Clack

posted on my other blog....

You'll have to dig through Clack to find the link to my other blog (and it's NOT work safe or decent (hint)!)

I posted this entry there tonight:

I'm sad. I'm disappointed. I'm hurt. I'm angry pissed off.

The Georgia House of Representatives voted tonight to approve SR-595 unamended. For those who don't know (or don't live in Georgia), SR-595 is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

The civil institution of marriage (I'll get to the religious aspect of it in a minute) provides married couples with over 1,100 benefits that are currently denied to my partner and me. Guaranteed hospital visitation rights and the ability to make medical decisions, social security benefits, estate taxes, family leave from work to care for a sick spouse, medical insurance...the list goes on and on.

I'm fortunate enough to work for a company that provides me the opportunity to cover my partner under my health insurance. I don't take advantage of that because my partner is gainfully employed and has his own health plan at his job, BUT, if I did take advantage of it, those monies would be taken from my paycheck AFTER taxes, not before taxes like they would be could we be legally married (costing me roughly 30% more than my married co-workers for the same coverage).

How is it, that the Declaration of Independence can state "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," but yet we will attempt to legally define civil marriage in such a way to deny approximately 10% (depending on which study you read) of the population the rights afforded thereof?

How is it that we can have a sitting president that supports an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America that would DENY those rights on a federal level? "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman."

According to the "Traditional Values Coalition" "Homosexuals see the winning of so-called 'gay marriage' as a key objective in their goal of overturning all laws governing sexual behavior."

(begin sarcasm) What?!? I don't remember that being anywhere in the packet of information I received when I was "recruited" into being a homosexual. (end sarcasm)

Religious pundits argue that God is against homosexuality, and they base that on Leviticus 18:22 that says (loosely) that homosexuality is an abomination.

Leviticus 1:9 also says we should burn a bull on an altar as a sacrifice; Lev 15:19-24 says a woman during menstruation is unclean and men should have no contact with them during that time; Lev 25:44-45 clearly says that possession of slaves is allowed (and encouraged); Lev 11:10 says eating shellfish is an abomination; Lev 21:20 implies those people who are visually impaired or that have had broken "stones" cannot approach the altar of God; the list goes on and on.

Why do the so-called "religious" only quote the passages from Leviticus that they are told by the leaders of their religion to agree with? When I see the congregation of a local baptist church having dinner at Red Lobster, should I condemn them to Hell for eating shrimp? Should I carry picket signs at their funerals saying they'll burn in Hell because they ate shellfish? Why not...they condemn me to Hell for loving another man.

So called "gay marriage" isn't about religion. It isn't about special rights. It isn't about "activist judges." It IS about equal rights. The amendments to the state constitutions around the U.S. and the Federal Marriage Amendment will do something unprecedented in the history of this country. They will TAKE AWAY rights and equality for a group of people.

Please write/call/send email to your Congressional representatives. Tell them how you feel. Voice your opinion! Part of the argument for a U.S. Constitutional amendment is that "it's what the people want." If you believe that, please tell your elected officials! If you believe homosexuals are not deserving of the same rights and benefits and are lesser human beings than straight people, please, tell your Representative and Senators to vote for the Federal Marriage Amendment. But, if you believe that all people are truly created equal and should be treated as such, please tell them that too.

GA House approves constitutional ammendment to ban gay marriage

In a move that shouldn't surprise anyone reading this blog, in a 122 to 52 vote, the GA House of Representatives tonight approved SR595 without ammendment. SR-595 will be placed before the Georgia voters in November.

Sidenote: One of the two proposed ammendments that was struck down would have defined adultry as being unconstitutional.

I've written about the sponsor of SR-595 before.

Georgia House and Representatives Live

Folks, in case you didn't know, you can watch the Georgia House of Representatives or the State Senate Live when in session. (Real Player or equivalent required)

Currently (03/31/04 @ 6:30pm Eastern), they are debating SR595 (Georgia ammendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman).

AOL raffling spammer's Porsche

Link via Boing Boing:

BBC News World Edition:

Internet giant AOL has ratcheted up the war against unsolicited e-mail with a publicity-grabbing coup - an online raffle of a spammer's seized Porsche.

AOL won the car - a $47,000 Boxster S - as part of a court settlement against an unnamed e-mailer last year.

"We'll take cars, houses, boats - whatever we can find and get a hold of," said AOL's Randall Boe.

[...]

Seizure of property is becoming a major tactic in these lawsuits, since guilty spammers often protest their inability to pay large fines.

The Porsche-owning spammer, whose identity remains confidential, was one of a group sued last year for having sent 1 billion junk messages to AOL members, pitching pornography, college degrees, cable TV descramblers and other products.

Today's "Speed Bump" Cartoon

Viacom in Talks to Develop Gay TV Network

from Yahoo!

Viacom has "tightened up" its decency standards in the wake of Janet Jackson's racy Super Bowl performance and is in preliminary discussions to launch a gay cable network in the United States, its chairman and chief executive said Tuesday.

[...]

[Sumner] Redstone also said Tuesday that he has been in discussions with U.S. cable operators about the possibility of launching a gay and lesbian channel. He called the would-be network "a good channel for them, and a good channel for Viacom."

"We are prepared to give it a go, and I'm optimistic about it," he said, adding that "there's no reason why we shouldn't aspire to reach such an enormous demographic, not only in the United States, but in the world."

Redstone, 80, is worth $8.9 billion and is the world's 35th richest man, according to Forbes Magazine.

He brushed off concerns a channel geared toward homosexuals could be opposed by some conservative and religious groups in the United States.

"The channel will succeed, I believe," he said. "And we will not be deterred by nay-sayers."

Mass. Lawmakes Agree on Gay Marriage Ban

From Yahoo!

The Massachusetts Legislature adopted a new version of a state constitutional amendment Monday that would ban gay marriage and legalize civil unions, eliminating consideration of any other proposed changes.

The vote came at the opening of the third round of a constitutional convention on the contentious issue, as competing cries of "Jesus Christ" and "Equal Rights" shook the Statehouse outside the legislative chamber.

Lawmakers had voted earlier this month in favor of a similar amendment. The revised version adopted Monday would ask voters to simultaneously ban gay marriage and legalize civil unions — rather than taking those steps separately. It clarifies that civil unions would not grant federal benefits to gay couples.

By adopting the new language, lawmakers blocked consideration of several other amendments — including ones that would have weakened the civil union provision and one that would have split the question in two, allowing voters to weigh in separately on gay marriage and civil unions.

The Legislature must still take two more votes before the amendment is considered approved. If that happens, it will go to the 2005-2006 Legislature for further consideration before going to the voters in the fall of 2006.

[...]

"There is no single clear solution to this issue," said Lees, who sponsored the measure with Senate President Robert Travaglini. "If there was such a solution, we wouldn't be here today. But this amendment attempts to strike a balance between those citizens who want to be heard in defining marriage yet never taking away the rights and benefits of gay and lesbian couples."

Bullshit. There is a single clear solution. Either give gay people the same rights as heterosexual people, or take those "special rights" away from the straights.

This isn't a religious issue, folks! This is a civil issue. I, for one, couldn't care less if any church or religion recognizes my partnership with Scott, but our relationship should be just as valid in the eyes of the government as the relationships of the nay-sayers.

Sunday Motorcycle Ride

Another beautiful day in Atlanta! Temps in the low 80's with blue skies, and very scattered clouds. Again, two motorcycles sitting in the garage just begging to be ridden!

Both Scott and I bought our motorcycles at Outdoor PowerSports in Conyers. The standard route between my house in Decatur and Conyers is I-285 South to I-20 East. Riding interstates just isn't our idea of fun, so again, armed with my trusty HP iPAQ 5555 Pocket PC and my Pharos Bluetooth GPS receiver (mounted on my 2004 Yamaha V-Star Silverado with a RAM Mounting Systems mount), off we go to find a "back-roads" route to the dealership. Both of us got a coupon when we bought our bikes for a free oil change at 600 miles, and we're about halfway there.

The ride to the dealership is about 20 miles one-way from my house and travels lesser-used roads, most of which are only two lanes. We made this same trip last weekend, but, I never got around to posting about it (I know, I'm a slacker). Armed with our confidence from yesterday's trek through Jimmy Carter Boulevard, we decided to take Turner Hill Road back. Turner Hill is one of those roads that seems out of place. It's a huge four-lane highway rambling over hills and curves that runs between I-20 to the south and Snellville, GA to the north. But, the speed limit is 45 mph. Right, like anybody in Atlanta has ever driven 45 mph on any road.

We stopped at the dealership (even though it's closed on Sunday), had a smoke in the parking lot, and I planned the GPS route back home via Turner Hill. That's me you see in the picture. My bike is the red and black one on the left, Scott's is the white one on the right. The trip back was just as enjoyable a ride as the trip out. Turner Hill is a great road, traffic was light, and only travelling about 15 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. For those of you who don't know, speed limits are apparently unenforcable in Atlanta. If you get a ticket for speeding in or around Atlanta, you should feel a serious sense of accomplishment.

Today's pictures can be found here. Scott's sending me the pictures from our "adventure" yesterday, and I'll post the link to those later.

Update: Yesterday's adventure pics can be found here

Saturday Motorcycle Ride

What a day in Atlanta yesterday! Beautiful sunshine, warm temperatures (made it up to 78 degrees)! Two motorcycles in the garage just begging to be ridden. There's a great Yamaha dealership up in Roswell, GA called Atlanta Motor World that has almost all of the Yamaha accessories in stock. Most of the Yami (and other) dealers around here only carry a few of the best-selling items but can order anything you want.

But, you see, I'm the impatient type. Oh yes, I'm the person that would rather pay an additional 20% for something just so I can have it in my hands TODAY. Fortunately, though, Atlanta Motor World is the only dealership I know that sells the accessories for MSRP, not marked up 15% like most other places.

Scott and I decided "to be brave" Saturday, and hopped on the bikes to ride up to Roswell. I wanted a Leather Tank Panel (with studs, and a pocket for my GPS receiver and cell phone, of course).

I also wound up buying some chrome visors for my headlight, passing lamps, and front turn signals.

Anyway, back to the ride. Since most of the joy for me of owning a motorcycle is the ride, not just getting there and back, Scott and I shy away from the interstates. Especially I-285 around Atlanta. It's not called the "Atlanta Racetrack" for nothing! With GPS in hand, we plotted a course between my house, and Atlanta Motor World that would avoid the interstates. 30 miles later, we arrived. Back to the house the same route. It was a joy! Of course, for the rest of the day yesterday and most of the day today, the big joke between was "Hey, if we can ride Jimmy Carter Boulevard at noon on a Saturday, everything else is easy."

stupid spammer of the day (again)

while going through and reporting spam today, I came across this one.....this guy should have his computer license revoked! You know, if you're going to send out millions of spams in hopes that somebody clicks on your links, at least provide text for your spam mailer to substitute! Sheez!

From: "Angelo Buckle"
To: x
Subject: %RND_SUBJECTS
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 17:34:58 -0500
Subject: %RND_SUBJECTS
From:"Angelo Buckle"
Date:Sat, 27 Mar 2004 17:34:58 -0500
To: x

%SOME_TEXT
%RND_AD_1

%RND_AD_3

%RND_BUY_TAG www.%DOMAINS_FOR_MAILING

Football Analyzed...by a blonde

No hate mail, please....it's only a joke (sent to me by my mother, no less!)

Football game analyzed....by a blonde

A guy took his blonde girlfriend to her first football game. They had
great seats right behind their team's bench. After the game, he asked
her how she liked the experience.

"Oh, I really liked it," she replied "especially the tight pants and all
the big muscles, but I just couldn't understand why they were killing
each other for 25 cents."

Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well..." she said, "I saw them flip a coin and one team got it and then
for the rest of the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the
quarterback! Get the quarterback!' Hel-LLLO...it's only 25 cents! I
hate to think what they'd do if it was a whole DOLLAR?"

spam of the day

today's idiotic spam:

Just finished my art project for collage! I am so depressed right now. I must study the whole week, and no brake, buuut that’s life… Anyways, just wanted to say hello, am going to be setting the whole day today at home studying and watching movies. Lets just Say I have no life now, computer is like my second home LOL… anyways if you got a Minute check my info it’s on the second page http://xxxxxxxxxxxxx Ohhh, and please if your not a serious individual, I beg of you only one thing, don’t give my info to nobody. ( * ) _ ( * )…. Hehehe, Ok, talk later. Bye Hun..

Candy.

so, she's in "collage", but she kan't spel oar you'se eenglish korectly. (emphasis in above spam mine). Amazing! She can spell individual, but she can't tell the difference between your and you're. LMFAO at the stupid spammers!

Exotic Dancer

Received through email:

Little David was in his 5th grade class when the teacher asked the
children what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers
came up; fireman, policeman, salesman, doctor, lawyer, etc. David
was being uncharacteristically quiet, so the teacher asked him about his
father.
"My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret & takes off all his
clothes in front of other men & they put money in his underwear.
Sometimes if the offer's really good, he'll go home with them and makes love
for the money."

The teacher, obsiously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the
other children to work on some exercises & took little David aside to
ask him, "Is that really true about your father?"

"No," said David, "he works for the Bush administration, but I was
too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids."

Galloping Gazungas!

Thanks Dave!

Janet Jackson's fairly recent "baring of the breast of mass outrage" has sparked the Smoking Gun to request some of the letters received by the FCC about said boob.

It's interesting to note a couple of things when reading the letters:
1) the more "religious" and "outraged" the writer is, the less likely they are to be able to spell
2) cc'ing the president is probably just a waste of paper, after all, he has better things to do

In my opinion, the most entertaining letter is this one.

Exactly what is a size 13 camel toe?

Fundrace 2004 - Neighbor Search

This is scary, and interesting all at the same time. Input your address and zip code, and this page will show you all your neighbors who've made political contributions, their names, addresses, job description, the amount of the contribution, who it was to, and distance in miles from you.

Link via MeFi

Petaphilia?

I've never had sex with a dog. He wouldn't respect me in the morning. But I have lusted in my heart for certain canines, and apparently I'm not alone. Lots of people yearn to marry their best friend, or so many opponents of gay marriage seem to believe.

"Why can't we have marriages between people and pets?" the bishop of Brooklyn recently remarked. "I mean, pets really love their masters"—and, let's face it, the feeling is usually mutual. Was the bishop being fanciful or does he really think America will go to the dogs if gays are allowed to wed? Only his confessor knows, but for what it's worth, this is a major clerical fixation, and not just among Catholic prelates. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have warned that gay rights will lead to bestiality. I hadn't realized that so many men of God are worried about folks helping sheep through the fence.

After the Supreme Court nullified sodomy laws, both Antonin Scalia and Rick Santorum uttered the B-word. But it was the Massachusetts marriage ruling that brought this issue to the paw-front. "What about a person who loves their pet?" asked a legislator from New Hampshire. "Should we allow them to marry?" Nebraska's attorney general had a similar query: "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet?" (Decency forbade him from including women and their four-legged fancies.) A Boston rabbi put it more concretely: "What's next? Marrying a dog? Marrying your cat?" (At least he was species inclusive.) Even Marilyn Musgrave, the Colorado Republican who wrote the federal marriage amendment, has raised the fearsome question, "Are you going to discriminate against . . . animal lovers?"

Read the rest of the story at VillageVoice

Georgia House Bans Genital Piercings ... For Women Only

Link from MeFi

In what has got to fall into the "If-I'm-An-Adult-Who-The-Fuck-Are-You-To-Tell-Me-What-I-Can-And-Can't-Get-Pierced" category, the Georgia House today passed a bill aimed at outlining punishments for female genital multilation. This bill, undoubtedly was sparked by the recent news story of a man who was indicted for alledgedly circumcising his daughter in GA.

But, the bill, as passed, makes no exception for people who give consent to have the procedure performed on their daughters out of religious or cultural custom. And, an amendment was added to the bill without objection that added piercing to the list of things that may not be done to the female genitals regardless of age of the female.

From AccessNorthGA.com:

Amendment sponsor Rep. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, was slack-jawed when told after the vote that some adults seek the piercings.

"What? I've never seen such a thing," Heath said. "I, uh, I wouldn't approve of anyone doing it. I don't think that's an appropriate thing to be doing."

Ventura Discusses Gay Marriage Debate

Yahoo! News

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura threw his feather boa into the gay marriage ring Monday, calling it a "cop out" for Massachusetts lawmakers to send a constitutional ban to voters.

"We have a representative-style government. Represent your people and vote and stand by what you believe in," said Ventura, who as a professional wrestler was known for his flamboyant costumes. "Civil rights issues should not be put on the ballot."

[...]

Clad in jeans and sneakers and wearing a full beard and a shaggy ring of hair, Ventura asked, "How is my marriage under attack if two gays or lesbians down the street want to make a lifelong commitment to themselves?"

Ventura, a one-term governor elected on the Reform Party ticket, added: "Love is bigger than government. Think about that."

Equal Rights for ALL

CNN.com:

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) -- In a new twist in the battle over same-sex marriage roiling the United States, a county in Oregon has banned all marriages -- gay and heterosexual -- until the state decides who can and who cannot wed.

The last marriage licenses were handed out in Benton County at 4 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. EST) Tuesday. As of Wednesday, officials in the county of 79,000 people will begin telling couples applying for licenses to go elsewhere until the gay marriage debate is settled.

"It may seem odd," Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell told Reuters in a telephone interview, but "we need to treat everyone in our county equally."

[...]

The three County commissioners had originally decided to start handing out gay marriage licenses this week but on Monday reversed that decision amid a growing firestorm of lawsuits across the country, and decided instead to put a temporary halt to all marriages.

Barney Frank speaks out against FMA

From Yahoo! News:

[...]

"How does the fact that I or someone else wants to express love for another human being in the same way as the overwhelming majority of my heterosexual friends and relatives ... hurt you?" Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked at a hushed and packed Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

[...]

"This debate isn't about activist judges," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat. "It's about politics -- an attempt to drive a wedge between one group of citizens and the rest of the country, solely for partisan advantage."

"We're not even close to having votes sufficient to pass a constitutional amendment," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat opposed to the measure, told reporters outside the hearing. He compared the bid to proposed constitutional amendments after the Civil War to ban interracial marriage.

[...]

travelling this week, posting may be slow

I'm out in Pasadena, CA this week on business travel, so things around Clack may be a little slow. I'm going to try to keep up with my reading, posting and ranting, but the days tend to be long :-)

Rhea County, TN reverses "ban on gays"

From Yahoo! News

Commissioners in rural, conservative Rhea County never intended to create the "wildfire" of reaction that resulted from banning gay people, the county attorney said after the board reversed its 2-day-old decision.

The original vote was meant to show support for the state's ban on same-sex marriages, county Attorney Gary Fritts said Thursday.

"They wanted to send a message to our (state) representative and senator that Rhea County supports the ban on same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is what it was all about," Fritts said. "There has just been so much misunderstanding about this. It was to stop people from coming here and getting married and living in Rhea County."

The board voted 8-0 Thursday to rescind its Tuesday action. The commissioners declined to comment as deputies escorted them to and from the meeting, where they overturned the earlier vote and quickly adjourned.

Fritts said he advised the commissioners that they could not ban homosexuals or make them subject to criminal charges. The U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down laws on homosexual sodomy as a violation of adults' privacy.

OK, so they don't want to "ban" us from Rhea County, but they just want to stop us from getting married and living in Rhea County. What's the difference? If it makes them feel any better, we don't want to live there either.

Further down in the story...

Twelve-year-old Caitlin Kinney and others in a noisy crowd at the courthouse Thursday night were disappointed at the reversal.

The seventh-grader said she doesn't want homosexuals in the community. "It's not a Christian thing," said Kinney, identifying herself as a Baptist.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that we are teaching our children to be narrow-minded biggots. Guess what, Caitlin...there ARE homosexuals in your community! Yessiree! They're already there! Depending on which study you read, anywhere from 5% up to 10% (or higher) of the population identify as gay or lesbian. Look around you Caitlin; count 20 people the next time you go to the mall. At least one of them is gay! More if the mall you go to is in Chattanooga.

Beam Me Up Scotty

Link from /.
Forbes is running an article about Vocera Communications's internal communication system in use at their office. The employees wear the device and touch it to start the connection. After the device is activated, the user speaks the name of the person they wish to communicate with.

The system does voice recognition on the spoken name, looks it up in the company directory, locates the person on the WiFi network and begins a voice-over-IP (VOIP) communication session.

LOVE this movie!

The new Mars movie has been released! (Link from Geek News Central.com)

Courtney, honey, what were you thinking?

Courtney Love was arrested Thursday after throwing a microphone stand that hit a man in the head at an East Village nightspot.

Yahoo! News

"On Wednesday, Love, who is facing felony drug charges in California, repeatedly lifted her shirt during an appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

Love's back was facing the camera when she lifted her shirt several times while making an entrance on the show, which aired Wednesday night. After taking a seat next to Letterman, Love said "FCC (news - web sites)," referencing the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites).

At one point — while singing "Danny Boy" — Love apparently bared her breasts away from the camera while standing atop Letterman's desk. Love's exposed skin was blocked out for viewers.

Love, the former lead singer of the group Hole, was arrested in October after allegedly trying to break into the Los Angeles home of a former boyfriend."

LGBT Federal works lose job protections

Do you work for the Federal government? Are you gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered? Well, guess what. According to Special Counsel Scott Bloch's intepretation of the 1978 law intended to protect employees and job applicants from adverse personnel actions is that "gay and lesbian workers are not covered."

from 365gay.com

Bloch said that the [sic] while a gay employee would have no recourse for being fired or demoted for being gay, that same worker could not be fired for attending a gay Pride event.

In his interpretation, Bloch is making a distinction between one’s conduct as a gay or lesbian and one’s status as a gay or lesbian.

“People confuse conduct and sexual orientation as the same thing, and I don’t think they are,” Bloch said in an interview with Federal Times, a publication for government employees.

Bloch said gays, lesbians and bisexuals cannot be covered as a protected class because they are not protected under the nation’s civil rights laws.

[...]

Bloch's position is a marked departure from how the previous special counsel, Elaine Kaplan, enforced the law. “The legal position that he is taking, that there is some distinction between discrimination based on sexual orientation and discrimination based on conduct, is absurd,” Kaplan told Federal Times.

Bloch indicated that he may amend his position. He said he is initiating a review of the issue and plans to meet with the Office of Personnel Management and congressional staff to hear their opinions before making a final decision on how his office will handle complaints alleging sexual orientation discrimination. The review will not get completely under way until next month, when Bloch’s senior legal adviser begins work, he said.

Bloch was appointed by President Bush to a five year term beginning in January.

"We need to keep them out of here"

Now, who can say they're surprised by this?

WKRN has the story:

DAYTON, Tenn. (AP) - Rhea County commissioners unanimously voted to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee's criminal code so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature.

"We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the motion.

County Attorney Gary Fritts also was asked by Fugate to find the best way to enact a local law banning homosexuals from living in Rhea County. Commissioners asked Fritts to bring a resolution requesting the ban to next month's commission meeting for another vote.

Fugate said he offered the crimes against nature measure, which wasn't on the agenda, because of recent national and state events concerning gay marriages.

There was little discussion before the 8-0 vote, and commissioners didn't mention that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas sodomy laws last year and ruled there is a constitutionally protected right to adults' private sexual conduct.

[...]

Fugate's motion prompted some people in the audience to applaud. Three audience members who spoke before Fugate's motion advocated prayer in schools and denounced drinking alcohol and county zoning.

The Rhea County action came after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday for a bill that would prohibit legal recognition of civil unions and domestic partnerships among homosexuals in Tennessee. Gay marriages already are prohibited in the state.

[...]

Rhea County, about 30 miles north of Chattanooga, is among the most conservative in Tennessee. It holds an annual festival commemorating the 1925 trial that convicted John T. Scopes on charges of teaching evolution, a verdict thrown out by the Tennessee Supreme Court on a technicality. The trial later became the subject of the play and movie, "Inherit the Wind."

Links via MeFi

referrals spammers bite the dust

boobdex.com
britneyspearsnude.blogspot.com

HR3920 - a new bill to watch

There's a new bill (HR3920)that was introduced to the US House of Representatives on 03/04/2004 by Rep. Ron Lewis from Kentucky. The bill has 11 cosponsors

Rep Coble, Howard - 3/9/2004 [NC-6]
Rep Collins, Mac - 3/9/2004 [GA-8]
Rep DeMint, Jim - 3/9/2004 [SC-4]
Rep Doolittle, John T. - 3/9/2004 [CA-4]
Rep Everett, Terry - 3/9/2004 [AL-2]
Rep Franks, Trent - 3/9/2004 [AZ-2]
Rep Goode, Virgil H., Jr. - 3/9/2004 [VA-5]
Rep Hefley, Joel - 3/9/2004 [CO-5]
Rep Kingston, Jack - 3/9/2004 [GA-1]
Rep Pitts, Joseph R. - 3/9/2004 [PA-16]
Rep Pombo, Richard W. - 3/9/2004 [CA-11]

and would "allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court"

Another link: HR3920

Text of Rep. Lewis' speech to the House of Representatives when introducing this bill can be found here

Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to speak about judicial activism, a grave and growing problem in our current national discourse that is threatening our democratic principles, eroding the consent of the governed, and radically altering the social fabric of our American society.

It should be of little surprise that the impetus of this debate, and the modest solutions I intend to set forth, stem from the November ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriages and the subsequent rulings on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act that have followed.

I am a strong supporter of numerous legislative measures currently being considered by this Congress, aiming to define marriage as an exclusive union between one man and one woman. However, I believe a more comprehensive solution is necessary to address the broader, troubling trend toward judicial activism, a development with definitive implications beyond just the issue of marriage.

America's judicial branch has become increasingly overreaching and disconnected from the values of everyday Americans, many of whom I represent in the Second District of Kentucky. The recent actions taken by courts in Massachusetts and elsewhere are demonstrative of a single branch of government taking upon itself the singular ability to legislate. I believe these actions usurp the will of the governed, circumvent representative government by allowing tribunals of a select few, not elected or otherwise politically responsible, to conclusively rule on issues that are radically reshaping the societal traditions of our great Nation.

[...]

I am introducing legislation today to address these serious, pressing issues in a direct and forceful manner. The bill that I have authored, if enacted, will allow Congress, by a two-thirds majority of each House, to reverse a judgment of the Supreme Court. This additional check may only be enforced on rulings concerning the constitutionality of an act of Congress following the enactment of this bill.

[...]

Link via MeFi

"See how it sticks to my panties?"

Remeber those films you were shown in junior high school that attempted to pass as information about what was happening to your body as you matured?

Here's the film the girls got to see.

My favorite lines:
"See how it sticks to my panties?"
"blood is coming out from inside your body through an opening between your legs" (you'll hear this one over and over and over and....)
"Mom! I put on a pad!"

Nothing like repitition to drive a point home!

Link to The Calm Dreariness via MeFi

The Pill Made Same-Sex Nuptials Inevitable

Very interesting op-ed piece over on OpinionJournal by Rev. Donald Sensing, the pastor of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tennessee.

Opponents of legalized same-sex marriage say they're trying to protect a beleaguered institution, but they're a little late. The walls of traditional marriage were breached 40 years ago; what we are witnessing now is the storming of the last bastion.

Marriage is primarily a social institution, not a religious one. That is, marriage is a universal phenomenon of human cultures in all times and places, regardless of the religion of the people concerned, and has taken the same basic form in all those cultures. Marriage existed long before Abraham, Jesus or any other religious figure. The institution of marriage is literally prehistoric.

[...]

Today, though, sexual intercourse is delinked from procreation. Since the invention of the Pill some 40 years ago, human beings have for the first time been able to control reproduction with a very high degree of assurance. That led to what our grandparents would have called rampant promiscuity. The causal relationships between sex, pregnancy and marriage were severed in a fundamental way. The impulse toward premarital chastity for women was always the fear of bearing a child alone. The Pill removed this fear. Along with it went the need of men to commit themselves exclusively to one woman in order to enjoy sexual relations at all. Over the past four decades, women have trained men that marriage is no longer necessary for sex. But women have also sadly discovered that they can't reliably gain men's sexual and emotional commitment to them by giving them sex before marriage.

Nationwide, the marriage rate has plunged 43% since 1960. Instead of getting married, men and women are just living together, cohabitation having increased tenfold in the same period. According to a University of Chicago study, cohabitation has become the norm. More than half the men and women who do get married have already lived together.

The widespread social acceptance of these changes is impelling the move toward homosexual marriage. Men and women living together and having sexual relations "without benefit of clergy," as the old phrasing goes, became not merely an accepted lifestyle, but the dominant lifestyle in the under-30 demographic within the past few years. Because they are able to control their reproductive abilities--that is, have sex without sex's results--the arguments against homosexual consanguinity began to wilt.

When society decided--and we have decided, this fight is over--that society would no longer decide the legitimacy of sexual relations between particular men and women, weddings became basically symbolic rather than substantive, and have come for most couples the shortcut way to make the legal compact regarding property rights, inheritance and certain other regulatory benefits. But what weddings do not do any longer is give to a man and a woman society's permission to have sex and procreate.

[...]

If society has abandoned regulating heterosexual conduct of men and women, what right does it have to regulate homosexual conduct, including the regulation of their legal and property relationship with one another to mirror exactly that of hetero, married couples?

I believe that this state of affairs is contrary to the will of God. But traditionalists, especially Christian traditionalists (in whose ranks I include myself) need to get a clue about what has really been going on and face the fact that same-sex marriage, if it comes about, will not cause the degeneration of the institution of marriage; it is the result of it.

Thanks to Discount Blogger for the link!

The President's Assault On Gay Youth

Link to The Advocate commentary via BillAndKent.com.

It's bad enough that we, as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered men and women have felt the psychological pain of being told we are second-class citizens, that we are "abominations," that we will burn in hell, and that we are "mistakes of nature", but President Bush's message inherent in his endorsement of the Federal Marriage Ammendment has been heard loud and clear.

John D. Moore's commentary says:

Children will listen. Bush’s message in supporting a discriminatory antigay constitutional amendment was clear: Gay people are not part of the American family. So now it’s open season on gays and lesbians—particularly on gay and lesbian youth, who are the most vulnerable. Violence and death will surely follow.

When President George W. Bush decided to publicly embrace a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, cloaking his remarks in the guise of religion, he psychologically violated millions upon millions of gay and lesbian youth around the nation as well as the many millions more who are their parents and relatives. In short, Mr. Bush has made it fashionable to declare “open season” on a segment of our society. Make no mistake—his intolerant message was quite clear: “You and your family are not part of the American family.”

[...]

Consider what one 20-year-old student wrote in an essay about this topic in a class I instruct on gender psychology: “I have beaten up faggots before, and I used to feel guilty—not anymore! Bush says fags don’t count, so I guess it’s cool to do it.” To be sure, the president did not say “Faggots don’t count,” but some may see Bush’s comments as the proverbial green light to act out hatefully.

[...]

Dihydrogen Monoxide causes California stir

Yahoo is reporting that Aliso Viejo, CA officials were

so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.

Then they learned, to their chagrin, that dihydrogen monoxide — H2O for short — is the scientific term for water.

"It's embarrassing," said City Manager David J. Norman. "We had a paralegal who did bad research."

The paralegal apparently fell victim to one of the many official looking Web sites that have been put up by pranksters to describe dihydrogen monoxide as "an odorless, tasteless chemical" that can be deadly if accidentally inhaled.

As a result, the City Council of this Orange County suburb had been scheduled to vote next week on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events. Among the reasons given for the ban were that they were made with a substance that could "threaten human health and safety."

The measure has been pulled from the agenda, although Norman said the city may still eventually ban foam cups.

"If you get Styrofoam into the water and it breaks apart, it's virtually impossible to clean up," Norman said.

Politics makes strange bedfellows

I've never been a Howard Stern fan. I think my exact description of his show has usually been "a waste of bandwidth." I generally regard him as shock-jock taken way too far.

No, I'm not going to reverse my opinion of his show (neither radio or TV), but, it is interesting that he's pretty much inline with my feelings of the Republicans currently in power in this country.

From Salon.com:

[...]

Stern had strongly backed Bush's war on Iraq, but in the past two weeks, he has derided the president as a "Jesus freak," a "maniac" and "an arrogant bastard," while ranting against "the Christian right minority that has taken over the White House." Specifically, Stern has assailed Bush's use of 9/11 images in his campaign ads, questioned his National Guard service, condemned his decision to curb stem cell research and labeled him an enemy of civil liberties, abortion rights and gay rights.

[...]

Link to Salon via Boing Boing

What's in a word?

From Andrew Sullivan.com:

There's no possible reason to give gay couples something that walks, talks and squawks like a marriage but is called something else - except to maintain a purely semantic distinction, whose purpose is to reaffirm the inferiority of homosexual couples.

Andrew's talking the amendment that's passed the 1st round in Massachusetts and would go before voters in 2006. This amendment to the Mass. constitution bans gay marriage, but legalizes civil unions in Mass. Presumably, the civil unions would give the gay couples all the rights and benefits of married heterosexual couples, but without the word "marriage."

I disagree with this strategy. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck....why not call it a duck? Why not make all legal partnerships between two loving people "civil unions?"

Shwa, where are you?

Joshua of shoemakerjones.org fame, where are you? what's happened to your website?

Shwa, if you're reading this, contact me. You've got my email address.

Baystar confirms Micro$oft behind SCO investment

(via /.)

Business Week says

For months, rumors have swirled around the Web alleging that Microsoft helped finance a small Utah software company's suit against IBM and two corporations that use Linux software. BusinessWeek has learned that Microsoft did not put up the money, but did play matchmaker for SCO Group and BayStar Capital, a San Francisco hedge fund which made a $50 million investment in SCO last October.

Lawrence Goldfarb, managing partner of BayStar, says that senior executives at the software giant had telephoned him about two months before the investment. Would he be interested in investing in SCO, they asked? Goldfarb wouldn't identify the executives, but says neither Chairman William Gates nor CEO Steve Ballmer were among them. He says Microsoft didn't put any money into BayStar or the SCO investment. A Microsoft spokesman says that the company has no "direct or indirect" financial relations with BayStar, but declined to comment when asked whether execs called BayStar to suggest investing in SCO.

[...]

David Knight marries Joseph J. Lazzaro

You might recognize one of those names. David Knight is the gay son of Senator William J. "Pete" Knight. David and Joseph have been partners for 10 years.

SF Gate.com (Thanks Richard for the link!)

Massachusetts lawmakers vote to ban gay marriages

MSNBC

BOSTON - Massachusetts lawmakers Thursday gave preliminary approval to a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but allow civil unions.

The amendment, which would strip gay couples of their court-granted marriage rights, must still weather several additional votes and anticipated legislative maneuvering by opponents.

The earliest a ban could end up on a statewide ballot is November 2006, more than two years after same-sex couples can start getting married in Massachusetts.

[...]

CA court halts SanFran gay marriages

We all knew it was coming, although it is rather disheartening to actually see it in print.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt to same-sex marriages in San Francisco and said Thursday that it would hear a case in May or June on the legality of such ceremonies.

The action by California’s highest court came two weeks after state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and a conservative group asked the seven justices to immediately block the same-sex marriages, with more than 3,700 gay and lesbian couples having wed at San Francisco City Hall so far.

Teary-eyed couples were quickly turned away at City Hall.

“We were filling out the application, and they told us to stop,” said Art Adams, who was the first to be denied as he and his partner, Devin Baker, sought a license. “It’s heartbreaking. I don’t understand why two people in love should be prevented from expressing it.”

[...]

Pause rather than stop’
“They restored order to chaos in San Francisco,” said Joshua Carden, an attorney with the conservative Alliance Defense Fund.

Newsom’s spokesman, Peter Ragone, said the city would comply with the ruling as soon as officials received the order.

Jon Davidson, an attorney for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay rights legal aid group, said the ruling simply put the issue on hold for now.

“The court has put everything on pause rather than stop,” he said. “They are saying that until we hear this, you are on pause.”

Had the court declined to intervene, the legal battle over same-sex marriage in California would have taken years as lawsuits traveled through the state’s lower courts.

from MSNBC (thanks to my boyfriend Scott for the link)

Bush Tells Evangelicals He Will Fight Gay Marriage

from Yahoo!

President Bush on Thursday sought to solidify his standing with evangelical Christians by restating support for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage as part of his championship of conservative causes.

"I will defend the sanctity of marriage against activist courts and local officials who want to redefine marriage. The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution," Bush, himself a born-again Christian, told the National Association of Evangelicals Convention in Colorado via satellite from the White House.

"I support a constitutional amendment to protect marriage as the union of a man and a woman," Bush said.

The president has largely steered clear of the thorny political issue since announcing his support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on Feb. 24.

Bush seized on the issue after legal developments in San Francisco, where thousands of marriage licenses have been issued to gays and lesbians, and in Massachusetts, where the state's highest court ruled gay couples had the right to wed.

[...]

Log Cabin Commercial

Update to Log Cabin Republicans challenge Bush on marriage

You can view the Log Cabin Republicans commercial online

Four ISPs use CAN-SPAM to sue hundreds of alleged spammers

from CBS Market Watch

EarthLink, Microsoft, Time Warner's America Online and Yahoo announced the combined filing of six lawsuits against hundreds of defendants who have been charged in violation of the laws under the federal anti-spam law, the Controlling the Assault of Non-solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, also known as CAN-SPAM.

[...]

The defendants are being charged with sending millions of bulk spam e-mail messages to customers while concealing the origins of their e-mail. The common allegations are that the bulk mailers use deceptive solicitations for products that include get-rich schemes, prescription drugs or pornography. Other charges include sending spam through third-party computers to disguise the point of origin, falsifying the origin of the e-mail or failing to include a physical address in the e-mail.

Also, from Yahoo! Business Wire:

[...]

Each of the four companies last night filed legal complaints in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state. The complaints charge the defendants with sending a combined total of hundreds of millions of bulk spam e-mail messages to customers of the four networks. Some of the common allegations described in the complaints include these:

* Deceptive solicitations for a variety of products including get-rich-quick schemes, prescription drugs, pornography, instructions for conducting spam campaigns, banned CDs, mortgage loans, university diplomas, cable descramblers and other common types of unsolicited e-mail
* Use of open proxies (sending spam through third-party computers to disguise their point of origin)
* Falsified "from" e-mail addresses (spoofing)
* Absence of a physical address in the e-mail
* Absence of an electronic unsubscribe option

Each allegation is a direct violation of the CAN-SPAM law. A summary of each filing is included below. More detailed information about each case can be found on each complainant's Web site.

[...]

America Online

AOL v. Davis Wolfgang Hawke, et al.

Davis Wolfgang Hawke (also known as Dave Bridger), Braden Bournival and unknown John Doe Defendant co-conspirators are alleged to have transmitted millions of spam email messages directing AOL Members to websites selling "Pinacle" penis enlargement pills, weight loss supplements, hand-held devices advertised as "personal lie detectors," and a product labeled "the Banned CD." These spam messages were transmitted between July 1, 2003 and the present. The complaint alleges that AOL has tallied at least 100,000 member complaints about messages advertising these products. In addition, the complaint alleges that Hawke also offered to provide or sell a number of illegal spam-related goods and services under the apparently fictitious name "Dave Bridger," including:

* Providing "250 free proxies every day to (Hawke's) affiliates" and offering to "pay them $20 per sale for Pinacle, an herbal penis enlarger"
* Offering "bulk friendly hosting" on servers located in China, Latin America, or other foreign countries, so that mailers could "point your domains to our server if it helps you get into specific domains like AOL"
* Selling millions of AOL addresses, and "cracked" bulk mailer programs

AOL v. John Does 1-40

AOL's Complaints alleges: From at least November 2003 to the present, unknown John Doe Defendants have transmitted millions of spam messages to AOL Members advertising numerous websites selling a variety of products, including mortgage leads, adult-content websites and business opportunities. The messages are transmitted through fraudulent means to make it difficult to determine the identity of those responsible, and contain misleading subject lines, including the completely false claim in some that the spam message is an "important message from AOL." The John Doe Defendants also used other deceptive tactics in an attempt to evade AOL's spam filters, including random text in the body of their messages. AOL has already tied more than half a million Member complaints to these Defendants (and is still counting complaints attributable to them). On some days, complaints about these spammers constituted as many as 10% of all AOL Member complaints about spam.

EarthLink

EarthLink v. John Does 1-25 (The "Prescription Drug Spammers"); John Does 26-35 (The "Mortgage Lead Spammers"); John Does 36-45 (The "Cable Descrambler Spammers"); John Does 46-55 (The "University Diploma Spammers"); and John Does 56-65 (The "Get Rich Quick Spammers") and John Does 66 - 75, other spammers.

Since January 1, John Doe defendants 1 - 75 have been responsible for a substantial portion of the incoming spam on EarthLink's network, sending millions of spam emails to advertise Websites selling prescription drugs, mortgage leads, cable descramblers, university diplomas and get-rich-quick schemes. The defendants have hidden their identities with false domain-name registration information, falsified headers, fake "from" lines and misleading subject lines, violating the federal CAN SPAM Act, EarthLink's Acceptable Use Policy and other state and federal laws. Some of the defendants have used text randomizers to insert long passages of gibberish in messages in attempts to evade EarthLink's spam filters.

Fingerprint phrases and sample subject lines include: "Enjoy deep discount meds here," "G_eneric via-gra 60% cheap*r cowslip," "promote someone else's online business and cash in big," "make over $1000 per day," and "attention single mothers."

Microsoft

MICROSOFT CORPORATION v. JDO MEDIA, INC., a Florida Corporation, and JOHN DOES 1-50 (United States District Court, Western District of Washington)

This lawsuit charges JDO Media, Inc. ("JDO"), a Florida company, and other unknown defendants, with operating an automated multi-level marketing ("MLM") program that is advertised through spam, and that instructs its members on how to generate leads for the program, or for other products, through spam. The lawsuit alleges that Hotmail subscribers have been barraged by millions of illegal emails touting this program.

The lawsuit alleges that the spam used to promote the program is intentionally routed through open proxies, contains header information that is false and misleading, and uses other obfuscatory methods to disguise the senders' identities. This lawsuit also charges that the email advertising the program contains misleading subject lines such as "This is your lucky day", "Elite, Professional Invitation", and "Warning!!! These three minutes could change your life". Many of these email messages are sent with "high priority." These deficiencies are all alleged to be in violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act.

Alleged CAN-SPAM Violations

-- falsified from email addresses and transmission paths
-- use of open proxies
-- deceptive subject lines
-- no physical address on some of the messages

MICROSOFT CORPORATION v. JOHN DOES 1-50, d/b/a Super Viagra Group (United States District Court, Western District of Washington)

This lawsuit alleges that the Super Viagra Group has sent hundreds of millions of illegal e-mail messages to Hotmail subscribers advertising either "Super Viagra" or a weight loss patch. The e-mailing practices of this spam group are sophisticated, and are alleged to be in violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act and other state and federal law.

The lawsuit contends that the Super Viagra Group routes its e-mail messages through open proxies and hijacked computers in countries around the world, uses misleading transmission information and subject lines, and take other actions to disguise their true identities. The lawsuit identifies almost forty different domain names where, allegedly, the Super Viagra Group's products can be purchased. The identified domains are registered to individuals in Argentina, Turkey, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Lithuania, and India.

Alleged CAN-SPAM Violations

-- open proxies for some or all emails
-- falsified from email addresses on most or all emails
-- deceptive subject lines on some emails
-- no physical address on most emails
-- no electronic unsubscribe option on some emails

Yahoo! Inc.

Yahoo! Inc. vs. Eric Head, Matthew Head and Barry Head, and their companies Gold Disk Canada, Inc., Head Programming, Inc., and Infinite Technologies Worldwide, Inc. collectively known as "The Head Operation."

Alleged Spam Activity:

Defendants were on Yahoo! Mail's "Most Wanted" spammer list for allegedly sending millions of spam messages. In January 2004, Yahoo! Mail received approximately 94 million total e-mails from The Head Operation.

* Disguised Identity: The use of open proxies from countries all over the world to disguise the origin of the messages.
* Unsolicited Commercial Messages: Messages consisted of solicitations for life insurance, mortgage and debt consolidation and travel services.
* Deceptive Subject lines: Messages included misleading subject lines, including "past due account."
* Sold Personal Data: Defendants allegedly collected personal information, such as the names and e-mail addresses of Yahoo! Mail users who responded to the defendants' spam solicitations, and sold the information as "leads" to marketers.
* False Domains: The domain names for the websites promoted in the messages were falsely registered to individuals with physical addresses in China.
* Font Tricks: The defendants used color font tricks to hide randomized text in an attempt to circumvent the SpamGuard filter.

Log Cabin Republicans challenge Bush on marriage

from MSNBC

In a dramatic break with President Bush, a prominent group of gay Republicans that supported him four years ago is launching a $1 million advertising campaign today attacking the administration for trying to ban same-sex marriage.

The ad, by the Log Cabin Republicans, uses grainy footage of Vice President Cheney saying during the 2000 campaign that the matter should be left to the states.

Bush's decision to endorse a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage was "the line in the sand" for the 27-year-old group, which has never run a campaign ad, said Executive Director Patrick Guerriero. He said he had warned the White House as Bush edged toward supporting an amendment that "despite our historic loyalty to the party and the president, we would be forced to speak out if gay and lesbian families were going to be used as wedge issues in swing states."

[...]

EFF suing FCC over the Broadcast Flag

Link via Boing Boing

from The EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) joined five library associations, Public Knowledge, the Consumer Federation of America, and the Consumers Union in suing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week to block overbroad regulation of next-generation televisions and related devices.

"The FCC's digital broadcast television mandate is a step in the wrong direction because it would make digital television cost more and do less, undermining innovation, fair use, and competition," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann, "The FCC overstepped its bounds, unduly restricting consumers and manufacturers when it issued its broadcast flag ruling."

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled on November 4, 2003, that consumer devices capable of receiving broadcast digital television (DTV) signals must implement content control technologies demanded by the entertainment industry to restrict consumer uses of digital television. Left unchallenged, the "broadcast flag" mandate would go into effect by July 1, 2005.

The lawsuit, called ALA v. FCC, was filed in the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and charges that the FCC exceeded its jurisdiction, acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, and failed to point to substantial evidence in adopting a broadcast flag mandate.

The FCC has asked the court to put the lawsuit on hold, pending the FCC's decision on petitions to reconsider the broadcast flag mandate, although all of the petitions address unrelated matters. The coalition of organizations opposed in court the FCC's attempt to postpone the lawsuit.

Questions for the "religious" right

thanks to Discount Blogger (a fellow Atlantan, or is that Atlantian?) for the link!

Pennywit says "biting satire can be illustrative" and I'd have to agree. In a continuation of my rants and raves against the people who claim to be religious, I present a series of questions Pennywit received via email with a subject of "Dear religious wackos"

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal here, and I try to share