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Time:11:40 pm
I heard this story on NPR a couple of weeks ago and it's really pathetic. But here's the guy's own words in a Washington Post opinion piece:

I Didn't Tell. It Didn't Matter. - Trying to serve his country, a young man faced bigotry and abuse

Basically, it sums up why "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" doesn't work. As he says, "The irony of 'don't ask, don't tell' is that it protects bigots and punishes gays who comply." Which is probably the point.
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Time:01:41 pm
Quoted from the site linked:


Lt. Dan Choi, from Orange County, California, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an Iraq War veteran. On Tuesday, he will face a panel of colonels who will decide whether or not to fire him -- to discharge him from the military for "moral and professional dereliction" under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Lt. Dan Choi may be fired from the military for refusing to lie about who he loves

Sign a personal letter of support for Dan before Tuesday's trial and help him fight "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
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Time:03:09 pm
I keep getting emails from various GLBT lists asking me to do all kinds of stunts to spread the gay rights messages to people who are not yet on board with the idea.

The problem is, everyone I know well enough with whom I could discuss such things already is on board with gay rights. I may have had time and energy in my youth to hang out with all kinds of bigots just enough to try to educate them (and I did educate and turn around a few), but these days, I just don't. If I find out someone hates anyone else solely on the basis of race, ethnicity, country of origin, sexuality, religion, or any of the other obviously stupid things to judge someone on, I pretty much just exclude that person from my life.

Plus, I live in Austin now, a town that's known as a little blue dot in a big red sea (with all this talk of Texas seceding, jokes abound about airlifting Austin out first). The people I randomly encounter tend to be pretty polarized, either pretty deeply liberal on everything or hardcore conservative, and the latter frequently don't want anything to do with me since I wear my liberalisms on my sleeve. Or chest...I have a lot of t-shirts that make it pretty obvious that, at the very least, I'm one of those pinko Canadian socialist types.

So again, who am I going to have cause to talk to about gay rights? I'm all for protests and we've done those, but in my social circles, gay rights is a "yeah, duh, of course they should have them" issue. There's little awareness left to be raised amongst my friends.

I mean, really...is anyone reading this actually still pig-headed enough to believe that gay couples shouldn't be allowed to marry and to parent? I absolutely know that such idiocy still exists, but I'd be surprised if it's on the part of anyone who gives a crap about what I have to say about it or anything else.
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Time:11:59 pm
Update: there are now stories around that a hacker is taking credit for this. There are counter-stories that no he didn't, he's just trying to get attention (which is why I'm not posting his info here). I don't know if he did or didn't, but even if he did, Amazon retains some level of culpability in allowing itself to be used like this, especially since the reviews and ratings system has been under fire for years for abuses.



I've just sent this email to Amazon, based on what I've seen around various blogs and news articles today:

*************
According to this LA Times blog article:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/04/amazon-responds-to-adult-queries-blames-a-glitch.html

and elsewhere I've read online today, Amazon has possibly been engaging in anti-gay measures in terms of how it lists books with potential gay content, be that content direct or indirect.

As a long-time customer, affiliate, reviewer, and listed author, I must tell you that I'm utterly horrified at the idea that you'd relegate any book, regardless of its content, to the digital equivalent of a hidden room in the store.

I'm not gay, I usually do not buy gay books or any adult literature, but if I should want to, I would hate to think that I wouldn't be able to get as much information about such books as I could about any other subject matter.

Furthermore, as a gay rights supporter, I am greatly concerned about the possible bigotry behind such a move.

My extended family, in-laws, and close friends have spent thousands of dollars with your store over the years. You would be foolish to risk us all as customers over something so petty.

Error or not, I expect this matter to be rectified immediately.

Thank you.

**************


I strongly urge other Amazon customers concerned with censorship of any kind to email them as well. Today it's any book having to do with anything homosexual, tomorrow it could be anything that criticizes a religion or any other hot-button issue.
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Time:11:02 pm
I got the DVDs for Mike Moore's old show "The Awful Truth" out from the library and started watching them tonight. By coincidence, it's almost exactly 10 years since they first aired (they started on April 11 1999, according to imdb).

In the first two episodes, his two big stunts were:

1) Taking on a big insurance company (Humana) for denying coverage for something that would save a man's life.

2) Taking on Fred Phelps and promoting gay rights.


It's been ten years. Ten fucking years. I'm glad so much has changed...

*headdesk*




In other video news, I finally got around to seeing "The Dark Knight", again, from the library. It was okay, but nothing special. Ledger as the Joker makes the movie, and whomever decided to do the wacky makeup was bloody brilliant because it takes away the cartoon aspect and makes it suitably insane. However, I remember a bunch of press at the time of the film's release going on and on about how dark the film was, ooo maybe too dark, etc. Um...that was hype, right? Because there wasn't anything particularly dark or creepy about movie. I mean, David Lynch has probably filmed pony rides darker than "The Dark Knight". Sheesh.
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Time:03:54 pm
Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr's case, and let loving, committed couples marry. DEADLINE: Valentine's Day
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Time:04:33 pm
Gacked from [info]noiseinmyhead:

Sharpton: Church uses money and power to persecute gays but ignores poverty

Probably the BEST speech of outrage I've read/heard yet about the Prop 8 thing, because it really hits at the heart of the matter:



"This is an issue of human rights," he said. "And I think it is dangerous to give states the right to deal with human rights questions. That's how we ended up with slavery and segregation going forward a long time...Whatever my personal feelings may be about gay and lesbian marriages, unless you are prepared to say gays and lesbians are not human beings, they should have the same constitutional right of any other human being."



This whole section was entirely awesome:


"It amazes me," he said, "when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being [relegated] into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners."

"I am tired," he went on, "of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they're preaching, when the lights are off they go cruising for trade...We know you're not preaching the Bible, because if you were preaching the Bible we would have heard from you. We would have heard from you when people were starving in California--when they deregulated the economy and crashed Wall Street you had nothing to say. When [accused Ponzi scammer] Madoff made off with the money, you had nothing to say. When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren't there you had nothing to say.

"But all of a sudden, when Proposition 8 came out, you had so much to say, but since you stepped in the rain, we're going to step in the rain with you."



YEAH!
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Time:08:25 pm
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die



I've been pointing out that economic thing ever since Nevada outlawed gay marriage. Big duh, they could have made BILLIONS off of California couples. Idiots.


eta: This one is clever too: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cca5e8a78a/protect-marriage-protect-children-prohibit-divorce-from-jonathan-smith
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Time:10:06 pm
So we took Peo to the Austin point for the national pro-gay-marriage-rights protest today, and although she was tired and cranky by the end (it was butting up against nap time and we walked to downtown from across the river), she seemed to have a good time.

She also sounded out LOVE from someone's sign and thus learned a new word to read for the day, which was a good word for the event! Plus she's been asking to make rainbows this evening because she liked seeing all the rainbows on the signs.

I was very happy to see that the event was so overcrowded that we couldn't get close enough to the stage to hear much of the speeches (one local news source is saying over 3000 people). I mean, I'd like to have heard the speeches, especially more of the one by the incredibly articulate 10 year old boy who demanded rights for his two moms, but the huge turnout made me happy enough to compensate.

I noticed that a significant proportion of people appeared to be hetero couples, many with kids, and there were a LOT of signs indicating that people were hetero but in full support of all homosexual rights. That's going to become increasingly important, because while rights should be granted when a minority demands them initially, history shows that they're more likely to be granted when non-minority folk figure it out and support them in their cause.

Of course, as the 10-year-old pointed out, the supposed majority of the nuclear family is a myth (I think he cited it as only 23% of households in the US) and is therefore in fact a minority, but I think you get the point.

Anyway, it was mostly pleasant except for Peo getting bored and impatient at times, and I hope we did some good. I don't see us clearly in any of the photos or vids in the local media (although I know pics and vids were taken of my sign and of Peo...in fact lots of protesters just wanted pics of the cute pigtailed girl and her sign...and only after the fact did we realize why so many people were amused by her hair, because she had Ernie and Bert loops), but we took our own pics which will be up someday.

Oh, and it was faboo to meet up with [info]jenn_unplugged! :)


PS I loved the sign that said, "No more Mr. Nice Gay!" I also dig how the 8 has been co-opted into H8 for signs and slogans against hate.
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Time:07:51 pm
1)

Corran (putting number magnets on Peo's board): Look Peo, 2x3=6.

Peo: I make t plus 2 equals 8!

Corran: Then I guess t equals 6.

Peo frowns, then says, "Okay!"

Welcome to algebra, little preschooler.


2) I asked Peo tonight if she wanted to go do a protest tomorrow. She said yes. I reminded her of the SCHIP thing she and I did and said that tomorrow it was about letting any grownups who want to get married do so. I asked her if she thought that anybody who wants to get married should be allowed to and she nodded and said, "Yes!"

Mind you, she thinks she's going to marry me and then Daddy. Still, I'll take it. :)



eta I thought of a good comeback today for when you're in a discussion where someone says something along the lines about just not being comfortable with gays getting married: I could easily say, "Hey, I'm not comfortable owning a dog, but that doesn't give me the right to tell another family how they should live."
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Time:04:05 pm
Several awesome things from [info]noiseinmyhead:

A lecture (fairly long, but worth the time) by Stephen Lewis about the millennial goals and how they're not even close to being reached. Be forewarned that it includes discussion of extreme sexual violence (particularly in but not exclusive to the third world's war zones) and lots of depressing statistics about hunger, poverty, AIDS, gender issues, etc. But it's important stuff, and not just another "hey the world sucks" sort of thing. There are important facts in there that demonstrate how this is a problem created by governments elected by those reading this journal (not just Americans, folks, lots of guilt to go around in the first world) and that while we as individuals can do things like sponsor kids overseas or contribute to projects like those at The Stephen Lewis Foundation, what we really need to do is bring in a new era of governance that reflects our values in global terms.

And on that note, here's a video from a movement in that direction:



Go to http://gen-we.org/ to sign up for future campaigns and sign their petition. I'm technically 6 years too old for this generation but I associate with it a lot more than Baby Boomers, that's for damned sure!

All of you Obama-lovers out there need to refrain from patting yourselves on the back too much and keep up the work to ensure that he doesn't become like every other politician and decide these issues are too hard or too complex to deal with. He's no dummy, but he's shown himself quite open to political compromise. Continue to be vocal in the upcoming years on all of these issues, even when it gets difficult or boring, if you want to ensure that he brings about the change he so easily promised.



End with some humour, albeit scary-ass "omg some people are so stupid" humour:
In response to a church suggesting gay marriage is akin to the rise of Nazi Germany...

(And yes, whichever church said that needs to be Godwin smacked.)
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Time:01:34 pm
An interesting link about historical gay marriage:

http://www.lezbeout.com/ancientgaymarriageoftwomalesaints.htm
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Time:01:12 pm



I've never actually watched Oberman before, just heard of him. I'm impressed. Is he always that good?

I particularly like the point about interracial marriages insofar as the marriage that produced Obama would not have been legal in several states in 1967. Mind you, the racists against interracial marriage probably think Obama is an example of why races shouldn't mingle, because they no doubt fear and loathe him.

But Oberman's point that it's about spreading love - which is supposed to be part of Christianity - rings true and is well made. Watch.
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Time:06:22 pm
Maybe it's just because I'm quite ill with this cold-flu thing, but I'm really quite depressed and heartbroken about Prop 8. Any anti-gay-marriage bill annoys me, but in this case they're taking something away from people who had it.

My heart is sore for those who had joined in loving union and now will be effectively told, "Whoops, sorry, you're not good enough for this. Takebacksies!"

It's rude. It's insulting. It's disgusting.

I can't shake the sadness. I think this is bothering me more than if McCain had won, to be honest. I really, really didn't want McCain to win but I saw that as a continuance of crap I've grown used to. Prop 8 is a sinking lower.

I'm so sad. :(
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Time:06:05 pm
Bloody fucking hell.

Kids And Makeup: A Dangerous Mix?


Child psychologists and environmental activists are concerned about the increased marketing of makeup to children as young as 3 years old.

With colorful, youthful packaging bearing names like "bubble yum," and Disney star "Hannah Montana," the products appeal to young girls.



So let me get this straight...marketing sexuality in a possibly toxic format to toddlers is legal, but the tiniest possibility that a teacher might reference homosexual marriage in a classroom and people turn out in hordes to deny the rights of loving couples to marry?

THIS SOCIETY IS FUCKED UP.

And you just know that a lot of the people who voted to ban gay marriage are the same people who would buy "Hannah Montana" lipstick for their preschooler.

Excuse me while I cry.


(Then again, perhaps I should console myself with the mental image of the parents discovering that their son has been into their daughter's makeup, hee hee hee...no wait, that's still poisoning the boys with the toxic ingredients...sigh...)
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Time:08:45 am
1) I am developing a new little, quick knitted toy pattern and hope to have it posted this afternoon or tomorrow. It'll be free. It's holiday related.


2) I tried to explain the election to Peo yesterday but stopped when she just got upset when informed that the lawn signs with all of those delicious letters and words to sound out would be coming down soon.

I also stopped short of explaining why it was auspicious that a black man might be about to win, because I decided I'd rather have her grow up in a world where that isn't auspicious at all, but something totally natural and possible. And now it is.


3) Besides, Peo's favourite thing about all of this besides the lawn signs was running around saying, "OBAMAMAMAMBAMABAMAMMMMMMMMMMMMA!" So now she can have at least four years of hearing the name on NPR and in household discussion and giggle it as much as she likes.


4) Speaking of Peo and literacy, yesterday she was making random-letter "words" on her magnet board and discovered that she can't pronounce her new "words" without cramming in some vowels now and then. Totally figured that out by herself. I think this means she's not Welsh. ;D


5) We watched Obama's speech and I do like how inclusive he is; mentioning gay and straight people, addressing other nations (it's amazing how many Americans, particularly politicians, seem to forget that there are some!), promising to be for everyone, etc. I also liked his realism in terms of saying that some goals may not even happen in a single term (already campaigning for the next one, eh?).

He's very good at speaking and has high charisma. Obviously that's a significant part of what got him elected.

I still remain doubtful about significant positive change, but I'll be very happy to say I was wrong if any of it happens.

I just don't think that he's going to take the profit out of health care, which is what's needed to fix it. Nor do I think he's going to grant gay marriage rights (oiiii, Prop 8, breaking my heart over there...).


6) Speaking of Prop 8, wtf happens to those who were already married? Forced annulment? Can they sue if that happens? Could that actually result in forcing it to a federal level?

And what about going to Canada, getting married there, coming back and poking the international treaty about recognizing marriage? Because if the US doesn't honour that treaty, that's going to go very badly for a lot of people (a significant section of Las Vegas' economy will die if people from other countries can no longer have their Vegas weddings recognized back home).

Oh, and I just love how much the Mormons were behind the Prop 8 thing. Nice. As Jon Stewart pointed out, these are a people who founded a whole state to protect their marriage choices, but fuck anyone else who wants a different choice, right? GAHHHH.

And anyone non-white who voted for Prop 8 (or any similar ban in other states) needs an educational smack in the head because duh, this is the same language that used to prevent mixed-race marriages. You voted for institutionalized bigotry at the same time the nation broke down a barrier of bigotry, you idiots.

Sick.
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Time:06:29 pm
Gacking from [info]damedini, who said that she read that the "American Family Association" is trying to harass Hallmark for offering same sex marriage cards. She suggests using the email address provided by the AFA for Hallmark's president to instead send an email of support. I agree. Let's let a big company know that we appreciate them being inclusive of all kinds of love, and let's try to drown out AFA's hate.

Here's the AFA site: http://www.afa.net/Petitions/Issuedetail.asp?id=329

And here's the email of the president of Hallmark: sgronb3@hallmark.com



eta for clarification...I'm posting the AFA link so you can read their ugliness. Don't use their form unless you want them to have your email address. I sent my supportive email directly.
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Time:04:54 pm
I've heard some people talking up Salvation Army recently and thought maybe it was time for some reminders why progressive folks, gay rights activists, those who believe in separation of church and state, non-Christians, etc. ought to think twice about donation to Salvation Army at all:

http://www.alternet.org/story/27122/?page=entire

http://www.nyclu.org/node/1086

http://atheism.about.com/b/2005/11/24/salvation-army-sued-by-gay-jewish-social-worker.htm

http://www.365gay.com/opinion/neff/neff.htm

And the followup letter to that last one at http://www.365gay.com/opinion/Letters/Letters.htm is of particular interest to me...I've long been pissed off at the American Red Cross for discriminating against gay blood donations when other Red Crosses do not, and I wasn't willing to let them off the hook regarding the legal requirement because hey, they're the Red Cross, they could bloody well do some lobbying if they were against it. But if that writer is correct and the American Red Cross has spoken out against the discrimination in blood donations, I might actually be willing to cut them some slack. Maybe. I'd have to find some clear-cut proof, and I'd still want them to do some active lobbying to get the stupid rule changed.

Anyway, point is, Salvation Army is a right-wing pseudo-military evangelical Christian group. If that's your bag, hey, go ahead and throw a dollar in the kettle. But if that conflicts with your values, save your dollar for a worthier cause, and save your used clothing and other donations for Goodwill instead.

(And a pssst to my frugal friends...Goodwill stores often have some pretty good stuff for dirt cheap if you're willing to look, and your local store probably has a calendar of regular sales, so see if you can save a buck or two while helping out the community at the same time! See http://goodwill.org for more info.)



eta...more links from more highly official sources in the comments.
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[icon] Blatherings
View:Recent Entries.
View:Archive.
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View:Website (http://kimberlychapman.com).
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You're looking at the latest 18 entries.