Clack

Gay Day.....at Dollywood?

OK, how did this slip under my radar gaydar? I had no idea there was a "Gay Day" at Dollywood!

Seems, though, lawyers at Dollywood are upset that the event is being called "Gay Day at Dollywood." The organizers of the event have been sent letters telling them to remove the Dollywood name and logo from advertising material.

From 365gay.com:

A Tennessee LGBT rights group and Dollywood, the theme park owned by singer Dolly Parton, are dueling over the name for this year's Gay Days at the park.

For the second year gays and lesbians will gather at the park for a day of partying. Last year about 1,000 people attended the first Gay Day. This year's event is scheduled for May 22nd and about 5,000 are expected.

But, Dollywood is balking at it being called "Gay Day at Dollywood".

A lawyer for the park has sent organizers of the event a letter telling them to remove the Dollywood name and logo from advertising material.

The event, like Gay Days at Disney World, is not officially sanctioned by the park and Dollywood says it doesn't want to give that impression.

Spokesperson Pete Owens tells the Tennessean newspaper that the park isn't trying to stop anyone from attending. He said the request was a standard one sent out to anyone in regard to trademark violations. Similar requests have gone out to about two dozen groups, such as tour operators and hotels, who have used the Dollywood name or logo without permission, he said.

But some gay activists believe it is a "kneejerk" reaction to recent gay developments in the state. Large numbers of gays have demonstrated over a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and Rhea County made headlines when it passed legislation calling for the arrest of gays.

The county later backed down and the first Pride day in the area is slated for May 8.

''People feel like there's a lot of hatred against the (gay and lesbian) community in Tennessee,'' Tri-Cities Pride began the event last year. This year, Executive Director Ryan Salyer told the paper.

Salyer said his group would continue to visit Dollywood.

''We just want to go to the park and just have a fun day to be had by all.''

Organizers for Gay Day have complied with the park's request that the name and logos be removed from their website.

People going to the event are encouraged to wear red clothing and Owens says they will be welcomed at the park.

Dolly Parton is a gay icon and has received accolades from gay groups. She once told an interviewer that if she had been born a man, she would have had to have been a drag queen.

MT upgraded to 2.661

I've performed an upgrade on Clack from MT 2.64 to MT 2.661. If you see any problems, please contact me via a comment to one of the entries.

Why Gay Couples Need Marriage

Bill and Kent linked to the story about Jeff and Adam's story. Thanks guys! Bill and Kent sustain a higher readership than does Clack, but, that's not the reason for this entry.

I hope the anonymous commenter on their entry doesn't mind, but, this bears repeating to everyone who will listen.

Excuse me for posting this anonymously, but this isn't something I can handle getting crank e-mails about. I hope you understand.

When my partner was in a terrible car accident, his parents didn't even call me until after he died. He had gone out with a couple of girlfriends and I just assumed he'd spent the night at their place after a late evening. The police contacted his parents at 2:00 a.m. and he died at around 8:30 a.m. -- over six hours later.

I was excluded from the funeral plans. I was allowed to attend the service, but was told that the burial was for "family only."

A few days later, the family appeared at my home with the sheriff and a court order and began removing everything that they claimed belonged to their son. This was essentially everything we'd ever purchased together. The sheriff's deputy finally became disgusted and made them stop when they tried to take our photo albums.

Later, they had the car we purchased together stolen out of my driveway. They forged my name on the title and sold it. When I called the police, I was told it was a "civil matter" and to take it to court. The judge just scolded me for bringing a grieving mother to court and dismissed the case.

The family didn't want me "desecrating" their son's grave by placing flowers on it, so they had his body moved to a secret location.

At that point, I was seriously considering suicide. If it had not been for the love and support of my family, I wouldn't have made it through.

How are those for some good reasons?

Kansas readies ban on gay couples' rights

While Maine passes a bill that supports the rights of same-sex couples, Kansas gets ready to pass legislation that "not only bans same-sex marriage, but also denies civil unions and other forms of partner recognition."

On Thursday legislative negotiators in Topeka, Kan., resurrected a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that not only bans same-sex marriage but also denies civil unions and other forms of partner recognition.

This development comes after an unusual meeting Wednesday, in which negotiators from both the state House and Senate met to draft a final version of the proposed amendment. Usually negotiations occur only after both chambers have passed different versions of the same legislation.

The proposed legislation features language similar to HCR 5033, a proposed amendment adopted by the House in March. However, HCR 5033 died when the Kansas Senate rejected a narrower version that only referenced same-sex marriage.

[...]

Sen. David Adkins, R-Leawood, attacked the proceedings. He called the effort an attempt to "create a group of second-class citizens, without hearings, in the most despicable and antidemocratic way possible."

"The Taliban would be proud of these procedures," he said.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) questioned whether a state constitutional amendment is necessary, since Kansas is among the 39 states that exclusively recognize heterosexual marriage.

Tiffany Muller, chairwoman of Topeka's Equal Justice Coalition, told the AP supporters of gay and lesbian rights were "opposed to any language that is discriminatory being put in the constitution and on the public ballot."

Steven Fisher, communications director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network the activity is similar to actions seen in Kentucky, Georgia and Oklahoma.

"The anti-equal rights forces declared 'do-over' and kept pushing and keep pushing to get their way."

"We're hopeful that efforts to discriminate against Kansas families will fail and equality will prevail," Fisher said.

Maine Legislature passes same-sex partnership bill

from Planetout via Yahoo!

While many state legislatures are passing laws that deny legal recognition to gay and lesbian couples, Maine has made same-sex couples in long-term committed relationships eligible for some of the same benefits married couples have in the state.

Gov. John Baldacci signed a domestic partnership bill Thursday that extends rights such as inheritance eligibility, victim's compensation, guardian rights and next-of-kin status to gay and straight couples who live together under long-term arrangements.

Baldacci said he was signing the bill to demonstrate the state's commitment to civil rights for all citizens. In signing the bill, Maine becomes the fifth state to pass statewide laws that provide rights to unmarried couples.

"This law helps a couple when they may most need legal protection," Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine, said. Smith was one of the leaders who helped push through the legislation. She was also invited to the governor's bill-signing ceremony.

"When your partner dies, it is a very hard time in your life and you may need protection no matter how supportive your family is. Even without a will, under this law someone in a domestic partnership can be able to keep the house and keep their shared property," Smith said.

[...]

The law will take effect in 90 days, unless a possible opposition movement succeeds. A group opposed to this law is the Christian Civic League of Maine. In the past, when the Legislature passed a civil rights law that helped protect the GLBT community from discrimination, the League was able to get what Maine calls a "people's veto," in which voters overrode the Legislature via a ballot initiative.

The Christian Civil League of Maine has not said officially if it will pursue such a tactic in this case.

"Hopefully, they won't pursue it, or at least they won't be successful," said Smith. "Then we can really celebrate our win and of course get back to work on that civil rights law. Hopefully, with this domestic partnership law, we can educate people about gay families and then the civil rights law protecting GLBT people would be a no-brainer."

Honor Roll

Tomorrow (04/30/04) night's edition of Nightline will consist only of Ted Koppel reading names and showing photographs of the US servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq.

from sfgate.com

Each service member's photo will be shown, along with his or her name, military branch, rank and age as Koppel reads the name aloud. Since the ABC News broadcast is just 30 minutes, it will include only those killed in action in Iraq since March 19, 2003, as certified by the Defense Department.

The network will use photos and information from the Army Times Publishing Company's online "Faces of Valor" database.

Controversy ensues and Sinclair Broadcasting Group (owning eight ABC affiliates) is refusing to air the broadcast

Links via MeFi

Adam's Arrangements

Jeff updated the group today with the following:

hey all, thank you all superbig hug to all i am glad adam no longer is in pain & can be at peace & not know what his mom pulled but i guess im getting the last laugh adam changed his burial to my name &
dropped his mom 2 weeks before i moved in i love him so much it hurts adam always belived in making be smile he always said i can go a million miles on your smile the burial he has is in my name & i can call the shots now his mom is begging to help its her son despite her hatred towards gay people im letting her do the leg work maybe she sees her errors in life & smile once in awhile but i cant hold a grudge its not in my nature. its for adam!!!
adam is whats inportant & thats what counts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laundry Label Calling President an 'Idiot' a Hit

Back on April 5 I posted a link from Boing Boing about a label from a computer bag (or "sleeve") that stated (in French) "We are sorry that our President is an idiot. We didn't vote for him."

Reuters (on Yahoo!) has a story now about the bags and a few quotes from the president of the company making them.

[...]

Tom Bihn, who designs and makes bags for his eponymous company of 10 employees in Port Angeles, a seaside city 60 miles northwest of Seattle, claims he has no idea how the phrase got onto the label, but credits it with doubling bag sales.

"We don't know how it got there," Bihn said in a dead-pan manner.

[...]

"I'm going with the idea that it refers to me, the president of the company," Bihn said, "I do have to say it seems to have struck a chord. A lot of people seem to think that it refers to another president."

The popularity of the bags and interest in the label has also spawned a new product from the company, T-shirts featuring an enlarged version of the label on the front. Profits from these T-shirts are being donated to the Seattle Veterans Center, Bihn said.

The company's products are available at its Web site, www.tombihn.com, its outlet in Port Angeles and its retail store in Seattle.

Margaret Cho's Blog Has a New RSS Feed!

Being the scatter-brained person that I am, I tend to forget to check the various web pages and blogs that I try to read on a regular basis if they can't be aggregated in my Feed On Feeds aggregator.

I sent an email to Margaret Cho's webmaster a month or so ago requesting an RSS/RDF/Atom feed be added to her blog. I got an almost immediate response that they were working on it, and yesterday, I got another response that it was up and running! WooHoo!

Those Margaret Cho fans out there with RSS aggregators will certainly want to add her RSS feed to your setup.

Updating Jeff and Adam's story

It is with a very sad heart that I post this update to Adam and Jeff's story and update

hello all, well today will be a very sad day in my life adam passed away at 6:40am he was 22 he passed away from internal bleeding & complications from his accident I will truly miss him & his smile I thank you all for you comments & concerns but hes out of pain & suffering

Jeff, my sincere condolences on your loss.

Random comics

Link via Boing Boing:

Monochrom has executed a project that takes a random comic and a random puchline and combines them into a single comic. Some results are hilarious!

Visit the Ex-Hilarator

Seeing what you expect

While not exactly an optical illusion, but this page illustrates perfectly that what you see isn't always what's there. Thanks Dave for the link

Quote

"When the government puts its imprimatur on a particular religion it conveys a message of exclusion to all those who do not adhere to the favored beliefs. A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some."

-Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun in the Lee v. Weisman ruling, 1992.

And, just so that nobody thinks that I'm taking that quote out of context, and that's not really what he meant, here's the surrounding text from Justice Harry A. Blackmun's Concurrence:

The mixing of government and religion can be a threat to free government, even if no one is forced to participate. When the government puts its imprimatur on a particular religion, it conveys a message of exclusion to all those who do not adhere to the favored beliefs. A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some. Only "[a]nguish, hardship and bitter strife" result "when zealous religious groups struggl[e] with one another to obtain the Government's stamp of approval." Engel, 370 U. S., at 429; see also Lemon, 403 U. S., at 622-623; Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402, 416 (1985) (Powell, J., concurring). Such a struggle can "strain a political system to the breaking point." Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. 664, 694 (1970) (opinion of Harlan, J.).

Old joke, but still funny

A little boy comes down to breakfast since they live on a farm, his mother asks if he had done his chores.

"Not yet", said the little boy.

His mother tells him he gets no breakfast until he does his chores.

Well, he's a little pissed, so he goes to feed the chickens, and he kicks a chicken. He goes to feed the cows, and he kicks a cow, goes to feed the pigs, and he kicks a pig.

He goes back in for breakfast and his mother gives him a bowl of dry cereal. "How come I don't get any eggs and bacon? Why don't I have any milk in my cereal?" he asks.

"Well", his mother says, "I saw you kick a chicken, so you don't get any eggs for a week. I saw you kick the pig, so you don't get any bacon for a week either. I also saw you kick the cow, so for a week you aren't getting any milk."

Just then, his father comes down for breakfast and kicks the cat halfway across the kitchen.

The little boy looks up at his mother with a smile, and says, "Are you going to tell him, or should I?"

Musgrave's home state ducks vote on gay marriage

From The Advocate:

Lawmakers in U.S. representative Marilyn Musgrave's home state of Colorado effectively killed a resolution Friday supporting her proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriages.

The measure has been awaiting a vote since it was introduced in February. Lawmakers had said it probably didn't have enough support to pass, but some wanted to begin the debate on what has become a national issue.

However, state representative Brad Young, who lives in Musgrave's district, suggested delaying action on the bill until May 6, the day after the legislative session ends, a maneuver sometimes used to avoid a vote on controversial topics.

[...]

Updating Jeff and Adam's Story

Updating Jeff's and Adam's story:

From Jeff on 04/24/2004:

hi, just thought id take the time to say thank you for all you comments regarding adam it good to know in the biker community so many care !! I called adams mom today to ask her to back off & ask herself would adam approve of what shes doing after she hung up on me she called back to tell me to pack my bags & she would have the police escort me out. so ive contacted a lawyer to see what are right are regaurding adam after I meet her + a retainer she is file papers / adam signed documents before his accident / bank acct / auto insurance / lease on apt / to unfreeze his accts since adam was making apart of his life / I tho have no rights regarding his care since no papers (poa) where signed so if adam comes out of his coma he can state it to a doctor & a paper will be drawn up then & there. tell then I can be barred & stopped from seeing him which make my heart just ache. so if I start a war I can get it in the rear. its amazing how fast we fell in love we did everthing togeather camping etc... now I goto bed alone - jeff

Gay Men, Motorcycles Accidents, and Gay Marriage

In no way do I want me relating this story to detract from the fact that Adam is in the hospital and in serious condition. If you take one thing away from this entry, I want it to be that Adam and his partner Jeff need your good thoughts, positive energy, and prayers. This story, though, shows exactly why the proposed federal ammendment against gay marriage and the various state constitutional amendments against gay marriage are wrong, and just how mean-spirited, anti-gay, and bigoted some people can be.

Jeff, thank you for giving me permission to repost this here. Adam, all of us in the motorcycle and gay communities wish you the best and pray for your speedy recovery.

I am a member of a group on Yahoo! called Biker_Studs, basically, pictures of men on motorcycles. My faithful readers know both my partner Scott and I ride Yamaha V-Star Silverados, so this story affects me on multiple levels.

Adam is the moderator of the biker_studs group on Yahoo, and Jeff is his partner. On April 6, 2004, a message came across the group from Jeff. Adam was involved in a serious hit and run. Jeff told us:

adam was involved in a serious hit & run today while he was riding home from work he was airlifted to harbourview trauma center he has some cracked ribs, collapsed lung & internal bleeding he survived the surgery & also a broken leg & arm doctor told me since he was wearing a helmet he could have recived a serious blow to his head he is in icu in stable condidtion i thought i should tell you all since he loves his site & i will try to help him by taking care of his page...

The outpouring of care and concern from the members of the group was immediate. Several messages came through in the first few minutes after Jeff's original message.

Later that night, Jeff updated the group on Adam's condition:

[Adam] was upgraded to serious but stable condition but the doctor doesn't think he is aware what happened because of the injuries but i was told he will recover but he needs to be sedated so he can heal & allow the swelling to go down they will try friday to take him off the machines but he is a fighter so thank you all for your replys
btw the chicken shit was drunk that caused the accident !!!!!!!!!!! & hes not in jail go figure

Again, the messages that came across the board were of support, caring, and hope. All for a person who most of the 600 or so members of this group have never met or talked to.

The next day, April 7, 2004, Jeff sent the following message to the group:

thank you for your kind comments i never thought it could happen to him he is just so damm carefull & he was so happy when he took it out of the garage & cleaned it up hes going to miss that bike :( i just miss him but i hope the guy that caused it gets what he deserves

Later that night, an message that caused me to tear up:

hi, thank you for your message its kind words that help. I found out what happened he was traveling on the freeway at a normal speed & the guy moved into his lane cliped his back tire & sent him into a tail spin he [Adam] was wearing his work clothes & his jacket. the guy claims he was speeding & didn’t see him but other eye witness said the guy was all over the road & adam didn’t even see it coming so he was knocked out & they did emergency surgery to stop a rupture but what hurts the most is we have been dating for 2 years & I just moved in 4 days ago & 2 days later this horrible thing happens but he told me if I become a vegetable from bike riding to not prolong it & it makes me cry its like he knew something was going to happen & it did
doc said tomorrow there going to do a catscan to see if the swelling has gone down so im trying to keep a upbeat spirt I just don’t want to lose him !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April 12, 2004:

HELLO ALL, ADAM IS OFF LIFE SUPPORT SUNDAY MORNING, HIS PARENTS FLEW IN GUESS ADAM ISNT OUT OF THE CLOSET BUT HIS SISTER TOLD ME ADAM TOLD HER WHEN THEY WHERE 14 GUESS SHE ALSO SWINGS BOTH WAYS SO SHE TOLD ME NO TO WORRY ABOUT HER PARENTS. SO I WONT WORRY BUT I CANT HELP WHEN THEY ASK ADAM WHAT HAPPENED & HE JUST STARTS TO CRY THE DOCTOR TOLD HIS PARENTS NOT TO BRING IT UP HIS B.P. RISES BIG TIME.

IM JUST THANKFULL HE SURVIVED HIS ORDEAL BUT THE DOCTOR SAYS HES NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET GUESS THEY MAY NEED TO PUT A STEEL PINS IN HIS LEG & ARM & REMOVE THEM AFTER A YEAR IS UP & I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT
HIS REHAB MAY BE THE WORST BUT ILL KEEP HIM IN GOOD SPRITS & HE ASKED HOW THE YAHOO SITE WAS GOING & I TOLD HIM EVERYTHING WAS JUST GREAT I PRINTED OUT YOUR MESSAGES & WAS DEEPLY TOUCHED I THINK IT
MADE HIS DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WELL TAKE CARE GUYS I TOOK AN EARLY SHIFT SO I CAN BE WITH HIM DURING THE DAY

April 13, 2004:

hi guys, adam enjoyed your letters he just wishes he could come home but he is facing another surgery for his arm. he isnt looking forward to it but said he want to get back in shape i got him to talk about the accident & the only thing he can remember is a truck out of control but he wasnt around him but then claim it was right on top of em ! called about the hit & run today (state patrol) & he is missing skiped town awol!! his insurance call too hes fully covered that should make him happy before surgery 5am i just [wish] they would release him i miss em :(

April 15, 2004:

adam had emergency surg. at 2:40 the 13th doctor said the next 48 hrs are the most serious & since then its gotten a lot worse the only thing adam needs now is a huge miracle. he hasn’t woke up yet so there saying it’s a coma & to make matters a whole lot worse adam receive a letter a god damm fucking ticket even tho the guy is missing & awol Ive tried to get a lawer for adam but ill have been told his accident is still under investigation
so adam gets a ticket ?????????????????????

April 16, 2004:

i dont know why things like this happen we became 1 couple & 2 days later things super suck his parents are anti-gay so they want me out but adam took the time to make sure my name was on eveything thats how far our love is. my job know about adam & is very understanding there. so ive taken the last week off to be with him but today i just need to stay home & get some errands done but my time off is great except till the money runs out :( & just go up there tonight they say talking is good the nurse said they can hear you. [...]

April 17, 2004:

the hardest thing i did today is i went to work 5 hr the the boss told me i looked like i was ready to die so told to take the last 3 hrs off told me i was the best damm worker & he didnt want to see me end like like adam "lifeless & asleep" so i came home to shower & change & go see him in an hr or two. last night i overhear 2 nurses talking about adam & they said what a waste of life by then i had lost it they saw what they did & got the doctor that was there & told me adam is just fine & nothing is shuting down & their very healthy & he just needs some time off so things inside can heal....
i have to say that didnt help so when & told adam i love em & dont listen to em
take care everbody

April 22, 2004:

hi,
adam has been in a coma since the 13th I think that’s about 10 days he is unchanged his status has been changed to serious / unstable guess that’s a notch down I asked the nurse if his heartbeat changes when I come to visit & I was told yes he has had some kidney failure but he is on some iv for it. I was told he will survive this & they have seen this before he is in no risk of death but that’s in gods hands ive had to go back to work which sucks but got to pay the bills & adams too his mom went to the bank & froze his account so im left paying his bills I would go & get a lawyer but its not worth it ive talked to the landlord & said I was ok since im on the lease even sent some flowers to the apt! I just hope his mom can get over her anti-gay & just accept it adam & I are partners & nothing is going to change that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

M.L. writes on April 22, 2004:

[My] heart goes out to you bcause it just goes to show how anti gay people still are. My partner had to have kidney stones attended to and I had to lie to get in to see him. We now have power of attorney and have made each other the decision maker for each other. We have also put all our assets in each others name. You really find out the other side of people when a situation like yours occurs. Keep a positive attitude, this all will pass and you will be a stronger person from it, In my heart I feel Adam is going to pull through this, it may just be a time thing, Will keep you in my thoughts

April 23, 2004:

its hard to see him so helpless & ill & the only thing his mom can do is try to disaprove of our love she dosent stop to think this is what [her] kid wants we're gay deal with it! but ive been told i should get a lawyer & i cant im more concerned about adam i love him & i cant lower my self to her level

J.K. says:

My heart goes out to you. I am well aware of what you are going thru, and I can tell you that getting the lawyer is not about lowering yourself. It is about protecting yourself and he, especially he. You for all practical purposes are his only living guardian that can do things the way he wants the long road that you have in front of you and in front of him will require that YOU have some protections built in, . There are going to be some legal things that the County, and the state are going to try to force you to do and they will be able to do, when they declare him incompetent. The state or the county will declare him a single adult without encumbrances and then there will be a hearing and then you will loose and contact with him. His mother will win and she will use the state and the county to help. Her mommy instinct and her anger at hers sons' lifestyle will kick in and she will decided that this is her final chance to SAVE her son. You will ultimately lose. I know beacause I was the one being saved once, and it is horrible. I had choices made for me that I could not make and would never have made, but all the "others" made for me. If you and Adam didi not have enough time to make out POA for each other and specific survivval Guardian paperwork, then get a GAY attorney with some guts and STAND YOUR GROUND for his sake and yours. IF THERE is ANY DOUBT IN YOUR MIND ABOUT THIS PLEASE CONTACT ME... I am very aware of what happens when an adult has a head injury and what can be done to him/for him that some bigotted self righteous homophobic person can do, please protect yourself and he. Trust in this you are not lowering yourself, you are saving him.

Gilbert writes:

This is for Jeff, (and Adam), and all others who are in need of assistance for personal and legal situations, you can contact LAMBDA [at] yahoogroups [dot] com, give them the name of the city where you reside, and explain the situation at hand, in as few words as possible. State the type of assistance you seek, i.e., legal/lawyer, reporting a gay/lesbian/bi/transgender crime, etc., and who they can report back to with the information or put someone who is local to you, in contact with you. LAMBDA is a gay/lesbian/bi/transgender and queer youth organization and should be able to put you in contact with the resources/people that can assist you.

For you, particularly, Jeff, what you and Adam share in your apartment, can be contested by the family and the courts - YOU DO need to protect yourself and Adam.

I hope and pray for Adam's well being and yours as well. I also hope that the above will be of assistance to all others who don't know where to turn, and just need someone to listen and help sort out what troubles you.

I will continue to update this story as more information presents itself.

Rhea County issues Pride Permit

Remeber Rhea County, TN that tried to pass a law last month that would make homosexuality illegal? Well, guess what? They've issued a permit allowing a Pride Event (via 365gay.com)

(Dayton, Tennessee) Officials Friday issued permits for the first gay pride event ever to be held in Rhea County, a small community in East Tennessee that made the news last month when it tried to pass a law making homosexuality illegal.

Rhea County commissioners voted unanimously to ask the state for the power to jail gays. The move drew national media attention, and galvanized the small local gay population.

[...]

Gays quickly began organizing a Pride celebration as a means of visibility in the community, and opened a website to promote it.

Dayton resident, Kristie Bacon, one of the Pride organizers, originally asked county officials for a parade permit, which was denied due to space and safety considerations. Instead, the event has been approved to take place in a Dayton Park on May 8th.

Bacon said she expects people from all over the country to attend because of all the publicity.

Virginia takes away gay partner rights

Yahoo! via PlanetOut.com

Lawmakers in Virginia passed a sweeping ban on same-sex partners on Wednesday that outlaws any "partnership contract or other arrangements that purport to provide the benefits of marriage."

Equality Virginia believes the Marriage Affirmation Act (HB 751) will likely bar same-sex couples in Virginia from obtaining a medical power of attorney, making custody decisions and carrying out estate planning directives.

The statewide GLBT organization also believes the new legislation will halt health insurance coverage through those companies in Virginia currently able to offer benefits to unmarried partners.

The bill is expected to become law July 1. Supporters of HB 751 earned two-thirds majorities in the House of Delegates and the Senate, thus protecting the bill from a gubernatorial veto.

The week before, Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) unsuccessfully tried to limit the measure's effect on business and medical contracts, warning the bill could present legal challenges to some business partnerships and medical directives.

But the bill's author, Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, said the law would only affect civil unions and similar institutions.

Human Rights Campaign President Cheryl Jacques denounced the bill Thursday in a prepared statement.

"Denying Virginia families' vital rights and benefits is discriminatory and anti-family. It will strip away important rights and responsibilities, such as proper care for children when a parent dies," Jacques noted.

Joseph Price, the Equality Virginia board chair, declared, "Gay and lesbian Virginians can no longer call Virginia home."

"Because of this hostile legislation, it is clear that many families will choose to move to Maryland or other states that embrace diversity and welcome difference," he said.

Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, promised to "challenge this law in every appropriate forum."

"In the courtroom, or in the General Assembly, we have no doubt that this law will quickly be found unconstitutional," Mason said in a statement. "We call on all fair-minded Virginians to send a strong message to their elected officials that this fight is far from over."

Louisiana May Ban Low-Slung Pants

Granted, I'm no fan of the "low-slung" pants people wear these days (I think they look ridiculous with the crotch of their jeans around their knees, not to mention they can't walk because they have to hold them up), but, a law? Come on people, get a grip. Find something useful to make a law about! This country has truly turned into a bunch of prudes!

Yahoo!

BATON ROUGE, La. - People who wear low-slung pants that expose skin or "intimate clothing" would face a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time under a bill filed by a Jefferson Parish lawmaker.

State Rep. Derrick Shepherd said he filed the bill because he was tired of catching glimpses of boxer shorts and G-strings over the lowered belt lines of young adults.

The bill would punish anyone caught wearing low-riding pants with a fine of as much as $500 or as many as six months in jail, or both.

"I'm sick of seeing it," said Shepherd, a first-term legislator. "The community's outraged. And if parents can't do their job, if parents can't regulate what their children wear, then there should be a law."

The bill would be tacked onto the state's obscenity law, which restricts sexual activity in public places and the sale of sexually explicit items.

Joe Cook, head of the American Civil Liberties Union's Louisiana chapter, said the bill probably does not meet the U.S. Supreme Court's standard for the prohibition of obscene behavior under the First Amendment.

"What about a woman who is wearing a bathing suit under her garment or she has something like a sarong wrapped around her and it's below her waist," he said. "I can think of a lot of workers, plumbers, who are working and expose their buttocks ..."

The Annoying Thing

This advertisement for TurboForce 3d (turboforce3d.com) shows you how to increase the annoying sounds your motorcycle makes. Download MPEG Video (8.5 MB)

Thanks Scott!

Please Forgive Me....

Links via MeFi:

The Scoop on Poop

Why does poop stink?
Poop stinks as a result of the products of bacterial action. Bacteria produce smelly, sulfur- or nitrogen-rich organic compounds such as indole, skatole, and mercaptans, and the inorganic gas hydrogen sulfide. These are the same compounds that give farts their odor.

[...]

The Facts on Farts

[...]

Where do farts go when you hold them in?
How often have you held in a fart, intending to release it at the first appropriate opportunity, only to find that the fart has disappeared when you are ready for it?
I asked several doctors where the fart goes. Does it leak out slowly without the person knowing it? Is it absorbed into the bloodstream? What happens to it?
The doctors agree that the fart is neither released nor absorbed. It simply migrates back upward into the intestine and comes out later.
It is reassuring to know that such farts aren't really lost, just delayed.

[...]

Health Workers in Michigan Could Be Safe From Discrimination Law Suits

Thanks madlife.net!

365gay.com has a story about the Michigan House passing legislation that would protect health care workers from discipline or law suits if they refuse to treat gay patients.

(Lansing, Michigan) Doctors or other health care providers could not be disciplined or sued if they refuse to treat gay patients under legislation passed Wednesday by the Michigan House.

The bill allows health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical or religious grounds.

The Republican dominated House passed the measure as dozens of Catholics looked on from the gallery. The Michigan Catholic Conference, which pushed for the bills, hosted a legislative day for Catholics on Wednesday at the state Capitol.

The bills now go the Senate, which also is controlled by Republicans.

The Conscientious Objector Policy Act would allow health care providers to assert their objection within 24 hours of when they receive notice of a patient or procedure with which they don't agree. However, it would prohibit emergency treatment to be refused.

Three other three bills that could affect LGBT health care were also passed by the House Wednesday which would exempt a health insurer or health facility from providing or covering a health care procedure that violated ethical, moral or religious principles reflected in their bylaws or mission statement.

Opponents of the bills said they're worried they would allow providers to refuse service for any reason. For example, they said an emergency medical technicians could refuse to answer a call from the residence of gay couple because they don't approve of homosexuality.

[...]

Can email be saved?

InfoWorld has an interesting article about what could be done to do away with Spam entitled Can e-mail be saved?

Six experts plus one unrepentant spammer were asked how they would change the system to remove mass-marketers' incentives to flood your mailbox with ads...not surprisingly, they got six different answers.

Possum Fur?

stolen from found at die puny humans

What Is SpyWare?

From Ask Yahoo!:

Generally speaking, spyware refers to any computer program that gathers information about a person without his or her knowledge. Spyware programs can track your Internet page views, allow someone else to read your email, and even record your keyboard strokes. They are obviously cause for alarm.

The Yahoo! Spyware and Adware Category features several resources, such as 2-Spyware.Com and SpyChecker.Com, which offer information about the most common spyware programs, as well as anti-spyware downloads. Spyware Watch offers a general tutorial on detecting and removing spyware programs.

With new spyware legislation pending in Congress, the issue has become a hot topic in the press. A word to the wise: Check your cookies, avoid suspicious downloads, and in a work environment treat your emails like postcards.

Personally, I use LavaSoft's Ad-Aware. Earthlink also offers a free scanner called Spy Audit that you can use to scan your Windows box. Note that Spy Audit doesn't include removal tools.

Bloggin's been light lately

Things have been kinda crazy at work and at home lately, so I apologize for not blogging very much lately. Work doesn't show many signs of slowing down, though.

On the upside, I did my first successful test of the new MythTV machine last night. It'll be running on a 2.7GHz P4 with 512 MB of RAM and 80GB of hard drive space. Capture/playback card is a Hauppauge PVR-350. The distribution I used is something called KnoppMyth which is an all-in-one distribution based on Knoppix including all drivers and software needed to get MythTV up and running.

I'm primarily a SuSE Linux man, but all the documentation I read about MythTV basically said SuSE and MythTV are not for the faint of heart. Knoppix is a Debian based distribution, so, some things are different, but nothing too difficult.

Right-Wing Eye

Tip o' the hat to Discount Blogger for the link to The Planned Parenthood's Right-Wing Eye ad

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

It's been a beautiful couple of days in Atlanta. Five days ago, it was in the low 30's. Today, low 80's, sunny, calm winds. It doesn't get much better for motorcycle riding. Scott and I rode about 150 miles in the last two days. Today's route is shown here. Yesterday's wasn't much different, but we returned home today the same way we came.

We decided to ride out Hiway 78 to Snellville, then take Scenic Hiway south toward Conyers. I had my trusty GPS with me, and "she" had mapped a route to one of our "stopping places", the dealership in Conyers where we bought the bikes. She had us turning off Scenic Hiway onto Norris Lake Road, which seemed to be a weird way of getting where we wanted to go (nobody ever said the route planning was perfect). But, we were being "adventurous," so we took her advice.

Man, am I ever glad we did. Little used backroads, almost no traffic, curvy (but not dangerously so) and hilly. Trees, houses set far away from the road, horse farms, and a lake! It was like being transported 100 miles from Atlanta!

Bush Makes Three Mistakes While Trying To Cite One

from Yahoo! News:

While struggling unsuccessfully this week to think of a single mistake he has made since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President Bush committed three factual errors about weapons finds in Libya, the White House said on Wednesday.

Bush, long known for his grammatical conundrums and confusing phraseology, told reporters twice during Tuesday's prime-time news conference that 50 tons of mustard gas were discovered at a turkey farm in Libya.

On the second occasion, he was responding to a reporter who asked him to identify the biggest mistake he had made since the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people and prompted the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

He could not. But as he searched for an answer, the Republican president reaffirmed his decision to invade Iraq and said weapons of mass destruction may still lie hidden there.

"They could still be there. They could be hidden, like the 50 tons of mustard gas in a turkey farm," said Bush, referring to Libya's voluntary disclosure of weapons in March.

The next day, the White House said the accurate figure for the Libyan mustard gas was 23.6 metric tons, or 26 short tons, not 50 tons.

Moreover, the substance was found at different locations across Libya, not at a turkey farm. And observers did not find mustard gas on the farm at all, but rather unfilled chemical munitions, the White House acknowledged.

"The president misspoke and we just want to correct the record," explained White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Reports on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which Bush cited as justification for the March 2003 invasion, have proved to be a political mine field for the president.

Bush agreed under pressure to set up a commission to investigate prewar weapons intelligence failures early this year, just as his 2004 reelection campaign got under way.

His decision came after a Bush claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger was shown to be based on forged documents. Other assertions of weapons stashes, including some made by Iraqis intent on persuading Washington to invade their homeland to oust Saddam Hussein, were also found to be wrong.

You're Fired!

As per GayAmerican's request, I am linking the words "you're fired" to http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html.

GA explains google bombing thusly:

All you need to do is link the words 'you're fired' to the web page http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html - then when people search for 'you're fired' they'll be pointed to the president's web site.

A clear message, don't you think?

BTW, those against Kerry are google bombing Kerry using the word 'waffles'. So: they get breakfast foods. We get the Donald.

Anti-Gay group calls for IRS investigation against gay couples filing as married

Thanks GayAmerican.org for the link!

From PublicAdvocate's home page:

Public Advocate of the United States, was founded in 1978 as a non-profit 501(c)4 non-profit [sic] organization to oppose hypocrisy and big government boondoggles. Public Advocate has become a leader in the fight for family values and against the radicals in the homosexual lobby who wish to tear down the American family.

Under Executive Director Eugene Delgaudio, the group has filed friends of the court briefs in the Supreme Court both to defend the Boy Scouts of America, against extremists who wish to distroy [sic] them because of their morally straight principles, and in the recent Lawrence v. Texas case which the radical gay lobby has successfully used to force their political and sexual agenda on our families. Public Advocate has presented petitions to Congress supporting the Defense of Marriage (including pushing for a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution), opposition to special rights for homosexuals (so-called gay rights laws), the repeal of the Marriage Tax and the Defense of the Boy Scouts Act.

It's funny to me how all the anti-gay groups claim to be "a leader" in this so-called "fight." I've commented about it before, and it obviously still holds true...the more religious and anti-gay (or anti-boob) the people are, the less likely they are to be able to spell.

Since they're opposing hypocrisy (Merriam-Webster defines hypocrisy as "a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially: the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion"), maybe they should spend some of that contributed money (which, by the way, is NOT tax-deductible for the contributors) on opposing themselves?

As an entertaining sideline (at least for my twisted sense of humor), Merriam-Webster also defines a boondoggle as "a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a neckerchief slide, hatband, or ornament."

From PublicAdvocate:

April 13, 2004

Contact: Jesse Binnall of Public Advocate of the United States,
703-582-7924, jesse@binnall.com

Washington, DC -- Public Advocate of the United States, a non-profit, pro-family group, delivered a letter to the Internal Revenue Service today calling for investigations into same-sex couples who may file any tax form as "married - filing jointly" or "married filing separately" as part of a fraudulent same-sex marriage, such as those that have been performed by the thousands in San Francisco, California between homosexual couples.

The text of the letter is as follows:

Hon. Mark W. Everson
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Internal Revenue Service
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Suite 3000
Washington, D.C. 20224-0002

Re: Notification of Potential Fraudulent Tax Scheme

Dear Mr. Everson:

This letter is sent to you as Commissioner of Internal Revenue to alert you of a potential fraudulent tax scheme.

Public Advocate of the United States, Inc. (“Public Advocate”) is a social welfare organization, exempt from federal taxation as an organization described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Public Advocate educates the public on public policy issues, engages in advocacy, conducts various programs, and publishes information to further those ends.

The matter we are writing you about has to do with the recent practices, in certain jurisdictions throughout the United States — including specifically San Francisco, California — of rebellious state and local officials reportedly permitting persons of the same sex to marry in flagrant disobedience of applicable laws defining marriage as a union between a male and a female.

Persons engaging in such wedding ceremonies, based upon certain published accounts, seek the legal status afforded by lawful marriage so that they may avail themselves of various benefits of marital status despite the illegality of such “marriages.”

The potential for such persons attempting to evade federal and state income tax obviously is quite significant. By declaring themselves “married,” and submitting joint federal tax returns, for example, such persons could attempt to benefit from the “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately” federal income tax rates currently available only to a “husband” and a “wife” who are legitimately married. 26 U.S.C. section 6013.

Of course, whether “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately” causes two persons to pay less tax than two single individuals depends on the specifics of each situation. However, where there is a tax benefit to be had, persons other than lawfully married “husbands” and “wives” claiming to be married could be an effort to avail themselves of federal tax benefits to which they are not entitled, and would be blatantly illegal.

This kind of activity could mushroom into a dangerous tax scam throughout the United States. Although we have no idea at this time concerning the aggregate impact of such a scheme on the federal government, the loss of revenues to the federal government from federal income taxes clearly would be substantial.

We assume that you will direct the Internal Revenue Service to undertake appropriate measures to investigate any such possible unlawful activity.

In addition, however, we would respectfully suggest that the Internal Revenue Service take the initiative to ward off any such illegal conduct. For example, it would seem appropriate to publish an announcement or notice in the Internal Revenue Bulletin detailing the scheme and announcing that the Internal Revenue Service will be monitoring such activity and prosecuting individuals who participate in such unlawful activity to the fullest extent of the law.

We would appreciate learning your views about the legality of the activity described above, as well as any information you can share at this time about how the Internal Revenue Service, under your leadership, plans to deter the conduct described herein. Thank you.

Sincerely yours,
Eugene A. Delgaudio
President

For more information contact Jesse R. Binnall at 703.582.7924.

Donations to Public Advocate are not tax deductible for IRS purposes.

Woohooo! It's the Nekkid News, Gay Style!

Thanks Richard!

The Globe and Mail.com has an article entitled "Naked Men Give It To You Straight" about http://www.nakednewsdailymale.com/. NakedNews.com has made a name for itself over the last five years as being "the program with nothing to hide." Hunky male newscasters and busty, voluptuous female newcasters deliver the news whilst removing articles of clothing. The NakeNewsDailyMale spinoff promises to deliver the same entertainment value, but with a gay-friendly and gay-oriented lean.

From The Globe and Mail article:

A show touted as "best watched naked," Naked News Daily Male, which officially launched yesterday on the Internet, is tailor-made for gay viewers. And its news stories are brazenly fleshed out by a team of rock-hard male anchors who drop their skivvies the moment the cameras start to roll.

Lead anchor and producer Lucas Tyler says audiences were clamouring for a gay-themed version of its popular predecessor, Naked News, which launched five years ago, features 11 nude women newscasters, and is currently seen in 135 countries, reaching a TV audience of 25 million weekly viewers.

Tyler, 34, says this spinoff show's mandate is to "report the issues and news that any one, but especially gay men, want to know about. Our program will reach gay men around the world, and create awareness of certain issues that the mainstream media doesn't cover."

[...]

The anchors are pure Canadian prime beef, including Montreal-born Tyler, a former banker. Other cast members include Toronto's Raoul Santos (another former banker), Calgary-born Cole McQuade (a one-time advertiser), London, Ont.-born Jack Lange (former bartender), Malcolm Matisse, a Montreal-born motivational trainer, and Jeremy Chase, a Torontonian who used to work in PR.

Naked News Daily Male also has guest anchors and correspondents, including correspondent Enza "Supermodel" Anderson, the popular Toronto drag queen who in 2000 made a left-field bid for the city's mayoralty.

Adopted Son of Randall Terry Comes Out in Out

Links via MeFi:

Teaser story on Out.com

It’s hard to point to one moment when you begin to come out to yourself, but if I had to, I’d go back to a night seven years ago, when I was 17. I was home from boarding school in my old bedroom at my parents’ house in Windsor, N.Y., where my friend “Johnny” and I had just finished fooling around. Suddenly he asked me, “Do you think we are bisexual or gay?” The question so stunned me, I didn’t know how to respond. I mean, we had been having sex for ages, but I’d always believed I couldn’t be gay: I was the son of Randall Terry, a major leader of the Christian right’s antiabortion movement and now a leader in the fight against marriage for same-sex couples. I’m 24 now and I’m still figuring out my own story.

Jameil Terry's father, Randall Terry wastes no time in a pre-emptive strike, claiming that "My son was offered $5,000 to "write" a story about me and his life with me and my family. However, much of the story was written by Out's editor who put words in my son's mouth to accomplish the magazine's agenda..." in an article on WorldNetDaily.com

I am still in a state of shock; I have been grieving for days. My son, Jamiel Terry, was paid $5,000 by Out magazine (to appear April 20, 2004, on newsstands) to write a story about being Randall Terry's homosexual son. I pray my following words help other grieving parents and serve as a warning to moms and dads of small children to be unflinchingly and unashamedly diligent to protect their children from predators, and bring a reality check to those exploiting my son.

[...]

"I think we have damaged the institution of marriage enough"

I received this through email yesterday, from a "friend of a friend of a friend." Unfortunately, the email is unattributed, and google searches for select phrases in the email return no results. If any of you know who wrote it, let me know....

This is a note that was forwarded to me by a friend that had someone writing in to someone at the marrige council or AFA if I recall correctly regarding the issue of gay marrige. It is by and large the most intelligently/articulately written letter that I've read since the issue's explosion and thought you may like to read it....

He asked:
Why can't gay couples have the same tax benefits and other rights as married straight couples?

She answered:
I think we have damaged the institution of marriage enough.

He asked:
Who has "damaged the institution of marriage enough"?

I'm confused.

Who do you mean by "we"?

Do you mean you and your current husband?

Or do you mean you and your first husband?

Or are you talking collectively, meaning you and Pam and other friends who have gotten divorced one or more times?

Or are you speaking generally... like about the current situation where one-fifth of first marriages that end within 5 years, or the one-third of marriages that end within 10 years, or the 43% of first marriages that end in separation or divorce within 15 years? Are those the folks who you are saying have damaged the institution of marriage?

Or are you including yourself in a group of people, like you & your first husband; Liza Minelli & David Gest; Britney Spears & her milisecond-husband; Michael J Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley; Nicolas Cage & Patricia Arquett & Lisa Marie Presley; Anna Nicole Smith & Howard the 90-year old millionaire; Billy Bob & Angelina; Tom & Nicole, Bill & Hillary; JFK & Marilyn Monroe; and also all of the people who are married but who cheat on their spouses, such as the ones who bring home sexually transmitted diseases from their trysts and then give them to their spouses?

Or are you talking about society in general? Has society damaged the institution of marriage?

Are you saying that gay marriage would damage heterosexual marriage?

How did same-sex marriages affect your decision to break up with your first husband?

Or, wait, how did same-sex marriage effect the number of people who got divorced in the late 1970s, when divorce in America was at an all-time high, and same-sex marriage was not even talked about?

Is that what you mean? That same-sex marriage would damage heterosexual marriages?

Does the way one couple live their marriage damage the way another couple lives their marriage? Such as a married couple in Northern Canada and a married couple in South Africa? Or is it really simply between each couple?

Do you mean that gays shouldn't be allowed to marry because they shouldn't have the right to, as in they are second class citizens even though they pay as much taxes as anyone, and likely pay more taxes in total because their incomes are generally higher than straight people, and that they pay taxes for things that they take no share in, such as for paying for the schools that straight parents send their children to?

I'm just trying to understand the concept here of why people say gay marriage would degrade the institution of marriage?

Do you mean in a religious way, as in that the Government, which is supposed to be divided from religion, is really dictating religious doctrine, such as the way George Bush talks about it when he said in his recent State of the Union Address - that judges who pass laws that give rights to same sex couples are "activist judges"? Is that what you mean and do you agree with that concept?

Or would gay marriage degrade marriage as a whole as an act of commitment because their marriage would be different than yours?

But, if their marriage is different, then is your marriage the same as everyone else who is married? ...including the people who get married under water, or while parachuting from airplanes, or in the nude out in fields of flowers, or who got married in religious ceremonies that are different from the ceremony that you went through?

Aren't you glad that you had the freedom to marry the person you felt like marrying, and not be told that it was wrong, even though you loved them and wanted to be with them? Are you saying that it is okay to tell others who they can't marry even though you had the freedom to choose who you could marry?

Are you saying that gay marriage would damage all other marriages?

Or are you saying that same-sex marriage shouldn't be allowed because you think the act of same-sex sex is disgusting? But then I'm wondering what is more disgusting, when a super obese couple, say the kind who weigh over 400 pounds, get married and have sex, or is it more disgusting if say two supermodel runway model-type same sex couple gets married and has sex? Which is more disgusting based on that visual? Should one not be allowed to marry because
of the way their act of sex looks?

Should marriage be granted on the appearance of what the sex act looks like? Should a younger person not be allowed to marry an old person, even though they want to get married, but not be allowed to based on the appearance of what they look like together in bed having sex? Should a tall person not be allowed to marry a very short person? Should a person in a wheel chair not be allowed to marry a super athlete? Is that kind of thing what you are against - the appearance of the two bodies together?

Or is marriage between two people more of a cultural thing with each person making a marriage with someone and then living their marriage as is common within their culture, such as African wedding ceremonies that differ from Jewish wedding ceremonies that differ from Catholic ceremonies that differ from Mormon temple marriage ceremonies that differ from Baptist marriage ceremonies? It seems to me that marriage is more of a cultural thing between two people living the lifestyle they want to live together, and not effected by what type of marriage their neighbor may have. Does that sound right to you?

Isn't marriage and love/sex life really a private thing, and not something the government should dictate to each person?

Are you saying that gay sex is wrong, and those who want it should never have it, and that only straight sex is right, acceptable, and worthy of being recognized by church and State?

Should say an alcoholic dysfunctional straight couple who physically abuse each other be allowed to marry, even though a level-headed, loving, respectable gay couple can't? Is that what you are saying? That straights should be allowed to marry no matter what, and that gays who treat each other very lovingly should never be allowed to marry?

Are you saying that same-sex marriage is a way for gay couples to shove their lifestyle in the faces of heterosexuals?

Or are the laws preventing same-sex marriage really shoving heterosexual right-wing conservative lifestyles in the faces of gays? And which is more correct, or is neither correct? Or can each person just simply be allowed to live their love life the way they see fit, without being told by the government, or churches they don't even belong to to live their life in a
certain way or hide it?

Or what is really marriage? Was it meant to last several decades? Or was it something created in a time when people only lived a few decades, and then one died, making marriages last only ten years or so?

I'm just confused about all this marriage stuff. Maybe because I've never been married, even though it always seems like it would be a really nice thing to have in my life at least, and especially, if it is a healthy and committed relationship that lasts.

These are just some things I thought about when I saw your answer to that question. Especially on a day when there was a ruling in Massachusetts that looks to strengthen the possibility of gay marriage becoming legal.

I just seems to me that everyone should have the same rights. And that there should be a separation of Church and State, as the Constitution says there should be.

Or are you saying that George Bush is right, and that we should change the Constitution so that same-sex marriages will be prevented, and should be outlawed in America, and that gays should not have the same rights as straights because gays are second-class citizens unworthy of enjoying full rights?

Is that what you mean?

Since it looks like this issue will soon be decided on a national level perhaps people should consider what they would like to see happen, and establishing a dialogue about it is one way to establish the conclusion of it all.

A History Of Homophobia

Inspired in part by GayAmerican's Having hate both ways entry, I've been doing some reading on the history of Leviticus.

In my internet travels, I came across an interesting set of essays by Rictor Norton on the "Historical Roots of Homophobia from Ancient Isreal to the End of the Middle Ages". It's a bit long, but engaging.

[...]

My own belief is that homophobia generally originates in primitive taboo customs which are now largely subconscious, which is why I think that a specifically historical investigation of the subject is important to an understanding of it. At the same time, however, I recognize that on many occasions anti-gay laws were enacted solely on political rather than moral or phobic grounds, as when the English law against buggery was enacted by Henry VIII primarily to deprive the Ecclesiastical Courts of their temporal power. I am interested in how irrational homophobia has been supported by the specifically political oppression of homosexuals, which I think is usefully revealed by historical investigation.

So in this History of Homophobia series I use a combination of psychological and political analysis, usually resulting in a "radical" analysis in so far as I wish to uncover to "root" or radix of what is one of the most complex problems of modern society, a disease that often threatens heterosexuals as well as homosexuals.

[...]

This attitude toward sex, the male genitals, and nudity not only forms the background, but is directly linked to, the laws specifically against homosexuals. Unfortunately for us, homosexual rites were included in the religions of the Assyrians, and other ancient peoples of the area, that the Hebrews felt constrained to renounce. It was common practice for the Assyrian priests to be homosexual, to often don women's clothing and thereby acquire the magical powers of the Mother Goddess Ishtar; for the higher priests to castrate themselves in religious imitation of the god Attis; and for the lower acolytes to ritually prostitute themselves to all men who came to the temple (symbolically to collect fertilizing semen from the deity, and in more practical terms to collect money for maintaining the temple). They were called qadesh, which means "holy ones" — that is, those blessed or consecrated for this divine service. This term was used by the Hebrews as an exact equivalent for "sodomite," and the term for the female temple prostitutes, qedheshah, was used as an equivalent for "whore" (see I Kings 14.22-24, 15.12, 22.46; Deuteronomy 23.17-18; Leviticus 18.3, 24-30, 20.23, all of which relate specifically to Egyptian and Canaanite religious homosexuality).

What is really interesting in this respect is that the identical male homosexual religious rites were commonly practised in the Temple of Jerusalem itself, and were an integral part of early Jewish worship (see II Kings 23.7). But, burning with anti-Assyrian nationalistic fervour, the good King Josiah (640-609 BC) zealously burned out the room of the qadesh in the Temple, scattered and reviled them (though again there is no clear evidence of them being killed), and began the campaign against homosexuality that has never ceased since.

[...]

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

The story of these two ill-fated cities of the plain is the single most influential vehicle for the transmission of anti-gay prejudice. The sad irony is that the story originally had nothing whatsoever to do with homosexuality.

[...]

MythTV, PVRs, and me

OK, a little background information....I've been a ReplayTV owner for a number of years (ie, I bought one of the first ones when they came out). The 50x0 series hit the market a couple of years ago, and could do all kinds of geeky, cool things like share recorded programs with other ReplayTV 50x0 owners, automatic commercial skip, internet downloads of the program guide, and streaming video from another local 50x0 series ReplayTV.

Enter software called DVArchive. DVArchive is a nice little Java application that runs on your computer that interacts with your ReplayTV and can pull recorded shows down and archive them to your computer's hard drive. It also acts like another ReplayTV and will serve up archived shows back to the real ReplayTV, streaming them across your LAN. The newest version (3.0) does all kinds of cool additional things like letting you program your ReplayTV from a web page, and gathering and displaying it's own program guide.

So, last year about this time, I got the brainiac idea that I'd build a computer system with a huge RAID drive in it, rip my DVD collection (or at least part of it) off to the hard drive, and I'd have a large movie collection online and instantly accessible from any TV in the house (yes, I have a distributed A/V network throughout the house, too).

Turns out, I was about a year ahead of the curve. Because the ReplayTV uses an MPEG-2 decoder that's pretty picky about certain parameters in the stream, converting "previously recorded" content that wasn't recorded on a ReplayTV wasn't possible. Never fear, the "videoserver" box hasn't gone unused. It's been happily running DVArchive and archiving many favorite episodes of my favorite shows. Also, having a terabyte of disk space comes in handy when you need to make a full backup of another computer before re-installing the operating system or having an almost real-time backup of important stuff like email (yep, I run my own mailserver too).

Finally, a set of tools have been released that will convert standard MPEG video to the picky ReplayTV format. The process isn't pretty, and is sometimes a 4-step manual process, but it works. But, there's a problem...as always. Streaming video from the videoserver usually works, but will cause the ReplayTV to crash and reboot sometimes. This is a problem, especially if it crashes while another recording is going on.

So, I've decided to build my own DVR/PVR (Digital Video Recorder/Personal Video Recorder) using MythTV.

I have an additional Linux machine (2.4 GHz P4) sitting here that I figured I'd use as the MythTV box....NFS mount the terabyte RAID drive to MythTV, and use the same machine for playback by hooking it's S-Video and audio into the distribution amp for my house's A/V network.

Has anybody used MythTV? Will it playback regular MPEG-1/2/4 movies (ie, "prerecorded content" that wasn't generated by the MythTV backend?).

Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show

from Yahoo! News

GLASSPORT, Pa. - First, the Passion of the Christ. Now, the torment of the Easter Bunny?

It may not have been as gruesome as Mel Gibson's movie, but many parents and children got upset when a church trying to teach about Jesus' crucifixion performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs.

People who attended Saturday's show at Glassport's memorial stadium quoted performers as saying, "There is no Easter bunny," and described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified.

Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program was inappropriate for young children. "He was crying and asking me why the bunny was being whipped," Salzmann said.

Patty Bickerton, the youth minister at Glassport Assembly of God, said the performance wasn't meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.

"The program was for all ages, not just the kids. We wanted to convey that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny, it is about Jesus Christ," Bickerton said.

Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a drunken man and a self-mutilating woman, said Jennifer Norelli-Burke, another parent who saw the show in Glassport, a community about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

"It was very disturbing," Norelli-Burke said. "I could not believe what I saw. It wasn't anything I was expecting."

Catholics decry exclusion

(image by Billy Smith II)
It seems that some Catholics in Atlanta are up in arms about an Archbishop's recent decision to allow only men to take part in the rite of foot washing.

Everybody else wants to be treated equally, but nobody wants to admit that homosexuals are equal as well. And, yes, we are equals. It's irritating to me how hypocritcal some groups can be.

While this particular story isn't about homosexuals or gay marriage, it is about equality (or the lack thereof). Whether that inequality is perceived, believed, or real isn't really the issue. Most of the debate over gay marriages is steeped in religious intolerance deep-seated in thousands of years of tradition, which is exactly the basis of this protest.

From The AJC:

About 70 men and women stood outside the Cathedral of Christ the King in Buckhead on Thursday to protest Archbishop John Donoghue's recent instructions that only men should be allowed to take part in the solemn rite of foot washing.

[...]

"This is not a women's issue, this is a justice issue," protest organizer Lalor Cadley told the demonstrators, some holding towels and basins that they later used for a foot-washing ceremony of their own in front of the cathedral.

Some church members obviously didn't agree with th