The culture wars are indeed fascinating. It’s very easy for me to wrap myself up in gay affirmative blogs and news sources and see only one side of the story. That side, after all, pertains directly to my life. Why would I want to bother with other view points. That thinking is of course WHY we have culture wars. Both sides are so wrapped up in their own ideology (on any number of issues) that they fail to realize that we all have to live on this planet together whether we agree or disagree with each other. A proposal has finally been drafted in California to try and put this sort of one sided thinking to rest and not surprisingly it’s come from the Libertarian Party of California. As a general rule, it’s quite hard for me to dump myself into the Republican/Democrat pool. I agree with some root Republican ideologies just as I agree with some root Democratic ideologies. Putting that aside, I generally have a problem with government. Trust isn’t the issue, it’s size and scope. I don’t believe that people generally need to be told what to do or how to do it. I don’t really agree with the idea that big government programs will solve social ills, and I don’t generally believe government needs to do many of the things it does from taxes to prohibition of pot and other mild drugs. That said, I do agree that there is a place for many of the things our government does but that’s much to detailed to go into here. That is why I tend to identify more with Libertarian philosophy than with the other two.
Kevin Takenaga, chairman of the Libertarian Party of California, said, “A marriage is a union between two people, a union they may choose to have blessed by their chosen higher authority in a religious ceremony. There is no place for the state in this relationship. By introducing the government into the sacred institution of marriage, which should be a purely personal and religious matter, we have spawned an ongoing cultural war that pits American against American. The Libertarian Party of California is proud to support the Domestic Partnership Initiative so that all Californians can be treated equally before the law.”
What has been proposed (for a ballet measure) is to change the word “Marriage” as it appears in all government documents (licenses etc.) to Domestic Partnerships. Leave marriage to the church and get the state out of it all together. Confer all benefits to all couples under the term Domestic Partnerships. There are some European countries that do this quite successfully, there is no reason this sort of thing could not work here as well. Now, if only the feds would consider this. I hate it that our government is so wrapped up in religion. Again and for the record, I’m not anti-religious or anti-Christian or whatever, I simply believe that religion is a personal matter and one that should not be supported or promoted (over others) by the government. For matters of rights and responsibilities, it should not matter one bit to the state whether any of us holds a belief in the supernatural.
So enough for tonight. Found this the other day on one of the blogs I frequent. Thought you might like it.
By leelanau2010 ( March 27, 2009 at 8:48 pm) · Filed under Music
I’ve been writing about music a bit lately on this blog. I mentioned before there is a new Pet Shop Boys CD due out in the USA on April 21. Just for you however, I’m bringing you exclusive content provided to you free of charge. Click the song title below to listen to the full tracks streamed to you from Europe (where the CD has already been released). These guys are planning a US tour this summer. The chances of them coming anywhere in Michigan are remote but I’ll have to keep my eyes out and perhaps try to see them. PSB rarely tours especially in the US so this one is a big deal. Tickets I’m quite sure will be expensive and very hard to come by. This is another band I’ve followed now for the better part of 20 years. God I’m getting old.
I decided I could not write about the Indigo Girls without also mentioning the other singer / songwriter that I can’t live without. Sir Elton John. I was playing around on YouTube tonight and came across the video below of him doing “Levon” live in New York City. I believe this was part of his 60th birthday celebration on this side of the world. The man is truly amazing, hugely prolific, and certainly his music will be celebrated for decades to come. I saw him in Las Vegas a couple years ago and it was a fantastic concert, one that I wish I could afford to go see again (at $250 a ticket, that tends to be a once in a lifetime gig for me). Anyhow, enjoy this video of a classic Elton song.
I’ve been out of it lately. I was catching up on some blog reading today and discovered that the Indigo Girls have a new CD due out tomorrow (March 24) and on top of that, there is a planned tour stop at the Interlochen Summer Music Festival on June 23! While the Indigo Girls have already published their tour schedule, Interlochen has yet to publish their summer line up, thus, no chance of confirming they will be there or of getting tickets yet. I’m going to the concert. The Indigo Girls have withstood the test of time with me. There are hundreds of bands that I can enjoy for a short time and then they get boring. With the Indigo Girls, I have never really become tired of their music. I have all their albums, including rare tracks and bootlegs, and they are one of the few bands that I follow around the Internet rather consistently. I have however never been to one of their concerts. I’ve always been too poor to buy tickets or just too busy to go. Having been a fan now since I was 15 or so (nearly 20 years) I think it’s time to join the plethora of lesbians (and some gay men) and freaky PETA supporting, anti-fur, anti-consumerist, anti-whatever crowd for a night and see them live. Their music is defined as much by their amazing vocals and harmony as their political messages, many of which I can support, some of which I just can’t. Anyhow, they are a band that for me is like the Grateful Dead was to many, one should try to see them live at least once in your life.
For a preview of their album you can go to their web site at Indigogirls.com
Tonight I rented Milk because I was too cheap to see it in the theater. If you’ve not seen it yet, you should. This was the story of openly gay SF Supervisor Harvey Milk that chronicles his influence on the gay rights movement. To a large extent, his influence is still felt and many of the battles he fought are still being fought today 30 years later. What struck me the most was once again the influence of the misinformed church which I talk about quite a bit here. Back then, even as we see today, religious leaders use their bully pulpit to spread lies about anyone who might be different from them. It is a small world they live in, it’s a shame for them that it isn’t reality. I won’t spoil the movie though, rent it.
Tomorrow I get to go and spend another $600+ on my pathetic car. Last time it was new breaks, tomorrow it will be new wheel bearings. HOPEFULLY, this will be the last of the major expenses that have nearly drained my entire bonus this year. I won’t complain because I do need the car and these extra funds are designed precisely for this sort of thing, they are, after all bonuses not necessarily fixed to my annual income but in addition to it so it’s not like I could not survive without them. Anyhow, I don’t expect to have much left this year for too many more ‘fun’ things like I’ve had in the past. I did get a few toys this year but I justify those as a gift for having survived the previous 12 months without losing my mind. I still miss Jirar a great deal but my life (and his life) are moving on. Shit happens.
Nothing else much to post tonight. Looking forward to a busy weekend at work. It’s supposed to be decent weather and that will draw people out of the wood work looking to get going on spring projects. Time to sharpen my game, motivate my team, and prove that even with a horrible economy, I can still make money for my company.
Picked this up on Pam’s House Blend tonight and thought I would post it here. I’d encourage you to go read this article in full over at the Right Wing Watch web site hosted by People for the American Way. This article clearly illustrates how religious groups have sought to distort the distinction between CIVIL marriage and RELIGIOUS marriage (among other things). To them, ALL marriages whether in a church or in a courthouse are one in the same when in fact this is not at all true. Millions of people get married each year with no involvement what-so-ever of a church or religious organization. Hell, many people are married by Elvis. The biggest problem as I see it is the fact that in this country, we allow religious leaders the ability to confer BOTH the civil aspects of marriage (the certificate, the invoked benefits and responsibilities) and the religious aspects of marriage (one before God etc.). Since gay marriage in California was voted out by a slim majority of people through Prop 8, it’s become brazenly clear to me that the government needs to get out of the marriage business all together. I think I place myself into a growing number of people who believe that our government, in their quest to promote stable relationships between people, (something I strongly support) should offer civil unions to EVERYONE who wants one. Gay or Straight. This would equalize entirely all aspects of CIVIL marriage into one collective definition in so far as rights, responsibilities, and benefits conferred by the state. Religious organizations can do what they want with marriage and as the article below suggests they would continue to be free to religiously marry whomever and however they want. No longer would clergy have the authority to speak for the state in the matter of CIVIL marriage and no longer would any state suggest that they favor one religious interpenetration of marriage over any other.
Most of you reading my blog don’t really fit into the over-zealous category of religious fundamentalism. If any of you do, you’ve done a great job of hiding it. Anyhow, religious organizations are the PRIMARY stumbling block for GLBT rights in this country. Stereotypes and general prejudices are learned anti-social behaviors that can (and often are) changed over time as people get to know other people. Religion however is generally not something people lose over time (although that isn’t 100% true either). People who grow up believing, tend to live their entire lives based on those beliefs and the beliefs of the religious organization that reinforces them. It is for that reason religion can not be separated from the debate on gay rights (in particular gay marriage rights) and it is for that reason religious organizations are at the front of this culture war and why they hoot and holler as loud as they can. Just look at the quotes in the block below. These are individuals with deep convictions and a very public presence. People believe what they say because they speak by the authority of their God. It can be extremely difficult to reach people who have been blinded by their faith when that faith is consistently reinforced to the exclusion of everything else out there in the world. I am not anti-religion or anti-christian or whatever else but from an intellectual standpoint, I can not trust a person or an organization that puts blind faith ahead of human compassion and tolerance. It’s none of my business that you believe in God any more than it’s none of your business that I don’t.
Religious and Political Leaders Confuse or Distort the Civil and Religious DistinctionDuring the pastor organizing calls for Proposition 8, in which Californians voted to strip same-sex couples of the constitutional right to marry, a two-fold strategy became clear. To pastors and members of conservative evangelical churches, proponents of equality were described as satanic forces who needed to be engaged in a religious war. People For the American Way Foundation’s report on one of those calls notes that one speaker predicted that if Prop. 8 failed, the God-ordained institution of marriage would be destroyed; the engine of hate crimes legislation would be fueled, ultimately leading to it being illegal to read some sections of the Bible; the floodgates would be open to gay couples suing to force churches to marry them; and the polygamists would be next. But organizers were told that in reaching beyond their religious communities the campaign strategy would be to attack activist judges and stir fears about supposed threats to children.
Contrary to the claims of Ralph Reed and Richard Land noted above, many opponents of marriage equality did insist that civil marriage law must follow what they believe God and the Bible say about marriage. Below are just a few representative samples of that kind of rhetoric:
“If you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8.” – Rick Warren, pastor and author, in a video message to church members
“As a Christian, the candidate for Vice President must affirm that marriage is an institution created by God and defined as a union between one man and one woman.” - Christian Anti-Defamation Commission demanding in June 2008 that John McCain pick as his running mate a “True Christian,” which the group defined as someone who is anti-gay and anti-choice.
“The California Supreme Court ruling not only overruled the very clear will of the people, it also proposes to overrule God’s design. These judges may think they know more about marriage than the rest of us, but I am confident they don’t know more about marriage than God. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Children need that environment to give them their best chance to fulfill their great potential. That’s not only my opinion and the opinion of most of the people in this country, it’s God’s opinion, and His opinion overrules the opinion of any judges.” – Barrett Duke of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission following last year’s California Supreme Court ruling that the discrimination against same-sex couples violated the state’s constitution
“It’s the height of humanist hubris to believe that man (including judges) can radically redefine that which God has created. We can never sanctify that which natural law rejects and God expressly condemns.” – Concerned Women for America’s Matt Barber
By leelanau2010 ( March 16, 2009 at 8:09 pm) · Filed under work, job, promote, work
So every 6 months or so I get a phone call at work from the corporate HR department asking me various questions about how I’m doing and where I think I might want to go with my company. They keep track of us pretty well and I generally don’t mind these calls since it keeps me in contact with those who can help me further my career. Today I got a call and was asked if I was interested in promoting to an assistant general manager position now open in Holland, MI (meaning pack your bags, your moving next week…that process is another topic for another post). The flying Dutchmen suddenly came to mind, along with dutch village and hope collage and blond hair. I got a little sick to my stomach having vowed never to return to live in that part of the state. I’ve been rated pretty well by my superiors at work and it seems they want to promote me (there are benefits to them for doing so as well as for me). I said no.
There are lots of things that come to mind about my career that I will eventually have to start seriously considering. More money, more status, of course more stress and instability. The later two things have kept me where I am and honestly I sort of like where I am. At this point in time for my store, I’d be considered an experienced manager, I certainly have the qualifications to go to the next level and I have plenty of people pushing me at work to do so. It puts me in a good position however to be a little picky about how fast I move and about where I go. I’ve set out some pre-qualifiers for myself regarding what part of the country I want to be in. As my company continues to grow, I expect that within 10 years, most of the states I would consider moving to will be an option with my company. My company continues to grow and our competition simply put is shrinking. That means I’m working for the right company. You see, should I take that next step, it is a path to general management which means I go through 2 steps (at least a year each or longer if I need more preperation) and then I would have my own store (assuming all goes well). The end goal is worth it. After 5 years or so at the top in a store the income potential is over 100K a year. It is however the loss of freedom that I’m not sure I’m ready to let go of yet. Currently, I’m at the top of my store and one of the senior managers. Having done this job now for only 5 years, you can see that it didn’t take me long to get there. I don’t know if that says the job is just easy or that I actually know what I’m doing. I suspect maybe a little of both. I have the freedom and flexibility to make my own decisions, write my own schedule (sort of) and create and lead my own team. There is very little that my manager will override mainly because he knows I understand the general direction I need to go for my company and what I need to do to get there. If I move up, suddenly, I’m at the bottom (of the next level). That itself can be a tough pill to swallow. I have to go where they want me to go and when they want me to go there. If I want to give up my life and freedom for my company, I can move up quickly and get paid very well but as I said before, I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that just yet and I’m not sure I’m quite ready to leave Traverse City. Additionally, money isn’t everything. Sure, I’d love to make lots of it however, if I don’t like the job or I don’t like the city I’m in, what’s the point? I like it here and I like my current store and my current income is comfortable. I am not one to stagnate however.
Anyhow, I asked them to ask me the same question in another year (next spring) and I should know where I want to go by then. I don’t have to go anywhere, my income will continue to go up the longer I stay where I am and to an extent so will my status. There will come a point however where I will pass the point of being really promotable (that is young and ambitious…a desired trait that I have right now at this moment although never spoken as such). I can do what is required, the question really is, do I want to?
By leelanau2010 ( March 13, 2009 at 9:25 pm) · Filed under Funny, Video, 80's, retro, TV
Was surfing around on retrojunk.com tonight. Found a few video clips that I particularly enjoyed as a kid. These are all from the early to mid 80’s. I’ve got a bunch more of this stuff that I’ll post sometime in the future. You’ll notice that these are not YouTube branded videos. I’ve finally figured out how to host my own video on my own web server so I can upload my own video files now rather than hosting them on YouTube.
Happy Friday the 13th! Today was an expensive day but it also happened to be the day that I received my yearly ‘big’ bonus at work. I was looking over my pay stub and comparing it to the memory of my first job. Including my profit sharing bonus from last month, and my manager’s bonus from today; in the first 10 weeks of the year I’ve grossed nearly 4 times what I made in a year’s time working 20-25 hours a week as a bagger at the grocery store when I was 16. I am going to be 35 this year after all, I should be at this level. Anyhow, my economy is doing just fine despite the nay-sayers that claim we are in a recession. I’ve had more disposable income in the past 2 years than at any point in my life. I’m nearly debt free (except for the still massive school loan that won’t ever go away), I’m single with no dependents, I have no social life, and I spend almost all of my time either at work or sleeping. Guess it makes sense right? It stands to reason that I would have money if I don’t have time to spend any of it.
So anyhow, thank God for the bonus. For the past week I’ve been driving my car listening to this horrible grinding coming from my worn out breaks. I pulled in to Midas today and told the guy at the counter that as soon as they remove the lug nuts from the tires, I fully expect the tires to shoot off the axle and for my breaks to throw up on his floor. Not far from what happened really. I had to replace both front rotors and both front calipers because everything I had was completely gone. My previous break job lasted me 3 years and I had them replaced 3 years prior to that. In short, history suggests that on this car, I can expect my breaks to last at most 3 years. I’m still on the original set of rear breaks but for a front wheel drive car, that’s not unusual. $500 bucks POOF. And I’m not done yet.
The other problem I have with the car is a loud humming noise, almost a grind but not really. Turns out I am going to have to have both of my front wheel bearings replaced. I’m pretty sure that I’ve had to do that before but I won’t be able to wait on this one too long. They are both shot and the noise won’t go away and my ABS light won’t go off until I fix them. Another $300 bucks each including labor POOF. I’m going to try and get that done this next Thursday.
So, out of my pocket and then into someone else’s. I work AND spend to make other people rich. My life in a nutshell. It’s impossible to live in this part of the country without a car. In Grand Rapids, I could get away with it, especially because Jirar had a car that was in good shape and I lived on the bus route. Up here, I can’t even walk to a store and I certainly can’t walk 30 miles on rural roads out to the Cottage. I’m going to have to start considering the long term here. My car is a 1999 so it’s 10 years old this year. I’ve got 150000 miles (almost exactly) on the thing. The engine still works well but I know it’s not too terribly far from death. Anyone care to bet me a down payment on a new car that I can push this baby for 200000 miles? I need to. It will be that long before I can save enough to buy something decent. I can’t complain too much. Aside from my beloved VW Fox that I had during most of my 20’s (I will forever be partial to VW’s), this car has done well for me. In the 6 years I’ve had it, I’ve put on nearly 71000 miles (mostly due to 3 years of driving 65 miles round trip to work at least 5 days a week) and I’ve had fun driving it. We’ll see what the future holds.
OK, one more post tonight. I’ve spent the better part of my evening scanning old pictures. Recently I stole several old photo books from my folks (promising to return them someday) and I’ve been hard at work scanning and then editing pictures for the Historical Preservation portion of my photography web site. I’m posting 2 pictures below from those albums as well as a tune that really must be put into context with the pictures. Go ahead, click on the tune and then look at the pictures.
One of my favorite tunes from the early 90’s.
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Age 4 – looking like I have some big shoes to fill. Can you see me tearing around that wild yellow kitchen?
Oh My GOD, why didn’t someone just tell me to come out of the closet when this picture was taken? This was 9th Grade. Fred Schneider (lead singer of B-52’s) would be proud.
