Short and sweet. I encourage everyone to register on this blog. Even if you don’t make comments, having a user account might have perks someday in the future. That said, if you do not provide at least a first name OR a nick name in your registration – IT WILL BE DELETED without notification. It would appear that there are some hackers / spammers using fake google accounts and .ru accounts to register on this blog. Well, not just this one…many blogs. You can identify that you are indeed a real person (and not a spam robot) by providing a first name or a nick name on the registration page. At some point I’ll be updating that process but I just don’t have time to do it now so YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
You all know I can be unwittingly crewel towards some people on this blog. The nutcases on the political right just make it too dam easy. The title is not mine by the way, got that from another blog. So, Miss California gave up a chance at her golden tiara to take a stand against gay marriage, fake boobs and all. She is now the poster child for bigots around the country parading in front of the cameras reading scripts she clearly didn’t write and making claims she does not clearly understand. Just think, if that obnoxious queen Perez Hilton had just asked a different question, we might not have ever had the chance to watch these people dig their own graves. It’s sad that Miss California thought her new boobs would help her win the crown….and they might have if she had not opened her mouth. Really, I think beauty pageants are absurd and degrading to begin with. These people should not be allowed in front of cameras. EVERY year one of them says or does something that so completely illustrates the complete idiocy of either our educational system or our political system that it just makes all of them look like fools.
I’m enjoying politics right now. Not necessarily because the issues I give a shit about are winning but because I enjoy seeing politicians shove their feet down their throats and it’s rather fun right now to see a political party that was once king of the hill completely collapse. I’ll remind you all that prior to the takeover of the republican party by theocrats somewhere in the 90’s, I would have very easily considered my political ideology to be republican leaning. That of course has completely changed now that Republicans have lost sight of their small government tenants. This week we’ve had a republican senator tell us that the Matthew Sheppard murder was a hoax and then, after realizing what she said (or rather having it pointed out to her), try to backpedal her way out of her bigotry. We’ve seen a moderate republican SWITCH parties indicating that he has lost faith in what has become a party of zealots and theocrats, and we’ve seen President Obama chastise the republican party, demanding (as he rightfully should) that they actually make an attempt to meet him half way on legislation and policy ideas because the only thing they have been doing is standing in the way of his agenda and offering NOTHING to counter what Democrats are proposing. Look, if they don’t like the policies and decisions being made it would serve republicans much better if they came up with some sort of alternative which so far they have failed to do with any sort of consistency. They seem to have completely lost their ability to think or lead and it’s showing by the vast number of people who are fleeing the party. I think those tax day tea parties fucked them all up. That is in and of itself a HUGELY fruitful commentary…do those people know what tea-bagging REALLY IS???? Look it up folks, it ain’t something you’d discuss with your mother…at least not with a straight face.
In other news (but related) the newest CBS poll on attitudes towards same sex marriage shows a big jump in acceptance of full marriage equality.
Gay marriage, legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and now Iowa, with Vermont coming aboard in September. At its low, in 2004, just 32 percent of Americans favored gay marriage, with 62 percent opposed. Now 49 percent support it versus 46 percent opposed — the first time in ABC/Post polls that supporters have outnumbered opponents. More than half, moreover — 53 percent — say gay marriages held legally in another state should be recognized as legal in their states. The surprise is that the shift has occurred across ideological groups. While conservatives are least apt to favor gay marriage, they’ve gone from 10 percent support in 2004 to 19 percent in 2006 and 30 percent now — overall a 20-point, threefold increase, alongside a 13-point gain among liberals and 14 points among moderates. (Politically, support for gay marriage has risen sharply among Democrats and independents alike, while far more slightly among Republicans.)
It’s been an interesting week to say the last.
Going to be a busy weekend at work I think. It’s going to be cool but sunny. That means people will be out shopping and looking for spring projects. The trees are starting to bloom and many of the spring bulbs have finally come up and flowered. That’s a good sign even though it’s still just dam cold. Enjoy the weekend!
I’ve not weighed in too much on this topic but with the news below I figured I’d put in my two cents.
DSLReports that Cablevision will be offering subscribers 101-Mbps download service, a new US record. That’s fast enough to download an HD movie in less than 10 minutes. The package, known as “Ultra,” will launch on May 11 and will cost $99.95 a month. Upload speed is 15 Mbps and there are no monthly limits. Cablevision is also doubling the speed of its Wi-Fi service, which is available free to subscribers using hotspots across the Northeast.
OK, for those of you who think your 3-5Mbps download speed on Comcast or Charter (or any other high speed Internet provider in Michigan) is fast, you might want to think again. The cable companies want you to think it’s fast. The fact is, the United States lags significantly behind in broadband deployment NOT because cable companies don’t have the means to provide it, but because they refuse to make the investment and they don’t want to take away revenue they get from advertisements on cable TV. When it comes to high speed Internet, the United States ranks at the bottom worldwide for both speed and coverage. Even poor and developing countries offer faster service over a wider area than the US does. Cablevision has finally seen the light and deployed a world competitive broadband package with super fast download speeds for the same price I am paying right now for what I would consider to be pretty shitty service using old and outdated cable lines on a network that caps my speed at 5Mbps download. I could pay more for 10Mbps service but that would be another $40 a month for really not much better speeds. Not even remotely worth considering.
Broadband as a medium that consumers actually use is headed in the direction of what Cablevision is now providing but it’s going to be a VERY long time before the rest of the cable companies follow suit. It’s going to be up to private investors to push things along or it will be up to the government to make it happen. I’m sort of an unwilling fan of the later option. My own feeling is that I would rather not have the government involved in Broadband deployment because there are just too many places the government can and will stick it’s ugly-ass nose but if that is what it takes to force cable companies to get their shit together and get the ball rolling than I am willing to put up with it for a while.
Next time you are on the phone arguing with your cable company about their piss poor service and lack of options, make sure you mention Cablevision and the 101Mbps speeds they are offering…do this especially when the cable company tells you they can’t fix your piss poor connection speed because the cable lines are just too old. FUCKING UPDATE THEM you pathetic dip shits! It just amazes me that cable companies can steal $125 a month from me and MILLIONS of other people and at the same time just sit on their hands and completely ignore their infrastructure deficiencies. Someone is getting VERY rich. WORK ON IT…especially CHARTER CABLE IN TRAVERSE CITY, MI.
This is the new green revolution in the US. I get a kick out of people who claim to be concerned about our planet but who clearly don’t understand how we ended up in our current predicament. These are the folks who buy the re-usable shopping bags every time they come in the store because they could not be bothered to remember to actually RE-USE the one they purchased yesterday. These are the folks who buy an electric lawn mower and then 20 bags of in-organic chemical fertilizer in the same transaction as if the green purchase might cancel out the bags of cancer causing, water polluting pellets they will feed into the earth after they finish mowing. These are the folks who buy the plastic cups made of recycled plastic not knowing that it’s STILL plastic and if you don’t recycle it AGAIN it will sit in a landfill thousands of years longer than the wax coated paper cups that cost a little more. Going green takes a little more thought and a LOT more effort and I’ve learned that a huge number of Americans are just lazy.
The idea that we all need to be more conscious of our planet is not at all a bad one however we are stuck in an age of sound bytes and incomplete information. You simply can’t be an outspoken steward of the earth while driving a gas guzzling Hummer…sorry folks, the newer transmission makes NO difference, it is ONLY more fuel efficient because they are ONLY comparing it’s fuel efficiency with the PREVIOUS Model’s inefficiency! You are still only getting 8 miles to the gallon (rather than 7), it STILL requires a large engine to pull a 6 ton tank over the road. Your “green” hummer still screams FUCK THE EARTH – I HAVE MORE DISPOSABLE INCOME THAN YOU DO! If you actually believe auto manufacturers don’t have the ability to produce greener cars RIGHT NOW, you are in a dream world and you believe the lies. The FACT is they can produce green cars, you however are simply not willing to demand that they do OR pay a higher price for them. Rather than spending $20K on an 8 cylinder Cadillac, why not spend $20K on a hybrid that gets twice the gas millage and uses that fuel more efficiently? Do you REALLY need a muscle car or do you just have a badly damaged ego and you think a car with bigger balls might make up for your personal insecurities?
Now, I won’t call myself an outspoken green citizen by any stretch but I’m not hypocritical about my habits either. I make changes in my consuming habits that I can afford when I can afford to make them. I generate less than 1 bag of trash per week now and I recycle as much of the products I use that I can. I use an electric lawn mower and I don’t use chemical fertilizers. I water my lawn using a water saving sprinkler system and I’ve helped my parents install the same type of system at their home. I drive a compact sedan that gets 27 miles per gallon and the next car I buy will do better than that. There are MANY areas of my life where I am not at all green and I don’t necessarily apologize for that either (right now). It is impossible for me to escape buying products with 50 times more packaging than is really needed BUT that does not mean that I can’t properly dispose of the cardboard, plastic, and Styrofoam that comes with them. It is impossible for me to recycle everything because the city I live in has not found the political willpower to enact stricter recycling ordinances if they even offer the option at all. Those of us who want to be green advocates must make bigger demands on not only our government bodies but also our neighbors and families. I used to get irritated with the piles of recyclables Sarah and Brian would collect when they were living at the cottage several years ago, ONLY because the sorting bins happened to get in my way on a regular basis. Their absolute insistence on recycling everything they could however changed my own perceptions over time about what we were really able to do to and WHY recycling matters. Their good habits changed my bad habits and THAT is where everyone needs to start. I recycle more frequently now BECAUSE of their example. It’s not always convenient (or clean) but it’s still an earth friendly practice that needs to be done as often as possible.
Anyhow, practice what you preach. If you are going to be a green advocate, I’d better not see you sucking down “spring water” out of a plastic sport cap water bottle you picked up at the 7-11. How about you try filtered water from your tap in a re-usable container. A container that will cost you more to buy at the onset but you can use several million times.
That’s my Earth Day post for the year. Spring is just around the corner, it’s time for some renewal.
As much as I might have protested my love for the Golden Girls years ago, I had a thing for those old ladies on the TV. It wasn’t until several years after that show ended that I learned about the various legacy’s of the actresses on that show, most of whom had quite seller careers. Bea Arthur, or Dorothy, as I knew her on TV was one such woman you didn’t want to trifle with. The generations before me would know her best from the shows All in the Family and then in Maude (both shows before my time). She was gentle but tough and strong headed and as if you didn’t expect it coming from me on this blog, she was also a strong proponent for gay rights and equality. The GLBT community has always had sort of a campy relationship with the Golden Girls, that show was one of the first in prime time to broach the subject of gay rights and it was done with charm and candor that really went unmatched until Will and Grace arrived in the 90’s. The clip below is from a Golden Girls episode. Bea Arthur died today at the age of 86 due to complications from cancer.
A long time ago, when I moved up to the northwoods of Michigan and started taking pictures, I claimed that one day I would publish a photography book using my pictures of the area. This year, I finally found the time and the means to do so and now that the initial book has been previewed I am officially making it available for purchase. Sadly, independent book publishing is fairly expensive even with the technology available however if you have enjoyed my photography, this 50 page book contains what I would consider to be my best work. The photography I do is very raw. I don’t use photo editing software to enhance or edit images so what you see in my pictures are the real thing. I like the idea of presenting reality in my photographs, especially photos of the landscapes around me.
Anyhow, if you are so inclined and wish to purchase your own copy of my book you can do so by clicking the badge below from my web publisher. The badge will also remain as a link on the sidebar of this blog. You’ll be taken to an order screen and you can even preview the book before you buy it. You will be presented with 3 options. A softcover version ($29.95), a hardcover with dust jacket ($45.95), or a hardcover with ImageWrap ($47.95). Each page is printed on premium paper using a 4-color printing process (standard process for these types of books), and it will make a great addition to your library. The books are printed ‘on demand’ which means you can expect about a 7 day lead time including shipping although the first copy arrived to me within 5 days.
I do hope you like it. My intent is to publish additional books in the future. With over 2500 photographs in my personal library taken over the past 5-8 years I could do a great deal more with them. Thanks to everyone who continues to support and appreciate my efforts.
Took an interesting quiz tonight on line about my ecological footprint. My results are below. I’d be interesting to see how my results compare to yours. Let me know. You can take the quiz HERE. If everyone on the planet lived by my lifestyle standards we would need 6.06 Earths to keep up. Clearly I have a fairly big ecological footprint but as you can see, I am still below the country average on everything except food consumption.
Never judge a book by it’s cover. Yes, that’s already been said about Susan Boyle, one of the least attractive 47 year old’s I’ve seen in recent days WITH one of the most incredible voices I’ve heard in years! For those of you who have not had the privilege yet, there is a link below and an embedded video. Click the link first and go to YouTube to get the back story and see her audition on Britain’s Got Talent. The embedded clip is from a 1999 charity CD release of unsigned artists that she did. Both are fabulous.
I’m typically not a fan of these types of variety shows. The fates and dreams of thousands of people who try out for a chance a the big time tend to lay (falsely) in the hands of 3 mega judges with agenda’s and a typically naive audience voting population. Sometimes however the right people do indeed get the exposure they deserve. This show may well be Susan’s big break and you can bet that her life will never be the same again after this audition. Whether she goes on to to win the competition or not is no longer relevant. She will now have enough recognition to land a recording contract and she will be able to retire doing what she spent her entire life attempting to do. Ride the Wave.
Whew, another long day at work. I hate going back on Monday’s, it’s such a drag on my well relaxed body to have to get up and trek my lazy ass into work. I think I’ll win the lottery and sit on my butt the rest of my life. If only.
I know I preach to the choir quite often on this blog but for you heterosexuals out there who are reading this (which likely is my primary audience), I feel that I have at least a small obligation to provide you with accurate information to combat all the mis-information you have received over your lifetime about homosexuals. This blog is my activism outlet you see. I don’t take to the streets with signs and I don’t get into heated public arguments with people about this or really about anything. It’s just not my style. I get my opinions out in writing for anyone to see and I welcome challenges to those opinions…provided you eventually agree with my point of view. Well, you don’t have to agree, but you do at least have to be nice to me and respect that we can agree to disagree. So, those of you in Michigan, it’s important for you to know the arguments out there that want to keep me pinned down as a second class citizen. Michigan you see has already declared through it’s Constitution that my existence doesn’t count, that I am not worthy of marriage, that it’s OK to fire me from my my job simply for being gay, that it’s OK by the laws of Michigan to prevent my partner from making medical decisions for me should I ever be incapacitated and not able to do so for myself. You’re right, most of those don’t apply to me directly, right now, at this particular minute in my life but they have in the past and they will in the future. So my voice is here on this blog for anyone to read because I can. Because I can change minds and hearts through words just as my opponents can harm me through words of their own. So I’ll get off my soap box now and take off my tin-foil hat and let you watch the video below. Take note of the issues presented as they are the issues that are being used to keep me down. You’ll see, none of them are legitimate but those making those arguments sure seem to think so.
