Miscellaneous: April 2005 Archives

A lesbian Methodist minister defrocked last year after admitting to living with a woman won her appeal against the church’s decision because it had not defined “practicing homosexual,” the United Methodist Church said on Friday.

She was allowed to have a lesser role in the church but could not perform ceremonies such as baptisms and weddings.

“An appeals committee has reversed a clergy court verdict in the case of Irene Elizabeth Stroud,” the statement said.

In a 14-page decision, the committee reversed both the conviction and the penalty on the technical grounds that the church has not properly defined the term “practicing homosexual.” The committee also held that the church law under which the charges were brought was a new standard that had not been formally ratified by the church authorities and so could not be used to convict Stroud. (source)

Good news for the minister. I remember reading about this last year. I took interest in it because I had been raised a Methodist. I never really thought about how they felt about homosexuality, I suppose because I was so young - around 14 years old. A year or so later, when I started having thoughts and feelings for guys, the minister gave this awful sermon about how people like me were going to hell. It was actually strange to hear him say it. He was a mild mannered man who’s sermons were about everyday things. His mannerisms were more light hearted and always seemed to have an upbeat message. But when he started talking about this subject, his voice got loud, and I could hear all the anger coming out.

So, I eventually left the church. I never returned to any church until we got to San Francisco. There, we started going to an Episcopal church called St. Gregory’s. It was quite liberal, even though much of the Episcopal church was not, on this subject.

Growing up as a music student, I was always told to practice. So, I would practice a lot. Then, when the minister stated in his sermon that “practicing homosexuals” would go to Hell, I thought to myself, “Why do they have to practice THAT?” It puzzled me. I thought, “Great!! Just Great!! Before I can do anything with anyone, I’m going to have to practice somehow and how is that going to happen in Emmett, Idaho?” I always tried to take away some message from his sermons. That day, the message I took away was, "If I get good at being a homosexual, I will no longer be practicing it. Therefore, I will not go to Hell because I will no longer be a "practicing homosexual".

I don’t practice anymore at being gay. I just... am. Deep thoughts. Dinner is ready. We are having Moussaka. And no, it’s not Japanese Moose.

Kent and I were talking about this last night at dinner. It’s amazing that the House even continues to operate (some would say that it isn’t), given all the arguing and bickering taking place in that chamber. I told Kent, “Well, one way or the other, eventually, this will be resolved. If the American people get their fill of this crap, the culprits will be voted out of office.”

I know... I put a lot of faith in the American people, and I shouldn’t. The American people go back and forth on so many issues. First, we were all for private accounts over social security. Now, most feel that’s not the way to go.

Then there was the death of Terri Schiavo. The President and our government were very willing to pass legislation to ensure that the family did not have final say in private business. The President even flew back to Washington on Air Force One from Crawford, Texas late at night to be available at The White House when the bill came before him for his signature. They did all of this thinking they had the backing of the American People. Then a funny thing happened. A poll came out that stated that 84% of the American people did not support the government intruding into the private business of the family and individuals. Suddenly, Terri Schiavo was not mentioned by the government at all, as they started receiving more and more negative attention on the news and talk shows.

As a friend of ours pointed out, the President and Congress should thank their lucky stars for timing. It was the death of the Pope that shifted the spot light off of Terri Schiavo and onto something bigger - the death of the Pope. Suddenly, that was all that was talked about.

So, I’m left wondering... Did they ever really care about Terri Schiavo, or was it pure politics? Pretty sad state of affairs really.

Now, the House has overturned rule changes they made to the House ethics process. This, on Wednesday, to try to “restore a way to enforce proper conduct in the House,” however that is defined these days.

“I am willing to step back,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the moving force behind ethics revisions forced through by the majority in January.

After a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, Hastert indicated that the reversal was primarily motivated by a need to resolve the torrent of questions surrounding the conduct of Rep. Tom DeLay, the majority leader.

The reversal was a startling turn as Republicans confronted the fallout from a stalled ethics process that Democrats said was rigged to protect DeLay, who was admonished three times by the ethics committee last year. [...]

One of the most immediate effects of the House’s reverting to the old rules will be the opening of an investigation into persistent questions about DeLay’s overseas travel and relationships with prominent lobbyists. (source)

So on Wednesday night, the House voted 406-20 to approve a resolution that restored the rules known as the Committee on Official Standards of Conduct, that was in place at the start of the year.

Yet more back-peddling of the House. It’s starting to be a pattern.

Repealed ethics rules

The “automatic dismissal rule” required the committee to dismiss a complaint against a member after 45 days if the committee was deadlocked over the matter. Under the old rule, the committee would have to continue considering the complaint.

“Right to counsel” gave members the right to a lawyer of their choice if called before the committee. Democrats complained that would allow one lawyer to represent multiple witnesses and learn all the evidence.

The “due process rule” guaranteed a member the right to respond if the committee were about to issue a public letter of reprimand or admonishment. Democrats said that could force a hearing too quickly, but they agreed members should have some kind of notice.

Source: Washington Post

For David Parker, the first alarm went off in January, when his 5-year-old son came home from his kindergarten class at Lexington’s Joseph Estabrook School with a bag of books promoting diversity.

Inside were books about foreign cultures and traditions, along with food recipes. There was also a copy of “Who’s In a Family?” by Robert Skutch, which depicts different kinds of families, including same-sex couples raising children.

The book’s contents concerned Parker and prompted him to begin a series of e-mail exchanges with school officials on the subject that culminated in a meeting Wednesday night with Estabrook’s principal and district director of instruction. The meeting ended with Parker’s arrest after he refused to leave the school, and the Lexington man spent the night in jail.

Yesterday, Parker was arraigned in Concord District Court on one count of trespassing, and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Bail was set at $1,000, and Parker was freed after being ordered to stay off Lexington school property. He is due back in court June 1. [...]

“This is not about creating a forum for hate . . . for any segment of society,” Parker said after his arraignment. “I’m just trying to be a good dad.” [...]

“We’re not intolerant,” said Tonia Parker. “We love all people. That is part of our faith.” (source)

I’m sure the right wingers are going to be right there to support and use Mr. Parker for their own purposes of furthering intolerance and hatred for gay families.

Listen, I can understand Mr. Parker’s issues on this. But he needs to realize that there is a VERY thin line between intolerance and hatred. He can say he is “tolerant” and that he “loves all people”, but what does it say to other kids in same-sex households and same-sex parents when he wants to totally exclude them from his son’s existence? What will his son say when another child explains to his son that they have two mommies or two daddies?

School is about preparing kids for the real environment - yes, even as early as six years old, and there’s a way to do that. You can do that by being honest with them. There is nothing dirty or shameful about two people who happen to be the same sex who are trying just as hard as Mr. Parker is to provide their children a good home and a good education.

A college production tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a student beaten to death because he was gay.

And soon, it could be banned in Alabama.

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen (pictured left) says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.

“I don’t look at it as censorship,” says State Representative Gerald Allen. “I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children.”

Books by any gay author would have to go: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal. Alice Walker’s novel “The Color Purple” has lesbian characters. (source)

“I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children.”

From what? Me?

Alabama State Rep. Gerald Allen says that he’s alarmed over the “homosexual agenda.” My “homosexual agenda” is simple as far as children are concerned. I want them safe, first and foremost. I want them to be able to go to school and feel safe, without fear of harassment and bullying. I want them to be in a place where learning is first and foremost. I want them to be able to have their childhood and to understand and comprehend their world. I want them to learn to think for themselves and to go away armed with ideas, words, and a thirst for learning and a desire to see things in a new light.

They will not be able to do that if we spoon feed to them everything they learn, just because the author happened to be gay or lesbian. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s almost as though Representative Allen believes that the only thing gay authors create is pornography. Surely that is not the case.

I think what is more accurate is that he doesn’t want children to know of our contribution in this world (I know... he would call this concept the “radical gay agenda to recruit children to be homosexuals”, I suppose). If they know about us, they may want to be like us.

Ok. So you make children’s learning experience at school as sterile as possible (no mention of gays). My only question is, did you really prepare them to deal with the REAL WORLD?

Censorship. It’s truly a very frightening thing. You can make whole races of people disappear from a child’s reality, just by banning the books that talk about them, the books that were created by them, or the books that mention them. I believe that to be Representative Allen’s real objective.

See what you can do when you use words carefully? I’ve said all of this, without once ever suggesting that he might be a bigot.

A satellite broadcast beamed into evangelical churches nationwide Sunday night that featured Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist (TN) and conservative Christian leaders has been denounced for using the pulpit for political gain.

The event was held to drum up support from evangelical Christians for a GOP attempt to muzzle Democrats from attacking President George W. Bush’s picks for the federal court. [...]

Sunday’s telecast was organized by the Family Research Council and featured, along with Frist, a number of groups at the forefront of the battle to get a Federal Marriage Amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

“It is telling that Senator Frist regularly appears at Family Research Council functions, but refuses to meet with gay families regarding his extreme Senate agenda,” said Eric Stern, National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director.

One of the speakers, Catholic League President Bill Donahue, took the stage during the telecast, and preceded to laughingly mock gay families. Specifically, Donahue claimed that support of marriage equality “is a notion that belongs in an asylum.”

The comment drew wide laughter and applause from the audience at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky where the broadcast originated. (source)

Sheep. That’s what people are. Sheep.

I know that sounds very cynical. I suppose it is. But what I really want to tell the religious evangelicals, is that they are being played. They should know that. President Bush played them in the last election by promising that he would push for a constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples. He lied. Now that he is in for four more years, it’s not a concern to him.

The religious conservatives can continue to mock and make fun of our relationships by spitting out such rhetoric that supporting marriage equality “is a notion that belongs in an asylum,” if it makes them feel better. We have been through worse, for sure.

But there is something that is in far greater peril than the absence of equality for our community. The big prize is the Judiciary. A war is just starting. Not the kind with bombs and dead bodies. This war is much nastier because it hides under the guise of freedom and democracy. People such as Senator Frist would like us to believe that by killing the filibuster, that he is preserving democracy because the judges being considered for various courts “deserve an up or down vote”. That’s very convenient and easy to say when you are a majority and can vote to confirm a judge by a simple majority. The only thing that prevents this is the filibuster. It exists exactly to prevent what is about to take place. It exists to prevent the majority party from steam rolling nominations and legislation over the minority party. Do you think Senator Frist would be so ready to change the rules of the Senate and kill the filibuster if these judges were less conservative and more middle of the road?

He’s doing this because this is where the next war is being waged. We all hear about it on our radios on our way home from work, but do we really understand or care what is at stake? These judges, many of whom are in their forties, will be put in these positions for life. We will be dealing with their rulings, for better or worse, for the next forty years. This is one of the biggest objectives of this administration.

They don’t like the way the Judiciary is coming down on social issues. They use gay marriage as a lightning rod. Many of you reading this will also probably believe that you don’t want gay marriage to happen in the United States. I understand that. But, if you really think that the Administration is going after the Judiciary to stop gay marriage, you are being very naive. Killing gay marriage would be nice, and killing pro-choice options would by huge.

But the biggest objective is neutering the Judiciary, because if you put issues of equality and fairness up against a fair-minded court that is deciding these issues based on the Constitution, equality is slowly winning the battle. They want a Judiciary that will vote their way - the RIGHT way.

It’s pretty scary stuff. Think about it. This country is not even the same country it was ten years ago. If you can’t see that, you may just be a sheep.

This photo was taken on April 24, 2004, just after we brought our orchid home. We bought two books. One called Growing Orchids, and the other called Orchids For Wimps. It looked easy enough. It’s been almost a year. So where are the buds?

It’s sending out these weird things that resemble those tentacles that the alien creature from the move, The Thing, had. But no buds. We even keep a lamp on it 12 hours a day, as the book suggested, to make sure that it has ample light.

Should I take this personally? What does this mean? Can orchids only be grown by wealthy Republicans?

This reminds me of the time that I was in my back yard. All the sudden, everything got quiet. The birds stopped singing, the squirrels were motionless on the trees, and this eeriness set in. Something inside my instinctively put me on heightened alert.

At the end of my yard, I spotted a bobcat looking right at me. I didn’t know if it would attack or not, but I didn’t stand around waiting to see what would happen. Without taking my eyes off the cat, I slowly started backing up towards my front door. Once inside, I shut the door and the windows. I can relate to what happened to this woman.

Mildred Luce came to the rescue of her beloved cat Smudge, when it was attacked by a wildcat at her home in Maine.

Luce says the bobcat had Smudge’s head in its mouth and wouldn’t let go. She tried pressing a snow shovel down on the bobcat’s neck.

When that didn’t work, the elderly woman says she yanked the wildcat’s tail and Smudge’s head popped right out. The pet cat ran into the house, with the wildcat right behind.

Luce managed to lock the bobcat in a bathroom until a game warden arrived. (source)

Pope Benedict? It sounds funny to me.

Well, the Catholic Church has a new pope. This is going to sound a bit strange I suppose, but all of this reminds me of the scene in The Wizard of OZ right after Dorothy squashed the Wicked Witch of the East. The Wicked Witch of the West appears, asking, “Who killed my sister?” Dorothy asks Glenda, the Good Witch of the North, “I thought you said that I killed the witch?” Glenda replies, “That was the Wicked Witch of the East. This is the Wicked Witch of the West, and I’m afraid she’s even worse than the other one.”

From what I’ve heard about this new Pope, he’s going to be more conservative than John Paul II, if that’s possible. We can expect more of the same. If you are gay, you should brace yourself for some caring and love pretty harsh judgment with the words to match. Nothing really new there.

In fact, none of this really effects me, since I’m not Catholic. Well, except for the fact that there are a lot of Catholics who vote. I suppose they will vote the way their Pope tells them too. The thing that bothers me about the Catholic Church and many many Catholics (I’m going to get hate mail on this one), is that from what I can tell, most of them don’t practice church doctrine.

They are right there when the vote is cast to add an amendment to a state constitution outlawing marriage for gay couples, but are they abstaining from sex when the purpose of that sex is not to conceive children? Do they use contraceptives? They aren’t supposed to have sex for recreational purposes, but the majority of Catholics I know feel free to ignore that one. And what about divorce? They know what the church says about it, but I know many who are now divorced and on their third or forth spouse.

I guess most just pick and choose what fits their lifestyle - in any religion. I just wish that more of the religious folks thought that it should be encouraged that homosexuals should be nurturing stable long lasting relationships within marriage and given encouragement to do so, rather than judgement. Perhaps there would be less AIDS, depression, and suicide in our community.

One parting thought that I wasn’t surprised at, but found interesting. It seems that the new Pope was a Hitler Youth. Chew on that one for awhile.

Some Jews in Israel professed concern over the choice of Joseph Ratzinger as pope because of his German origins and links to the Nazis of World War II - especially by comparison to his predecessor - but others say the new pontiff’s record over the last six decades is more important than his youthful affiliations.

To some extent, the concerns arise from an automatic Jewish revulsion for anything linked to the Nazis, who killed 6 million Jews and tried to wipe out all European Jews before Germany was defeated in 1945.

In marking the naming of the new pope, Israel’s government wrapped a positive statement around a barb about Ratzinger’s membership in the “Hitler Youth.” He said he had no choice in the matter.

“Israel is hopeful that under this new papacy, we will continue to move forward in Vatican-Israel relations and we are sure that considering the background of this new pope, he, like his predecessor, will be a strong voice against anti-Semitism in all its forms,” said a statement by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. (source)

Keep thinking those positive thoughts.

04/20/2005 FOLLOW UP:
Many gay Catholics disappointed with cardinals' choice for pope, seeing Ratzinger as church's most outspoken foe of equal rights.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was raised Catholic but left the church in 1986 after former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- the new Pope Benedict XVI -- issued a letter to the bishops on the "pastoral care of homosexual persons." The letter described gays as "intrinsically disordered" and homosexuality as a "tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil." (source)

But don’t tell me that the United States Senate, which likes to be called the “the world’s greatest deliberative body” will vote to confirm President Bush’s pick of John Bolton to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

John Bolton has what conservatives used to call “book smarts.” He is a distinguished alumnus of a New Haven school that is the alma mater of both Presidents Bush, Yale, as well as of that same university’s law school.

He has a long record of federal appointments, including service as a U.S. assistant attorney general, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, and from 2001 to 2005, as under secretary of state for arms control.

Bolton on paper has strong credentials. What John Bolton tragically lacks, according to the first-hand testimony of people who have worked with him, is the human touch or mature temperament so important in a colleague and so indispensable in a diplomat. (source)

Actually, I think that John Bolton has exactly what it takes to be an ambassador under the Bush Administration. He should fit in just perfectly.

He has the savvy to tell the United Nations that they are irrelevant, that it’s “our way or the highway”, and that everyone else on this planet (the little people) is somewhat, well, less than the important people (us).

I think he’s a perfect “ambassador” for this administration because he is the epitome of what they stand for. It’s very clear to me why President George W. Bush nominated John Bolton to the United Nations. These two cookies are made from the same mold.

Other writings on Bolton
August 1, 2005 - Bolton Appointed U.N. Ambassador

I’ve got spring fever in the worst way. We went out to Monet’s Table for our usual Saturday brunch, and went right to Vinney’s to pick up some things for our outdoor grill and bird seed. We love grilling outside and enjoy having dinner outside when the weather is nice. Then we went to Lowe’s to replace the wheelbarrow that died last fall (yes they can die). Well, never thinking small, we ended up getting this big garden cart on four wheels that can haul all kinds of stuff around the yard.

We got home and I started hosing down the deck and cleaning the grill in preparation for spring/summer stuff. I got the hoses out and have been watering all the flowers that are just beginning to come back to life.

Tomorrow we are having a friend over for dinner and will have steak on the grill. It doesn't get any better than that. The rest of the day I’ll be putting out my wild flower seed so by June, it should look pretty spectacular. We sometimes have people stop out front as they drive by to take a look.

It’s so nice sometimes to sit back and take notice of your life and take a look at the big picture. There are a lot of things that we don't have access to as a couple. But, through our hard work and determination to make life as good as it can be, it really is pretty awesome how good things can be.

In this world that we’ve managed to mess up pretty badly, sometimes we all just have to block all of that out. We do that by really getting into making our home a warm place to live, being with each other, gardening, and enjoying life as much as possible. Through all the obstacles in our way towards equality, we still have so much going for us and so much to appreciate.

Inequality is one part of what is in our lives right now - it doesn't have to ruin everything. That’s my thought of the day.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Tens of thousands of followers of a radical Shia cleric marched through Baghdad Saturday, demanding the end of the U.S.-led occupation on the second anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s ouster.

In the largest anti-American demonstration since the invasion began, the supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr streamed into Firdos Square, where the statue of Saddam was toppled two years ago. (source)

It’s time to come home. The only satisfaction I get from all of this is the black eye our President has over taking us into Iraq in the first place. That’s little consolation after so many of our men have been killed there. I’m all for helping others out. I’m all for defending our country against threat. Here, we did neither. We assumed they wanted our brand of democracy. We assumed they had weapons of mass destruction. We assumed a great deal from the intelligence we had at the time. That intelligence was crap. And, I believe the President knew it.

Now, Iraq is tired of U.S. bullshit (I can relate). We can be there for the next twenty years. It won’t help.

Britain’s Prince Charles and his long-time love, Camilla Parker Bowles, have married in a private civil ceremony in the town of Windsor, just outside London. [...]

Only about 30 guests - among them Charles’ sons Prince William and Prince Harry - attended the wedding. Thousands of people standing outside the 17th-century Guildhall loudly cheered the two young princes, whose mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash nearly eight years ago. (source)

Charles finally did it. He married the one he wanted all along. He married the woman he’s had an affair with for 35 years.

And yet, all I can think of is Diana. She deserved better than him. I always thought that. She was pure class. She was a sparkling diamond. Next to that, he looked like a clump of coal.

I was looking at my site statistics for March, 2005. In all, the site received 834514 hits for the month of March.

I always find the statistics interesting to review, especially the search phrases. These are the exact phrases people have entered into their search engine to reach our site. For any given phrase, there were undoubtedly other sites listed. For whatever reason, our site was among them. From looking at some of these phrases, you would think that I’m running a sex site here.

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This is what Andrew Sullivan had to say about Pope John Paul II. It echoes much of what I’ve said and what I feel about Pope John Paul II.

When it came right down to it, he walked away from his moral responsibility and chose what was politically safe for the church, at the expense of others.

Last night on Hardball, I said what I think needs to be said. Under John Paul II (and his predecessors), the Roman Catholic church presided over the rape and molestation of thousands of children and teenagers. Under John Paul II, the church at first did all it could to protect its own and to impugn and threaten the victims of this abuse. Rome never acknowledged, let alone take responsibility for, the scale of the moral betrayal. I was staggered to see Cardinal Bernard Law holding press conferences in Rome this week, and appearing on television next to the man who announced the Pope’s death. But that was the central reaction of the late Pope to this scandal: he sided with the perpetrators, because they were integral to his maintenance of power. When you hear about this Pope’s compassion, his concern for the victims of society, his love of children, it’s important to recall that when it came to walking the walk in his own life and with his own responsibility, he walked away. He all but ignored his church’s violation of the most basic morality - that you don’t use the prestige of the church to rape innocent children. Here was a man who lectured American married couples that they could not take the pill, who told committed gay couples that they were part of an “ideology of evil,” but acquiesced and covered up the rape of minors. When truth met power, John Paul II chose truth. When truth met his power, John Paul II defended his own prerogatives at the expense of the innocent. Many have forgotten. That’s not an option for the victims of this clerical criminality. (source)

I hate dental hygienists!!!

This afternoon, as I'm laying back high as a kite on nitrous oxide (what can I say, I have a low pain threshold), I can taste blood in my mouth as she is working on my teeth.

As I am listening to Vladimir Ashkenazy perform the Mozart Piano Concerto # 15, I’m wondering, “Is there a truth to the universe? One universal truth? Will I have to be dead to see it?”

I taste more blood in my mouth. She stops and asks one of the most perplexing questions that I think must be a test of some kind, “Do you have any sensitive areas?”

With all the high profile issues in the news these days, one item that has not been given the coverage it deserves is the fate of the filibuster. The filibuster, in short, allows senators to debate as long as they like, which effectively allows them to stall a vote they know they will lose. The Democrats would use the filibuster to stall votes on judicial nominees they find to be unfit for the job because they do not have the votes necessary to stop the nomination. In other words, the filibuster is often used by the minority party.

The contention in all of this is that the Republicans are threatening to kill the filibuster. They would do this by changing the rules upon which the Senate operates. Once this was done, majority rule would nominate whatever judicial appointment the majority saw fit to place on the bench. This has recently been referred to as the “nuclear option” by the Republicans.

One would hope that cooler heads would prevail here, but with judicial nominees at stake, who serve for life, that doesn’t seem likely.

Republicans find this especially irksome because they spent so many decades as the minority party. Now, as the majority party under a Republican president, they want to reshape the federal court system to curb what they see as its liberal bias — especially in decisions on social issues such as school prayer, civil rights and abortion.

Democrats note that most federal judges are Republican nominees — 55%. The proportion on the Supreme Court is even higher, with seven of nine justices Republican appointees. So Democrats contend that Republicans are not just interested in conservative judges or those with a limited view of judicial power, but judges inclined to be activist in the service of conservative ideology.

“They are seeking to take away the independence of the judiciary — the crown jewel in our system of government — so that they can advance their own ideological agenda of the day,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). “That is exactly the kind of tyranny that our ancestors fought to prevent.”

As the conflict moves toward its endgame, each side is counting votes. There may be 55 Republicans in the Senate, but a handful — mostly moderates and traditionalists — have expressed concern that the nuclear option is too drastic and would damage Republicans the next time they were the minority. (source)

We all have cause to be gravely concerned about this. I hear more and more conservatives saying that the Judicial system is broken - that it’s not working anymore. “Look what happened to Terri Schiavo”, they say. From my point of view, about the only part of our government who is doing it’s job is the Judicial Branch. The problem is, the very people complaining about the outcome of the Terri Schiavo case are complaining about the filibuster. They want to place any judge they want on the bench to assure (or at least stack the deck) future outcomes of cases such as that of Terri Schiavo.

It won’t stop there. Next will be school prayer, “controversial subjects” being discussed in our schools, which school will receive federal funding based on what they teach, among others.

You didn’t really think that all of this was about gay marriage, did you? That was only the beginning - the catalyst, if you will, to achieve the end-goal; that of killing the filibuster and gaining absolute power.

When that’s done, we will see the beginning of big changes in this country. At the end of the term of this administration, you can expect to see noticeable changes in judicial ideology. But the really big issue - the one that has teeth, is that these nominees will be around years after this administration is long gone.

And the only thing right now that stands in the way of that is the filibuster.

And this is happening now... as you read this.

An interesting tidbit from Montana lawmakers. I wonder how many more might follow.

Montana lawmakers overwhelmingly passed what its sponsor called the nation’s most strongly worded criticism of the federal Patriot Act on Friday, uniting politicians of all stripes.

The resolution, which already galloped through the Senate and passed the House 88-12 Friday, must survive a final vote before it officially passes.

Senate Joint Resolution 19, sponsored by Sen. Jim Elliott, D-Trout Creek, says that while the 2005 Legislature supports the federal government’s fight against terrorism, the so-called Patriot Act of 2001 granted authorities sweeping powers that violate citizens’ rights enshrined in both the U.S. and Montanan constitutions.

The resolution, which does not carry the weight of a law but expresses the Legislature’s opinion, encourages Montana law enforcement agencies not to participate in investigations authorized under the Patriot Act that violate Montanans’ constitutional rights. It requests all libraries in the state to post a sign warning citizens that under the Patriot Act, federal agents may force librarians to turn over a record of books a person has checked out and never inform that citizen of the request. (source)

It was just on the news this morning that teachers have stopped grading papers in red ink. Studies have found that the red ink on students’ papers “stresses them out”. The new color for grading papers is purple.

I can hear it now. Rev. Jerry Falwell is going to be saying that by using the color purple (many seem to think that the color purple is THE gay color) to grade papers, the “homosexual agenda” is being pushed in the schools. You think that’s far fetched. It wasn’t long ago that conservatives charged SpongeBob SquarePants with “promoting a gay lifestyle”.

And I’ve been looking for gay sponges to come out in the grocery stores ever since.

Purple is the new red, according to teachers, and pen manufacturers can barely keep up with the demand. Educators say the color purple, a mix of red and blue, carries red’s authority but blue’s serenity, making it more constructive for grading.

“Red is just so bold. It’s kind of an angry color,” says Meghan Dorsett, who teaches sixth-grade language arts and eighth-grade math at Skyline Junior High School in Peoria.

Along with purple, Dorsett is likely to use pink, green or yellow, colors that are a bit easier on middle school students’ self-esteem. (source)

I just can’t adjust to this “spring forward, fall back” thing. Why can’t we just pick this time and stay with it? I don’t mind going to work in the dark, but I really do like having all the daylight after getting home.

But today, I got up mid-morning and my body thought that I had the whole day ahead of me. Psychologically, it’s like you’ve lost more than just an hour. I look up at the clock and it says 3:46pm. It feels like it should be around 12 noon to me.

We made breakfast this morning, shared a couple of hours together, then went for a drive to Ashford, Connecticut. There has been so much rain that the rivers are raging. Some roads are impassable. It’s still cloudy so it wasn’t such a good day for photos, but I took some anyway. I’ll look at them, but doubt that any will make it to this blog.

I’m slowly changing a bit of the site. You probably notice the photo album menu. And the polls are back, but I only have one active poll at this point. It’s not hard to make changes. It just takes time to think it through, and time is a hard thing for me to come by these days it seem.

Next weekend, Kent will be away all weekend. I may start my spring activity and start planting my spring flowers. It all depends on the weather. I hate staying inside and doing nothing when Kent is away.

I don’t know if I should even comment on the passing of the Pope. I’m sure I will offend every Catholic person who will come and read this. Tonight I was at the gym working out. I was on the elliptical trainer. In front of me there were six monitors with different stations on them. Two of the stations were covering the passing of the Pope. Three had different sports going. And one had a reality show about how celebrities react to being chased by the media.

I chose to watch the one about celebrities. Why? Because sports really isn’t my thing and I could give a damn about the passing of the Pope. I’m not Catholic. I do have Catholic friends and most of them do not practice the teachings of the Catholic Church when it comes to birth control, abortion, and a myriad of other things. Which leads me to wonder, why belong to that church? What is the lure?

I had a friend who kept trying to get me to go to a Catholic Church in Hartford. She said that they were much more “enlightened” when it came to gay people and were more “affirming”. Affirming to Catholics means that you can come and be part of their church and take part in communion. It does not mean they will affirm your gay relationship in any way, shape, or form.

I told her that I would never belong to a Catholic Church because the thought of any of my contributions (money) making their way back to Rome was enough to turn my stomach.

Why do I feel so strongly you say? Well, this is what this Pope had to say about people like me. We are....
- “gravely immoral”
- “intrinsically disordered”
- “deviant”
- “against the natural moral law”

I’m sorry, but I know for a fact that I’m probably one of the most moral people I have ever met in my life. I am “deviant” from 90% of people based on being a homosexual. From the majority of people I’ve come to know, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to deviate from the norm. Most people are shallow, have no value for friendship, let alone others, and wouldn’t help anyone in need. That’s not me.

I first wrote about the Pope on August 1, 2003. I had hoped that over time, he would change. He didn’t. Now, all I hear on the news is what a great man he was and how much he brought people together. Yet, I have never felt more alienated from Catholics than I do today. To me, that is his legacy.

It matters not to me. I am not Catholic. It bothered me more that I had to be bothered by seeing it on the monitors in front of me. Is that bad? I could sit here and lie to you, but it wouldn’t change a thing.

Food for thought...
Jesus might have been homosexual, says the first openly gay bishop.

And finally, this...

There are many more things that can be said about Pope John Paul II, but what cannot be said of this Pope is that he reached out to the Gay and Lesbian Community. He did not show that same love and respect for individual Gay and Lesbian People. With all his journeys this was one journey he could not, or would not take. He believed in Universal Truths, he could not allow those truths to be challenged in any way, especially by the reality of Gay and Lesbian lives.

For many Gay and Lesbian Catholics we believe this moment in history is a bittersweet moment. We mourn a lost opportunity of pastoral outreach from John Paul II, we also mourn his death. Going forward we look in hope to a new Pope who may be willing to make a pastoral journey to Gay/Lesbian Community that Pope John Paul II was unable to make. (source)