long time...

long, long time...

i hadn't realized how long;


the most recent post - April 24th - was right before the last couple of surgeries i had to have, and they were the worst of all i've had over the last 2 1/2 years; even worse than the back surgeries;

i didn't realize how difficult these were going to be; i say these because they did two at the same time; the major one was a trans urethral resection of the prostate; the secondary one was the removal of a very large growth that grew very quickly on one of the testicles; luckily a benign cyst that had to be removed along with the epididymis;

(i know - too much information, but the truth is the truth)

the second one, understandably, was the most painful and uncomfortable; if you're male and never had something like this done, you can only imagine what the aftermath was like! thank the fates for Vicodin;

in the meantime, i've been spending most of my time using Facebook; it's quick; it's easy; and most of the time keeps you up-to-date;

i'm not completely sold on it, but it has been a really good source for news that doesn't make the major media;

of course, this is due to the fact that i've been fairly selective on who friends are; (friends is really quite a misnomer; only 5-6 on my list are truly friends in the real sense of the word!)

the worst seems to be passed, but they tell me it will take a couple of more months before most of the after effects go away;

i am rethinking a lot of things with this last episode of life and i am looking it over and deciding that another make-over is in order; i've done this before and always had a good time doing it;

i'm just not exactly certain what the change is going to be, but like i said, i want to have fun doing it...

glad to see you all again and there already is a monday morning mayhem ready for posting...

it's great to be an activist...

but there comes a time when you start to get tired of fighting, when you question if it makes a difference at all, when it may be time to let others, younger, keep the ball rolling...

on the other hand, i remember my friend Father Philip Berrigan & his brother Daniel; what if they had decided to give up? would Vietnam still be a nation in turmoil?

at the same time, i realize that they had a single-minded goal; no, not just to end the war, but to awaken humanity; the conversations were about inhumanity and how it prevented us from moving forward to treat each other in peace.

here we are 40 years later and we still are fighting the foes of humanity; we are battling the false witness of ultra-right, christianist wingnuts who tear down instead of build up; we struggle with proving what is just and fair when they merely come from a power struggle mentality;

i fight with myself daily trying to make a decision that i'm not sure i want to make, but each day as i read about the inequities of healthcare, the discrimination of lgbtq, the economic problems of families struggling to make a life for themselves, and the movement towards a theocratic country and i get closer and closer to that decision - one to get out...

SCOTUS & the pro-Prop 8 gang...

SCOTUS last week stopped a federal judge from taping and broadcasting to other judicial venues the Bois-Olson trial contesting the results of Prop 8.

one of the arguments they used agreed with the pro-Prop 8 gang that their lives could be interrupted and they could be threatened from the queer activists if their testimony were to be shown live. never mind that there is a court recorder in the room and the entire trial transcript will be available sometime in the future.

[you can follow the news and the trial at American Foundation for Equal Rights.]

on of these "testifiers", a christianist minister publicly and very loudly dropped out.

but can anyone come up with matches to these headlines regarding lgbtq people who are asking only to be treated equal to everyone else with the christianists who are not very christian?


VANDALS SLASH TIRES OF TWO DOZEN CARS AT GAY ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB

RHODE ISLAND GAY MAN'S BUSINESS TARGETED: 'FAGGOTS HAVE NO RIGHTS'


D.C. Jail guards accused of beating gay inmate

just these three are from Towleroad and DC Agenda over the last couple of days!

how many others have we seen over the years? how long did it take to pass the Matthew Shepard Act? how many more lgbtq are going to be beaten? raped? killed?

the proponents of Prop 8 have made themselves the victims when they, in fact, are the perpetrators of violence and crime and hate all in the name of a myth that clearly espouses loving your neighbor more than yourself.

i have a sense that their Jesus would now refuse to die for their sins...

Hate Crimes Bill...

from Pam's House Blend

House Passes Federal Hate Crimes Legislation

The House of Representatives today passed the Defense Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 2467), which includes the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act -- the federal hate crimes legislation.

From what I've been reading, it looks likely the bill will be passed by the Senate next week.

Autumn Sandeen

this has been a long struggle and maybe for the first time the end is in sight.

Autumn points out that the Senate is expected to pass the bill next week. it would be monumental if they were to do it on Monday, October 12th - the 11th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, for whom the bill is named.

the first question that came to me is, "Will I feel any safer?"

i really don't know how to answer that. the bill makes harming anyone through hate a crime an illegal act punishable by lay. what it doesn't do is make people understand that doing such a thing is wrong, and it is wrong according to the religion(s) to which the majority of them belong.

of course, we will also be facing years of court case after court case that the christianists will pursue...

sorry, the cynic in me is always lurking. i am happy that this bill is moving forward to enactment and maybe, just maybe, it will save a Matthew Shepard's or Gwen Araujo's life in the future.

we can only hope...

on "do away with ALL special rights"...

i guess i was a day ahead of others. [check out the previous post]

Bob Cesca over at Huffington Post wrote this today:

Here's the thing, though. Hannity, Limbaugh, King and 166 House Republicans are decidedly against the hate crimes bill. The legislation, as passed by the House, specifically defines hate crimes as being "motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim." Again, Hannity, King and the rest are absolutely opposed to this.

So while the Republicans have vocally and repeatedly expressed their position against "protecting pedophiles," it can be said -- and, quoting King, "it's a matter of record" -- that they're also against protecting women, racial minorities, ethnic minorities, religious people and disabled people, among others.

Republican Political Hackery and the Hate Crimes Bill
Bob Cesca, Huffington Post

one of the arguments that i heard today was to an amendment that was added to the bill by a Republican representative from Iowa to include veterans. the problem with this amendment to the bill would invalidate the entire piece of legislation. and i'm sure the republicans knew this. of course, the other outrageous thing this representative said was that the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill (S 909 IS*) protects pedophiles when it actually is very specific in its scope. [i'm one of those people who actually reads bills and does not rely on what others write or say alone.]

the actual focus of the bill is to protect people from

(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY...*

(emphases in bold added)

with the exception of religion, no one falling into the other categories has any control over who/what they are and that is why they are part of these groups.

well, there is my previous argument in a nutshell. people choose to be part of a religion. they may be born christian or a follower of Islam but they can opt to change it. they can also decide to become an atheist or select Lutheranism as their basis of belief or non-belief.

why should they have special protections?


as to the idea that is prevalent in the hate-speech of the media specialists like Savage, Beck, Limbaugh, Dobson, etc. who say that it will prevent preachers from speaking in the pulpit according to their beliefs of lgbtq Senate Bill 909 is very specific in its language.

(3) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any constitutionally protected speech, expressive conduct or activities (regardless of whether compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief), including the exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment and peaceful picketing or demonstration. The Constitution does not protect speech, conduct or activities consisting of planning for, conspiring to commit, or committing an act of violence.

(4) FREE EXPRESSION- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely upon an individual's expression of racial, religious, political, or other beliefs or solely upon an individual's membership in a group advocating or espousing such beliefs.

in addition, another point of the bill is to assist local and state police with investigating and prosecuting hate crimes especially in place that do not have local provisions for these crimes. it also provides grant monies to local authorities to help defray cost in investigations and prosecutions as well as direct support from FBI, Secret Service, etc.


AND, before i get slammed about the veterans part: i strongly support and stand by the men and women who are or were in the services. i actively support VoteVets and SLDN. i did not use them in the amendment; the repubs did and i would bet on purpose because they knew it would invalidate and make unconstitutional the entire bill.

so..., who do you think is really not supporting veterans? to shamelessly employ a group that the country owes so much to for their service in protecting us is beyond ignominy. it borders on traitorous, IMHO. the servicemembers put their lives on the line to make certain that i have the freedoms that the Constitution guarantees. except, being lgbtq, i don't have all of those entitlements. the repubs and the nutters see to that.

i would be very much in favor of enacting a special law to insure the rights and benefits of veterans. AND while i'm at it... why DON'T all veterans have those rights? more fodder for the right-wing composter.

my point again is if any amendment should be added to the bill or removed from the body of the bill it should be to eliminate religion.

as i said in the previous post -

oh wait, Dobson, Falwell and all the other blather-mouths are saying that christianity is under attack. they would think this to be one more foray into that battle.

i still think it would be a good start...

(*link to S 909 IS as introduce in the Senate)

do away with ALL special rights...

one of the biggest arguments that the right uses against the fight for equal protection is that it bestows special privileges on a specific group of people. they don't believe that is necessary.

well, then they should be marching and preaching and screaming to reverse ALL laws that pretend to place special protections on ALL groups.

let's see. there is a law that gives equal protection to religious people.

that's a good place to start. in their logic, if special laws are not needed, then who needs this one.

oh wait, Dobson, Falwell and all the other blather-mouths are saying that christianity is under attack. they would think this to be one more foray into that battle.

oh well. gotta start somewhere...

plain words...

i found this on one of the French blogsites i haunt - L'homme est un concept - Man is a concept.


Comme ca c'est clair*



this makes me very sad. there is absolutely no excuse for this. it is tragic that people who say that their very core beliefs are based on love but deny love as they pigeon-hole it based on a narrow minded interpretation of a three word sentence they hold sacred - god is love.

Nietschze said that God is dead. i think what he really meant is that mankind killed god by its hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

if there was an original sin that would be it...



*literal translation is "Like that, it's clear"; idiomatically, i'd translate it as "How stupid"

de-obfuscating an obfuscation: Frank Rich in NYT on NOM"s "Gathering Storm" video ad...

The Bigots’ Last Hurrah

Yet easy to mock as “Gathering Storm” may be, it nonetheless bookmarks a historic turning point in the demise of America’s anti-gay movement.

What gives the ad its symbolic significance is not just that it’s idiotic but that its release was the only loud protest anywhere in America to the news that same-sex marriage had been legalized in Iowa and Vermont. If it advances any message, it’s mainly that homophobic activism is ever more depopulated and isolated as well as brain-dead.

NYT, Sunday, April 19, 2009

there is a lot more to his argument and i recommend everyone read Rich's entire OpEd. i only hope that it as easy as he seems to portray it. my reliance on hope says, "YES", but my cynicism says, "I have to wait and see...

at any rate, this is one of the more logical and calming statements and stands i've seen over the years. it says that people might be beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, there really is very little difference.

i am reminded of Mr. Spock's IDIC - infinite diversity in infinite combinations...

obfuscating obfuscations: the storm is false... part 2

the video by NOM has really made the rounds in the last couple of days. not only on many blog sites but also on all the mainstream media as well. it hasn't really had a great reception though. even the media has been pointing out its falsehoods and latched onto the fact that the people in it are all actors.

the video does say they are actors in small print in the video, but someone inside the organization has leaked the audition tapes and that has taken a lot of the wind out of the sails. the auditions have been removed from YouTube because NOM says it's a copyright infringement. if that were the case, why didn't they take the video ad down too? hmmmm?

one of my favorite posts is over at the Bilerico Project by Bill Browning entitled Stupid Alert: NOM ad actors "controversy". the opening snippet from the post:

Have you ever been arguing with someone and been frustrated that they choose one small minute part of what you said and constantly keep picking at that instead of seeing the bigger picture? It's stupid and doesn't get you anywhere.

this is the usual tactic used in almost all propaganda. after all, narrow minds can only deal with narrow ideas.

the part of the Bilerico post that caught my eye initially is also may favorite. it is the easiest way to fight propaganda, but it is also not the way we do things in this country. nevertheless, you have to see it...





i feel soooo sorry for the bunny...

and thanks, Bill, for sharing all this.

obfuscating obfuscations: the storm is false...

this is so sad. the end of the video says that the organization flaunting the lies in the video are responsible for its content. that's the one thing that they got right - they are responsible in their irresponsibility. there are too many proofs that every statement that is made in the video is false, and i'm not about to list them all here. it's a simple Google.com search. there are a couple of references after the video.





an example of the falsehoods: the mention of the church in New Jersey who is being punished for not allowing a lesbian couple to commit on their property. the group has been receiving government support for allowing the general public to use the land. by denying them, the church group broke the basic contract it had with the New Jersey government. NOM doesn't mention that. Nor does the video or group report that the California doctor was not only cited for breaking the law but the Hippocratic Oath by denying health consultation because of religious beliefs. yes, the case was concerning reproductive rights, but what if the couple had then gone to a less qualified professional and it resulted in harm or even death? the culpability would still be there.

no one is forcing anyone to change their beliefs or restructure their lives as they want to do to others. the even sadder thing is that these people throw out the number one thing that their god commands of them - love their neighbor as themselves.

i suppose the real comment behind this is that they really don't love themselves...



i would also direct you to a piece on Huffington Post yesterday by Mike Alvear - At Least Have the Decency to Lie About Your Sexuality - where a woman sitting next to him on a flight admonishes him for being gay when he did everything in his power not to bring it up. her solution was exactly what the title said - lie about who you are.

it would have been better if the woman had lied instead...

obfuscating obfuscations: it's still ALL about sex... Part 2

Andrew Sullivan has a post up right now on the Daily Dish that points out just what my previous post brought up:

We Are All Sodomists Now

Andrew, in turn, cites from a piece by Tyler Cowen

If you take the heterosexual couples who engage in the practice which is sometimes "associated" with male gay marriage, I predict those couples will favor legal gay marriage to an astonishingly high degree. Their marriage is already "affiliated" with that practice, and so the notion of legally married gay men (and the practices which go along with that) does not constitute an extra and unwanted affiliation for their marriage ideal.

thanks, Andrew and Tyler. make, well at least try to make, people like that organization i mentioned earlier think...

of course, they in turn will make it to their advantage. i can see it now -

They will take away our right to missionary sex and force us to...

i believe you get the picture.

thanks again, Andrew.

obfuscating obfuscations: it's still ALL about sex...

Both as a social institution and as a public policy, marriage exists to foster connections between heterosexual sex and the rearing of children within stable households. It is a non-coercive way to channel (heterosexual) desire into civilized patterns of living. State recognition of the marital relationship does not imply devaluation of any other type of relationship, whether friendship or brotherhood. State recognition of those other types of relationships is unnecessary. So too is the governmental recognition of same-sex sexual relationships, committed or otherwise, in a deep sense pointless.

The Future of Marriage, The National Review
by The Editors

there is no fight to protect traditional marriage. it's all about the sex, no if's, and's or but's about it.

the editorial in yesterday's National Review is explicit in this core belief, and that of the organizations like National Organization for Marriage.

since they can't save their favorite bastion of tradition from their own sort by stopping a divorce rate of over 50%, keeping their teenagers out of each other's pants, stopping the onslaught of couples merely living together, or decreasing the number of single parents, they latch onto the evil that dare not speak its name - non-missionary position sex.

oooooo...

maybe part of the problem is what they consider normal sex boring but don't want to admit that they enjoy, you know, the kinky stuff, but their beliefs, or at least their pastors, tell them they can't...?

any way, why are they so fixated on sex? it's really highly overrated, isn't it?

just asking...

The Laramie Project...

this afternoon friends and i are attending a production of The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman. it is being performed this weekend at Dominican University Performing Arts Center in River Forest, Illinois. it is a powerful piece of work. i've seen it before and there is also a film version.

The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the murder of [Matthew] Shepard. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries and published news reports. It is divided into three acts, and eight actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes. It was later adapted into a film of the same name.

if you are familiar with the history of the play and if you have been keeping up with the news for the last couple of weeks, you will know that it has been consistently targeted by Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church with hateful and unchristian taunts and protests at a lot of performances. Phelps and his daughter were barred from entering England last week and prevented from leading a protest at Queen Mary's College in Basingstoke, Hampshire. though England has free speech laws, it also has laws that forbid inciting violence with hate speech.

from the timesonline.com article -

"Both these individuals have engaged in unacceptable behaviour by inciting hatred against a number of communities.

"The Government has made it clear it opposes extremism in all its forms.

"We will continue to stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country.

in the United States we allow all groups to use their free speech right no matter how inciteful or hate-filled it is. that is a debate for another time.

a little over a month ago Dominican University discovered via the Westboro website [i will not provide a link] that the group is planning a protest the hour before today's performance. the latest communication i had from one of the manager's is that the daughter is scheduled to be part of the protest.

students at the University found out about the protest and have organized a counter-protest. they have, with great humility and conscience, decided to make it a silent counter-protest. it is the right thing to do. [IMHO]

below is a video of the song American Triangle that Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote about the murder of Matthew Shepard. the piece is powerful in itself. this version was put together with scenes from the film version of The Laramie Project. you will see some of the scenes that include the Phelps' group. the man playing Phelps eerily looks like the original. the signs they carry are exact replicas of the ones the group always carry.

besides productions of the play, for quite some time now Phelps and his crew have been doing these protests at the funerals of servicemembers killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq - with the exact same signs! one of the saddest things about the protesters is that they have always included their children, some as young as 5 or 6. the children use the same language as the adults.

i am going to post about what happens either when i get home this evening or tomorrow. i will also try to provide some photos, if possible. the University and the River Forest Police Department have prepared for this. they have set aside two areas - one for the students and one for them. i know all will go well. i will help, if need be. i may have to pull all of the Vietnam War protest techniques and experiences out of the back of my head. somehow i think it's going to be like riding a bicycle - once you've learned, you never forget.

and i did learn from some of the best...

please watch the video below. i have also included the lyric afterward.

and, please, send your good thoughts, feelings, prayers, vibes, novenas, or whatever your belief is to support the students of Dominican University.

American Triangle

Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin


Seen him playing in his backyard
Young boy just starting out
So much history in this landscape
So much confusion, so much doubt

Been there drinking on that front porch
Angry kids, mean and dumb
Looks like a painting, that blue skyline
God hates fags where we come from

"Western skies" don't make it right
"Home of the brave" don't make no sense
I've seen a scarecrow wrapped in wire
Left to die on a high ridge fence
It's a cold, cold wind
It's a cold, cold wind
It's a cold wind blowing, Wyoming

See two coyotes run down a deer
Hate what we don't understand
You pioneers give us your children
But it's your blood that stains their hands

"Western skies" don't make it right
"Home of the brave" don't make no sense
I've seen a scarecrow wrapped in wire
Left to die on a high ridge fence
It's a cold, cold wind
It's a cold, cold wind
It's a cold wind blowing, Wyoming

Somewhere that road forks up ahead
To ignorance and innocence
Three lives drift on different winds
Two lives ruined, one life spent

"Western skies" don't make it right
"Home of the brave" don't make no sense
I've seen a scarecrow wrapped in wire
Left to die on a high ridge fence
It's a cold, cold wind
It's a cold, cold wind
It's a cold wind blowing, Wyoming

one day after - include your voice...

Freedom to Marry Week ended yesterday - on Valentine's Day.

As an awareness campaign there might not be any way to measure it's success. The polls, surveys and other subjective instruments show that there is growing support for equality in marriage. The most promising population is the young - those under 30 mainly. It has become more of a non-issue to them because they all know someone lgbtq and they measure people under different rules than there parents and older family members, for the most part.

There are many sites on the web who repeatedly say that it is only a matter of time before full equality in all areas, not just marriage, happens; and not just to lgbtq but other minorities who may have equality on the books but not in action and/or belief.

The catch phrase is "It will happen."

One of the things that is most important is to put faces to the imaginary assaults that the right-wingnuttery christianists use as their battle cries.

The Courage Campaign is an organization that is leading the charge in California because of the fiasco of Prop 8. It is also important that the message be spread to all parts of the country. Below is one of the videos they produced to make the point that there is more to the issue than sex. Actually, sex is probably least important to the main issue. People's lives are what are most important.



"Fidelity": Don't Divorce...
from Courage Campaign
on Vimeo.


add your name to their letter being sent to the California Supreme Court and help them give Ken Starr, who is taking the proverbial reins to the pro-Prop 8 people another setback in his nefarious career.

or go HERE to sign...

Freedom to Marry Week...

February 8-14, 2009.



join the conversation on Freedom to Marry

DADT: justice and equality..

Andy Towle at Towleroad has a post up today entitled OBAMA: MORE ANALYSIS NEEDED BEFORE 'DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL' REPEAL

While Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a Change.gov video that "Yes," the President would lift the ban on gays in the military, Obama is signaling that it will be months if not years before enough canvassing of military officials and congressional leadership can be done for him to be comfortable in moving forward....

it basically discusses how much research and looking into do we have to have.

there is a discussion after the post in the comments that seems to have a slant of hopelessness. i had to add to the discussion, and below is the comment i left:

i met two guys last week who are in the service and are together. talking with them was fascinating. they were really great guys. despite the fact that they are ingrained with the military command structure as part of their lives (they had the aura of military personnel) they were open about their history and relationship because where we were was a totally accepting and open environment at the time and they had nothing to fear. everyone else was lgbtq or friends there. [i realize i'm being a little evasive here, but i don't want to take any chance of compromising their jobs in any way.]

i was very proud to meet these two men. they are doing something they truly believe in by being in the military, yet the sense of how careful they knew they had to be and hiding who they really are has to be so much hard work, and they talked about the impact it has on their lives, both together and individually.

i felt a sense of sadness, and i told them this, because no matter what we've all gone through, they have to deal with something that has to be so constraining it has to be stifling at times.

i also feel safer because of them; they are helping to protect me and the country. their sense of dedication and duty was so obvious. they wouldn't want to be doing anything else. i applaud them wholeheartedly.

i don't see an end to DADT in the near future; i see Obama doing exactly what he did when he was here in Illinois as a state senator - placating everyone. i see him working for one thing and one thing only - reelection in four years!

anyone who was hoping he would make the changes he talked about is a dreamer. take for example his repeated statements during the campaigh that he was "not in favor of" same-sex marriage. for those of you who may not have heard, Chicago's "Windy City Times" has a taped interview with him when he was running for state office when he "explicitly" stated that he supports total marriage equality.

what do you think changed his mind...?

i also feel a sense of helplessness for the two guys i mention above. i don't know what i can do. i support Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) monetarily and spreading the word on doing away with DADT, but i don't feel it to be enough.

no one should be forced to live in fear of being who they are. if you're older, as i am, i have to tell you that we have only felt a tiny amount of the fear of being outed compared to them. if you are younger, i want to tell you how lucky you are because it has been so much easier for you. i also thank the gods, fate or whatever you believe or don't believe in that it is going to become easier - just not as fast as we want or it should.

i'm a dreamer. i live in a world inside my head that wants everyone to be treated equally.

i want the adage focused in Leviticus, by JC, and with the "Golden Rule" to be a reality.

i'm a child of the 60's, the Age of Aquarius.

i have a strong sense in the Hopi Native-American principle of When hope is gone life is over.

i refuse to give up that hope, but it gets harder every day when i see and hear the new ways man extends his inhumanity to others...

happy new year from Benedict...

A new statute coming into effect on January 1st will allow the Vatican to bypass Italian law.

This comes in the wake of a row at the UN, where the Vatican refused to sign up to a universal declaration of human rights regardless of gender or sexuality.

Under current laws, the Holy See must accept Italian laws automatically apart from in the case of "radical incompatibility" with canon law.

The new statute signed by Pope Benedict XVI will put an end to this system.

From the start of the new year, all Italian laws will be subject to scrutiny by Vatican authorities before being implemented in the city-state itself.

"Vatican breaks with Italian law after refusing to sign UN sexuality declaration" from PinkNews.co.uk

of course, he has his mouthpieces not connecting it to the UN resolution but to the myriad of Italian laws that are impossible to wade through. [how convenient...]

President of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Vatican Law Jose Maria Serrano Ruiz said that the decision to change the legal system was due to the "instability" and "exorbitant" number of Italian laws.

see, here's what they really believe -

The Vatican's observer at the UN claimed last week that the declaration will somehow be used to force countries to recognise same-sex marriage.

"If adopted, they would create new and implacable discriminations," said Monsignor Celestino Migliore.

"For example, states which do not recognise same-sex unions as 'matrimony' will be pilloried and made an object of pressure."

so this is what we have. it is all right to discriminate against certain groups [that he chooses] but not to discriminate against others - like him. oh, by the way, the U.N. declaration makes no mention of marriage whatsoever - just advising that no one should be legally victimized because of their sexuality.

talk about obfuscation...

as i've quoted Henry II before, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?"

"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" - a new twist...

instead of talking through a designated representative, Benedict opens his own mouth and shows that he is not christian:

VATICAN CITY, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

"(The Church) should also protect man from the destruction of himself. A sort of ecology of man is needed," the pontiff said in a holiday address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.

"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less."

The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound".

i would have more hope for Rick Warren than i would for this human, and i hesitate calling him a human.

the stands of this pope and his church over the last several months with its refusal to support the two U.N. resolutions, the one on disability because it says nothing about abortion and one other on decriminalizing LGBTQ in the world, speak to the inhumanity and the belief that all men are not created equal.

the panzerpope refuses to enter the 21st century and is ensuring the eventual death of his own belief system.

i've always found that the louder someone screams against something it is to hide their own fear that they will be found out.

do i think Benedict is queer? you bet. just like Saul of Tarsus...

Rick Warren controversy...

my first comment on this entire thing:

I think that Obama made a mistake and it wasn't calculated. I would bet that he, the transition team and inauguration committee are in surprise. They have been making logical statements about the reaction from the base and Obama has been stammering, if you listen closely, more than usual when he talks about it.

One of the more accurate commentaries I've heard about the controversy is this:

To understand how angry and disappointed many Democrats are that Barack Obama has invited evangelical preacher Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inaugural, imagine if a President-elect John McCain had offered this unique honor to the Rev. Al Sharpton -- or the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. I know, it's hard to picture: John McCain would never do that in a million years. Republicans respect their base even when, as in McCain's case, it doesn't really return the favor.

Only Democrats, it seems, reward their most loyal supporters -- feminists, gays, liberals, opponents of the war, members of the reality-based community -- by elbowing them aside to embrace their opponents instead.

So... try to guess who, among the punditry, news shows, politicians made this comment.


Mike Huckabee, former Republican presidential candidate, former Governor of Arkansas, & fundamentalist minister speaking with Greta Vas Susteren on Fox![ Greta Von Susteren Asks Huckabee About Rick Warren's Role At Obama Inauguration]

what's is wrong with this picture?

just asking...


a thank you to Crooks and Liars for the heads-up.

wow! i went to TWO movies this weekend...

my friends tease me because i hardly ever go to see a movie at the theatre. i usually wait to see in on cable or DVD.

the problem i have is i always end up with the people who jabber on the cellphone during the movie or some other rude thing.

when i went to see the Bourne Ultimatum, there was a couple who had brought there 2-3 year old with them. first it was inappropriate for her to be there because of the type of movie and second they let her crawl around on the floor under the seats! obviously, they had not gone to any parenting classes. BUT giving her a flashlight was the last straw for me, as well as others. before i could get up, someone had already made it to an usher or manager who was right there telling them to either control her or leave. like i said, it was inappropriate for her to be at this film anyway.

so you can see why i don't like going to the theatre. it's just my luck.

i do, however, go to see movies with special effects that would be much better seen on the wide screen than the small. this sent me this Friday to see The Day the Earth Stood Still, that plus a curiosity to compare if with the classic original.

neither the updated story nor the special effects disappointed me. i loved it.

the special effects in the first 10-15 minutes are some of the most spectacular i've ever seen. they were so because they were both subtle and understated. they didn't stop there, but continued through the entire film. in addition, the story updating was believable for today's world, and contrary to others, i think that Keanu Reeves played Klaatu the only way possible, and the robot would scare the s*** out of me.

if you want pure escapist fare, i recommend it. if you're a sci-fi aficionado, don't miss it.



i just came home from the second movie - Milk.

what can i say?

as a piece of history, it is believable; as a reflection of what it is to fight for yourself, it is insightful; as a piece of art, it is incredible; and as a journey of a man and a movement, it is beyond important.

could i identify with all of it? absolutely, positively yes.

did i emotionally loose it at any point? yes, but i won't tell the part unless you've seen the movie. i did get a little teary-eyed at the end, but it was so well done and so dramatically understated to make a point, that it brought the entire project full-circle.

i went with straight friends. they were totally impressed. Sharon said that Sean Penn's performance was one of the most realistic and the best she's ever seen, and she can see 4-5 movies a week, if she can. my other friends said it was one of the best movies they've ever seen also.

i have to tell you that i hesitate referring to them as friends. we have known each other for 40 years and we are more family than friend. we go on vacations together; we celebrate holidays together; and we do lots and lots of things together. the one thing that we are is totally supportive and loving of each other.

since we are friends/family we have a relationship that is such that we talk just about everything. well, sex is probably the one thing we don't talk about, but it's because it's nobody's business. well, i can't really say we never talk about it, but it's not something that is, like, tabletalk during a card game.

my orientation is never discussed either. it is my choice and they understand that. my sexuality is only a part, and a very small part, of who i am. it does not define me; though it adds to my definition.

though the argument in Milk is "let everyone know you're gay because when they know one of us, they know us all" is powerful, but it also tells the story of how we are all alike, and that is the point of demanding and what underscores everyone deserving equal rights. the other thing that is unique about the movie is that it is a love story with a wonderful telling of Harvey and Scott's relationship. a relationship that was just like everyone else's - straight or gay.

if i came away from the movie with anything, it is that everything i've believed, everything for which i have stood, everything that i have done, i have done as a human being. i left the theatre with everything reinforced, everything intact, and everything having more importance.

to use a cliche with which i identify -

The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity.
And the ways our differences combine
to create meaning and beauty.