If you listened to my podcast this week you may what to skim over most this , though this is not at all a direct transcript, there is more to this piece.
Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk about what the nation’s social and political leaders are doing for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning citizens and whether those leaders are doing enough for GLBTQ people. I haven’t devoted much time to this issue on my blog because it boils down to this; all this talk is media posturing and political posing; it is not productive discourse. It doesn’t map out a course of action to get us recognition or strengthen our community. It is an empty and futile exercise intended to suck up time, energy, and resources and we don’t have those to spare.
Sometimes in life, you just have to know when to pick a fight or when it is time to sit tight.
I‘ve heard GLBTQpeople attack President Obama, Democrats in Congress, and the Democratic National Committee, for lack of attention to GLBTQ issues. While I can agree, that each could give more attention to our issues, I am not surprised by their lack of attention to us or their indifference to our community‘s needs. We make up a small portion of our nation’s population. Each of these institutions has a specific set of societal tasks and responsibilities to perform. None works exclusively to advance or promote our issues. Each of them has to answer to our entire population, not just GLBTQ citizens. It is illogical to assume they would see us as more important, unless we make ourselves have more relevance than other, more pressing, societal needs and I don’t see that happening any time soon, considering the domestic issues we have on the table.
Really, look at this issue, before you start placing blame, because I think we are placing it on the wrong people. Maybe we should be looking in a mirror.
Does threatening to boycott the DNC, giving President Obama grief about re-election, or wildly criticizing congressional Democrats because they are not fully supporting us, advance our cause? By the way many people talk you’d think they were all working for a Sith Lord, not the American people. If you want to go after someone go after corporate interests. They are Sith Lords. They supply the crack for your everyday life. Corporate interests influence Congress, each sitting president, and the DNC and that influence directs much activity during any political period, not people. If you want to hit back hard don’t only use words, take away dollars from sponsors and contributors, and let the sponsor or contributor know you are pulling support and why. In short stop buying crack(stuff) from your pimp(corporate interests). Then you can lure your pimp in, put him in a leg lock, and strangle his ass until he does what you want.
The squeaky wheel is oiled, the broken wheel is fixed, and the whining wheel is replaced, with a shiny sparkly one that doesn’t whine. The smart wheel looks like a wheel, acts like a wheel, but turns out to be a jackhammer. We aren't that jackhammer yet and that's why we meet opposition at every turn and receive so many defeats. When our community is that jackhammer we will have what we want.
I’m not happy with our lot in life, but I’m not going to spend my life building the liberal socialist nation I dream about, out of the conservative capitalist republic I have to work with. That would waste a tremendous amount of time, energy and money, for a goal I know is not currently attainable with the small effort that is being put into it. I pick my battles well, especially with GLBTQ issues. I help alter our system, to help people, whenever I can. I stay informed, and I do what I need to advance my liberal agenda. I know who my allies are and I know who stands in my way. I know when to stand and when to shut my trap.
I would expect all GLBTQ citizens to be advancing their own issues and fighting for equality and equal rights themselves, not expecting others outside our community to do our work. In the past, social justice in this nation was always brought forth by affected citizenry rising up to force recognition of their plight. Liberty, justice, and equality are every human being’s birthright. Having that birthright recognized is another matter. The establishment didn’t help any of them. That’s harsh, but that’s life and we should expect no less.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion. Everyone has every right to voice themselves. Everyone has the right to have expectations of their leaders and to have disappointment in them when they fail . That doesn't bother me at all. It does bother me when GLBTQs whine, posture, and pose, instead of changing their own lives for the better. That dis-empowers us, makes us victims, and weakens our already precarious position.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Holiday Gifts 2009: 13 Great Eco Gifts
If you have to give a gift this holiday season, why not an eco gift?
Huffington Post-ClimateGate: The 7 Biggest Lies About The Supposed "Global Warming Hoax"
This article does a pretty good job exploring why the exposed climate e-mails do not make this climategate. Once again, time and energy spent trying to dispute something that is indisputable and more time and energy spent trying to keep conservative knuckleheads out of science debate and policy.
Bay Windows-Clinton: U.S. Must "Stand Against" LGBT Discrimination In Fight Against HIV
It is nice just to see GLBT recognition from Secretary of State Clinton on this issue. The previous administration all but completely ignored us.
ENDA Delayed Again; Activists Grumble and Kyle Gets More Pissed Off
These aren't delays for ENDA; they are stalling tactics you learn in high school, when you are on a debate team.
Film Explores Death of Transgendered Colorado Teen
A wonderful article talking about two-spirit people and their place in the native cultures of our continent. It is sad that a GLBTQ teen had to die to bring this information further forward to create a dialog about this issue. I'm am looking forward to seeing the film.
Listen To Episode 5 On The Podcast Hub At Life And Times Of A Gay Guy!
Listen To Episode 5 On The Podcast Hub! Tune in to hear news, Geoff finishing his interview with Jonny McGovern, Kevin from The Lisp, hosting Eclectic Grooves, Ken, from Adventures in Gay Dating, and me doing a little commentary on this weeks View from Out Left.
Thoughts On Obama's Troop Buildup and Withdrawal Plan for Afghanistan
Read the transcript of President Obama's speech here.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/02/obama.afghanistan/index.html
I'm not going to pretend I like this decision; my personal ideology is incompatible with it. War, in any form, has too high a cost to justify it. With that being said, I support our current President and therefore have to believe there is a compelling reason/s for doing this. Perhaps Obama was told never to pick a fight, but always finish it, I know I was.
The former administration picked this ill conceived and poorly planned fight, stirred up the proverbial hornets nest while it was playing out, and didn't finish the his job before his two terms were over. Perhaps Obama needs to finish this fight, so the Afghan people don't suffer more chaos, brutality, and injustice. That would be hard to imagine, considering how many of those things we have already brought them. Perhaps he has to do this to protect us from further harm, here at home. That is hard to believe as well, terrorists will always be here and abroad, waiting for a chance to strike at us. Perhaps it is to minimize human damage and suffering on all fronts. Regardless of the reason, and whatever decision he made, our sitting president would be raked over the coals. That was already in the cards. I also know he isn't doing this for spite, for favors, or to help corporations make money, as his predecessor did. That is at least somewhat comforting.
It must be very lonely in that oval shaped office at moments like this. You won't make anyone happy and ultimately you have to make the right decision, not the popular one, not the best political one, the only one you can make, based on the circumstances and information you have. Few ever have to be in that position. It is said that many who serve in that white house at the center if DC, never return to Washington after their presidency is over. I think now I can understand why.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Huffington Post-15 Toys NOT To Buy Your Kids This Christmas (PHOTOS)
Some of these I had seen, others were a surprise.
Edge-Rabbis, Heterosexuals Join NJ Gay Marriage Debate
In the end it doesn't matter what conservative Rabbis in NJ think or what conservative heterosexuals think, legal marriage comes from the state and not any religion. Until you file a license, with whatever state you are in, a marriage is not legal. Period. Also the last time I checked we still had separation of church and state in the US. You have every right to any religious feelings that you want to have in this nation, but no one has the right to institute or combine those beliefs with any state or federal legal matter.
They are openly attempting to discriminate. Even if marriage did become legal in NJ, I'm sure they would love to quietly push this issue down by popular vote, but I'm going to remind everyone, that a minority's rights should never be determined by the majority, as the majority will always choose to protect itself. In the our past, indentured servants, religious minorities, slaves, native peoples, woman, children, laborers, blacks, and latinos, were all controlled by discriminatory practices the majority instituted, maintained, and and fought to keep to serve their needs and wants. All were eventually granted some form of emancipation or protection or both, even though the majority didn't want that and fought against making it happen. Our fight is no different and don't let anyone tell you it isn't so.
Edge-Argentina Halts 1st Latin American Gay Marriage
Their marriage may be halted for the time being, but their love and commitment moves forward.
Huffington Post-Natural Resources Defense Council Targeted By Environmental Activists
I have never liked the idea of trading green credits, I think it of it as a stalling tactic, a profitable one for industry. But it has been the one of the only ways to get industry to support global efforts to combat climate change. Is it worth creating an industry trading system to get them on board and to gain global support to reduce industry impact on the environment, to get action on environmental issues quickly, or would it be better to hold out and force them to do what everyone knows they should, without the benefits of profiting from the effort, knowing action could be too late? The clock is ticking and I don't like either choice. I am sure the credit trading system will win out, but will Mother Earth?
Household Waste Jumps by 25% During Holiday Season-9 Ways to Cut This Waste
When I read this article I was thinking, "wow, these are very basic ideas." The only one we don't practice regularly is #1. What can I say, I'm a lazy vegetarian. If you don't already employ most of these, try to at least adopt some of them. Save money, reduce waste, and help Mother Earth breathe a bit easier this holiday season.
World AIDS Day 2009
World AIDS Day is observed each year on December 1st. The W.H.O. created World AIDS Day in 1988. World AIDS Day tasks governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with raising awareness and garnering attention for the the global AIDS epidemic.Over a million Americans are living with HIV and worldwide it is estimated thirty-three million people are living with HIV. This isn't a problem we can ignore and hope it will go away. HIV effects everyone, everywhere. It doesn't discriminate. Educate yourself, get tested, and help to prevent the spread of HIV.
http://www.worldaidsday.org/
http://www.unaids.org/en/Partnerships/Advocacy+partners/WAC/default.asp
http://www.aids.gov/
http://www.amfar.org/
http://www.aids.gov/
http://www.amfar.org/
It is always nice to hear a sitting president address the issue of HIV AIDS awareness and prevention.
Young people talk about their experiences and what they are doing to help.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Personal Update-Thanksgiving Holiday
We live pretty far from Stan's mom and the rest of his biological family. He either spends Thanksgiving or Christmas with them and this year he will be with them for Christmas. I am purposefully estranged from most of my biological family, so we have started a tradition that we go over to our friend's family party for each of the holidays. Amanda and Aaron are like a brother and sister to us and their children E(E is a girl) and S(S is a boy) are very much like a niece and nephew to us. Stan doesn't have any siblings and my brother(who is also gay), doesn't have any children(thank goodness for small favors), so E and S are pretty important to us.
Aaron's parents were hosting the party this year and I have to tell you Mike and Bonnie are great fun. They may be older than Stan and myself, but they are full of life, laughter, and love and exude youthfulness. Mike and Bonnie are terrific hosts; you'll never find an empty glass at their place, and the dinner and conversation before and afterward never feel stuffy. The whole night is never bogged down in pretense; it is all about connecting with each other; I have never been to a family event where there was more substance in the attendees hearts than was on the table.
For appetizers we had a wonderful chutney dip and something akin to a mini quiche Amanda makes, cheese and crackers, and a cranberry-orange amaretto dip, over cream cheese, I make. The traditional turkey, stuffing, squash, mash potatoes, and gravy, were present at dinner, and Stan and I always bring a vegetarian dish to the party. This year we brought peppers topped with NY sharp cheddar, filled with cranberry cornbread stuffing. For dessert, we had a delicious chocolate layer cake, buckeyes(peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate), pumpkin whoopi pies, with cream cheese filling, and butterscotch noddle twists(chow mein noddles with butterscotch poured over them). Of course any kind of drink you can imagine was available, not that we need them to have fun.
Saturday we spent with Amanda Aaron, E and S. We helped to make ornaments with E & S and finished decorating the tree. E was in this years parade for their town, so we couldn't miss that. We all got there about 2:30 and it took about a half hour to assemble the parade. It was very cold that day and we had winds gusting up to sixty miles an hour! E was on the sugar plum fairy float and she looked simply adorable. Once the parade got going it only took about a half hour to finish and we seemed to pick the perfect spot to get footage and photos. There were two bands, assorted agencies, the cub scouts, and of course Santa and Mrs. Claus. E was very happy to be in the parade and had a lot of fun. S enjoyed watching the parade, as we did. We went back to their place for dinner and drinks. We got a chance to play with the kids, Stan read them a bedtime story, and then we got to spent some time with Amanda and Aaron.
We have about half of the holiday decorations up at the house. The outdoor wreathes went up first. The nine foot tree in the livingroom is up, as well as all the decor for that room. It looks smashing! The kitchen and nook are well under way and the tree in the dining room just needs all of the ornaments placed on it and then that will be complete. I'll post pictures when it is all done.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Huffington Post-Obama To Copenhagen For Climate Talks
It is very nice to know that our nation will be well represented at the talks in Copenhagen. I think this sends a clear sign to the rest of the globe that we are serious about making headway at the talks and working together to do something about climate change and other environmental issues. After years of hedging and stall tactics by the previous administration, I think the world needs to see this.
Huffington Post-Climategate: GOP Opens Probe Into Climate-Change E-Mails
This is just a complete waste of time and money. It doesn't really matter if they do find some kind of collusion, which they won't. It doesn't even really matter if the entire environmental movement was corrupt and lying about global climate change being man made. We know it is happening, does it really matter what is causing it. The effect will be the same either way.
Everyone knows we have impacted and altered the world in fundamental ways and that we cannot continue on this unsustainable path. Most people are betting things won't get bad enough for them, within there lifetime, so they just continue forward on the same path. It is easier. It is profitable. It doesn't require work or hardship or changing anything.
We have plenty of problems to deal with that we know are caused by our existence and massive expansion. Over population, lack of fresh drinking water, food availability and sustainability, worldwide species loss, and massive deforestation are all man made environmental problems. Perhaps the GOP should work on those first, since they seem to be focused on man made problems, we are sure will be a problem.
CNN-FBI Cites Thousands of Hate Crimes in '08
It seems that whenever we change conventional notions or challenge those around us to except the differences among us, the flames of hatred get fueled a bit, resulting in more deaths, abuse, and mental torture. I am glad that George Steven Lopez Mercado's death will more than likely be prosecuted as a hate crime, the first of its kind. I am also very disappointed that it took lives of our youth and pieces of our community's future to make that a reality. Never forget them and their sacrifice.
In our world, it is too easy to give into hate and believe me all of us have the capacity to hate. Prejudice has the potential to exist in all our hearts. All of us have to fight these feelings and help others to do so as well. We have to fight ignorance and disconnection and replace them with empathy and compassion. This problem is enormous, but each of us has the ability to change that. Get to know your neighbors, mentor, teach, and raise the children in your life to know diversity. Mix up your life a bit, see different people, try different things; get out if your tiny box. Push your comfort zones and never forget to have compassion and learn to have empathy for all life.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Geoff, from Life & Times of a Gay Guy, Put the Podcast Up on iTunes!
Geoff from Life and Times of a Gay Guy has been able to work out the upload problems and the new podcast is now up on iTunes. Tune in to hear Geoff, Aunt Frannie, Kevin from The Lisp, hosting Eclectic Grooves, me doing a little commentary on this weeks View from Out Left, and much much more! Let me know what you think.
PETA-NBC Won't Air PETA's Thanksgiving Turkey Ad
'Grace': PETA's Thanksgiving ad
Was the ad that bad? I've seen lots of PETA propaganda, but this one is pretty tame compared what elsePETA has produced. I know the networks say they are hard up for cash, but it doesn't look that way when NBC is turning away a paying advertiser.
25 Healthy Recipes for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Of the list from this article, I have tried variations and loved most of the items on this list. The following were my favorites:
Warm Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Maple Spiced Nuts, Pear Walnut Blue Cheese Salad, Pumpkin Ravioli, Cheesy Squash Casserole, Lasagna With Fall Vegetables, Gruyère, and Sage Béchamel, Parmesan and Chive Potato Gratin, Sweet Potato Casserole, Chocolate Hazelnut Pie, Chocolate-Apricot Bread Pudding
Go on, try some of them, they are delicious!
CNN-In Lieu of Turkey, Thanksgiving Sparks Vegetable-Inspired Creativity
I agree with this article. You have to go with flavor and variety, not trying to emulate something that is not there, to have a successful vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Personal Update-Vacation, Recreation, Weatherize, Winterize, Exercise,
Stan has taken the full week off from work, which is unusual for him. He has a lot of time accumulated and he can only accrue a certain number of days before he starts to loose them. He realized the other day that he had lost three days over the last few months, as he did not take them off and he was at the max for time accumulation. So, we get to have some time together this week, which is nice, since we lost two weeks together when he was away traveling a few weeks ago.
Yesterday, we went over to Amanda and Aaron's to spend some time with them and with the kids. Aaron was busy building the raised beds for our Roots& Shoots project in the spring and Amanda was staining the wood for the trim work on the raised beds. They kids were helping them out as much as they could; they are getting better at that now that they are in school. The kids focused on Stan most of the time. They got to see me, while he was away a few weeks back, so I wasn't jealous. I talked with Amanda for most of our visit and Aaron had t leave for work shortly after we got there. We had dinner together and after the kids were in bed Amanda, Stan and I got a chance to catch up. We will get to see all of them them on Thursday, so it isn't like we have to wait long to see the four of them again. I'm bringing stuffed peppers for our gathering that day. We always have more than enough food and you can't beat the company at Aaron's parents, who are hosting Thanksgiving this year.
This coming weekend I will start to put up the many wreathes, swags, and garland, and start to put up the trees in each room. I generally start with the wreathes, then put up the garland and swags and then move on to each tree. I start in the living room and then work my way up the floors of the house. I also need to pick out the cards I am going use this year. I don't have to send out many holiday cards anymore, so it is more fun for me now and less of an obligation or chore that many people seem to feel it is. We won't have our holiday get together until the week before the solstice.
This morning I was out putting away the lawn ornaments and decorations, collecting and putting away pots and planters, raking the few remaining leaves in the yard, and swept the driveway and porches. Stan and I also installed insulation under the front box window. One of the foundation stones underneath it had fallen and we found out there wasn't insulation under the box window area at all, which explains some of the draft in the front of the house. Stan removed the stone(which was very heavy)crawled underneath, and put in spray foam in cracks and two other kinds of insulation under the floorboards of the box window, where it needed to be placed. I fetched tools, handed him what he needed, and we were able to complete that task in about three hours.
Because Stan has had off this week we have been able to give Katie and Nicholas longer walks and we we took them to run at the baseball field here in town. It is an semi-enclosed, fenced space and it is the only place nearby where we feel safe letting them loose to run. They are both very fast and we don't want to risk loosing either of them. Below is a video of the two of them playing and running a couple of months ago.
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