are no more. Some other problem for society will have taken our place.

For those of you who do not feel the human race is that evil, all you have to do is research the Third Reich a bit.

Other interesting reading on this:
Goodbye to the Gay Gene