Archive for ‘government’

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19 November 2008

What Prop 8 is really about

A reader sums it up nice and neat on Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish:

The critical point that is put forward in every brief seeking Prop 8‘s invalidation is thatProp 8 stands for more than gay marriage: it stands for the premise that any minority group can suddenly be targeted by the majority for discrimination.  It essentially eviscerates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution.  This because a) the Supreme Court has held (in  Perez, some 20 years before Loving) that marriage is a fundamental right and b) in the Marriage Cases, that homosexuals are a suspect class.  Unless Prop 8 somehow by implication reversed either of those, Prop 8 means that any time we wanted to be mean to some minority group, we could.

Emphasis mine. This is about civil rights and equal protection. And while the courts have been asked to look into it, you can sign the petition to repeal it.

Posted in government, life, politics | 5 Comments »

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13 November 2008

A reminder of why we have a separation of church and state…

… of why having a theocracy is a bad idea. 

From the Associated Press via MSNBC:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him “constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil.”

The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

Posted in government, life, politics | 1 Comment »

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5 November 2008

Second-Class Citizen

My heart bleeds drops of disillusioned anguish. I have largely seen the good in people or tried to on most occasions. But today I cannot see it. The day is grey even though the sun is shining. Where yesterday I saw genuinely good people everywhere with the best of intentions and the belief of being equal still defined the country that we live in, today I see only bigotry and fanatical fundamentalism and stupidity. 

Congratulations President Obama. But today I’m going home to be with my sweetie, even if I may never get the chance to legally call him husband.

Posted in depression, family, government, life, politics | Leave a Comment »

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30 October 2008

How did I get here? This is not my beautiful house. This is not…

A clear and concise explaination of what the current economic crisis is, how we got here and an idea of how to solve it. It’s a bit on the long side, but very worth it.

Debt crisis expert Juan Enriquez details 10 non-partisan financial commandments for the President elect @ Pop!Tech ’08.

more about “Juan Enriquez (2008) Pop!Tech Pop!Cas…“, posted with vodpod

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16 October 2008

Go forth. Write. Draw. Dance. Sing. Express in a ecstatic outpouring of what you see in the universe with strawberries and whipped cream…

… This was going to be simply an addendum to my previous post about Proposition 8. However I started writing and before I knew it I have another whole post.

Most of the people who read this blog tend to be people I know, but I was just reminded that this is for the world to see. Yesterday my post about opposing Proposition 8 garnered 2 comments almost immediatley after publishing. Those 2 comments are not from people I know, nor are they opinions I agree with, but I welcome them just the same. And it made me realize that in the day when you are force fed opinions from ‘trusted’ news sources and negative television ads, it’s the individuals opinion that can have more power.

In short, if you want to support Prop. 8, blog about it.

Make your opininon and voice known. You don’t have to donate and vote with your dollars. Donate with your voice. Get the dialog going. Comment on others blogs. Our government process will pass you by if you don’t make your voice known. Be your own special interest. 

If you don’t have a blog you can do this on many free services like WordPress, Blogger, MySpace, Facebook or many other sites.

If you have a blog, remove the any tendency to not talk about politics in a fear of offending them. Be yourself. If your opinions offend your friends, they might not really be your friends in the first place. Agree to disagree and agree to keep talking. 

I firmly believe that we create our own reality. By expressing yourself you are helping to shape not only your reality but the reality of the people around you and ultimately the people who are making the decisions about what you can and cannot do where you live.

Posted in art, creativity, government, life, politics, writing | 4 Comments »

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14 October 2008

Only You Can Prevent Discrimination

Are you registered to vote? If not, please do so immediately.

If you live in California, did you know that you can register to vote absentee on a permanent basis? That means that you’re ballot simply arrives in the mail (mine arrived last week), you vote then drop the ballot in the mail and you’re golden. No disenfranchisement. No pressure at the polls. No “had to hectic a day” on voting day and miss out.

Aside from the Obama vs. McCain debate… there is a proposition on the ballot to remove people’s rights. That’s rights that people already have and exercise. It’s taking away something that people can legally do, today. And that right only affects a certain percentage of the population. It allows some people to exercise those exact same rights and prohibits other people from doing so. Does that sound right to you? Does that sound equal? Does that sound American?

That’s exactly what Proposition 8 does. Proposition 8 eliminates the right for same sex couples to marry. It would take away my right to marry my sweetie. My sweetie of 12 years come November. If Prop. 8 passes, discrimination will be written into the California constitution.

If you would like help get the word out so that this heinous thing does not, in fact, become law,  make a donation. You can make a donation even if you don’t live in California. A large amount of the money that is driving the yes on 8 initiative is coming from mormons in Utah! So stand up, whip out that check card help to keep equality in the California constitution.

If you live in California, please vote NO on Prop. 8.

Posted in government, life, politics | 3 Comments »

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15 May 2008

Justice is Served

The California Supreme Court has declared that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional! However the fight isn’t over yet, about a million bigots have gathered signatures to place an item on the November ballot to write discrimination into the California state constitution.

(05-15) 10:13 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry in California, the state Supreme Court said today in a historic ruling that could be repudiated by the voters in November.

from SFGate

more:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a statement immediately after the opinion was issued saying he would uphold the ruling.

“Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling,” he added.

from The Sacramento Bee

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12 October 2007

A Beautiful Video Illustrating the 22nd Amendment

A really beautiful video (visuals, music and commentary) illustrating the 22nd amendment. Ran across this via kotte.org , via quipsologies.

Posted in art, government, politics, video | Leave a Comment »

9 October 2007

On Trial for Feeding the Homeless in Florida

It’s the first trial of its kind. A man is facing a judge and jury for violating Orlando’s ban on feeding the homeless. Eric Montanez, 22, was caught feeding a group in Lake Eola Park earlier this year. The prosecution told Eyewitness News their case rests on video taken of Montanez feeding the homeless, breaking Orlando’s feeding ban.

Unbelievable. This guy could go to jail for providing food to the homeless. Here’s the link for more.

Posted in government, homeless | Leave a Comment »

19 August 2007

“An important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation”

China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. Yes. You read that right. Also here. By declaring that a buddhist, of course this is aimed at one specific buddhist – but still, can’t reincarnate in Tibet without “permission”, does that mean that China, a communist state, just declared that reincarnation is real and by extension, can control an afterlife?

Posted in buddhism, china, government, reincarnation, religion | Leave a Comment »

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