The Northwoods Is No Place For A Pink Flamingo
Politics
A Huge Win – Prop 8 Unconstitutional
Aug 4th
Anyone still reading this blog after a summer of very few posts from me knows that I followed the Prop 8 trial in California rather closely. As a gay man I’ve always found it absurd that this very basic right that heterosexuals take for granted was never an option for me because I am attracted to men and not women. My sexuality is not questionable, I am what I am and there is no disputing that. Today, the judge in this case ruled that the premise of Prop 8 violates BOTH the due process and equal protection clauses of the federal Constitution. In other words it was found that the ban on same sex marriage brought about by Prop 8 in California was an improper ballot initiative and is now null and void.
There were 3 possible outcomes for this trial (from the Prop8 Trial Tracker Blog)
- LOSE – Prop 8 is a permissible act of the people acting legislatively.
Well, I’m not sure how much I need to explain this one, but it’s the worst case scenario for us. In this situation, Judge Walker would be saying that the people, acting as the state’s legislature, had a “legitimate” interest (any interest really) in regulating against marriage equality, and that Prop 8 was rationally related to that interest. This is the so-called “rational basis” test. Now, the Defense of Marriage Act recently failed that test, but that doesn’t mean Prop 8 couldn’t pass.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the case is over, just that we are on hold as we move forward through the system - Win – The implementation of Prop 8 is unconstitutional.
This is how we win, without getting everything we really want. This would clearly be a win for our community in the state of California, but would provide relatively little precedent value for other states. The basic rationale here would be that by allowing the 18,000 couples to be married, and not future couples, the state has violated the equal protection of those couples who were not able to wed. This rationale was suggested in a couple of the amicus briefs filed on behalf of the plaintiffs. It could be seen as something of a middle ground, but let’s be honest, it will not satisfy anybody who opposes marriage equality. And it further muddies the underlying issues when what we really need is clarity. Could it happen? Yes, it very well might. But this rationale would be a lame attempt at Solomonic baby-splitting that would present more questions to be answered by other courts. - WIN – Prop 8 is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and/or the Due Process Clause
This would be our ultimate victory, and really, what Olson and Boies are going for in this case. As I presented above, there are two possible rationales, and I’ll discuss those below. But skipping over the logic, the net result would likely be the complete nullification of Prop 8. However, Judge Walker is likely to issue a stay pending appeal, especially if he overturns Prop 8. In other words, don’t make wedding plans just yet.
We got the 3rd which is the best of the 3 and now sets the stage for the eventual appeal to the 9th circuit court of appeals. This win, going int0 an appeal is far better than going in with a loss. As I’ve said before, this fight is long from being over but this is a huge step in the right direction. You can expect to see over the next several weeks cries of judicial activism on the right (never mind that this judge was appointed by a Republican president) and hollering about the “will of the people”. This very decision however expels the idea that any majority has any right to VOTE FOR discrimination against a minority. If the decision is affirmed, it may easily nullify every state Constitutional ban on gay marriage that exists today (Michigan’s included).
The appeal process is expected to take up to 2 years to reach SCOUTS. By that time however, it is likely that additional states will have acted to affirm same sex marriage or begin work on repealing bans. It is sometimes tough to say but as California does, the rest of the country tends to follow. It is the largest state with the largest economy with some of the heaviest hitting political clout you can get. It’s not going to be all roses and rainbows but the trajectory is clear. Marriage will be an option for me in my lifetime if I wish to choose it and that, ultimately, is what it’s about. My right to choose my mate, to choose the person I love.
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Worn Out
Jul 20th
Good Lord it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything here. This summer has been pretty crazy for me so far and I’ve been doing nothing but working. Today I am going on day 19 now and I’ve had 1 day off. To say the least, I am tired, my body aches, my head is filled with the HORRIBLE music they play at work and I’ve had no motivation to write about much of anything. On the upside, I have a vacation starting at 1PM on Friday and I’ll be off work for 10 days during which time I intend to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to strain my body any more than necessary.
So I’ve got one thing I want to bitch about tonight and I’ve written about it before. Michigan is really a fucked up state. The reason I’ve been working 60 hours a week for the past 3 weeks is because of an archaic law called the Michigan Consumer Protection Act which was passed with very little explanation some years ago to “protect” consumers from companies who might try to rip them off, primarily retailers. Michigan is the ONLY state in my company’s region that has to deal with this law, no other states have (or will ever) even consider it. It consists of 2 parts. The first part deals with price discrepancies. If a consumer exits the store and then identifies a price sticker that disagrees with the price rung up on his receipt, he is entitled to return to the store to receive back the difference times 10. That means, if you buy a candy bar and that candy bar has a price sticker for $1.00 but the cash register rings it up for $1.10, you are entitled to come in and the store must pay you 10 times the difference up to $5.00. In this case you would receive back $0.10 x 10 = $1.00. The rule is that before that is paid out, the transaction must be complete and you must have left the store and returned with your receipt and the item in question showing the incorrect price sticker. People routinely take advantage of this law and as a result, stores pay out. The second part of this law has to do with price stickers themselves. In Michigan, EVERYTHING that is for sale in a retail establishment (with some exceptions) must have a price sticker affixed to the product in addition to signs indicating what the price is on the shelf. We are the ONLY state that requires this of retailers and really, it does nothing other than prove that consumers are incapable of basic observation. If a shelf sticker below a can of soup says that can of soup of whatever flavor is $1.00, than that can of soup is $1.00! Really quite simple to look at the tag, look at the soup, and reach a logical conclusion that it is in fact that price. If you are paying attention at the cash register and find a problem, no retailer is going to ignore you, they are going to fix it and adjust the price right there to match the tag on the shelf. MOST stores in the country price sticker their products. This is a GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE and I don’t disagree with doing it. HOWEVER, I must inform you that this practice is extremely expensive to the retailer which in turns makes YOUR products more expensive. EVERY DAY when I go into work, I spend the first 2 hours of my day doing price changes. These changes are necessary because the price of EVERYTHING is fluid. Need I remind you that you do NOT pay the same for gas today as you did 10 years ago! Because we price sticker items, and because prices can and do change very often, I spend a great deal of money paying my employees to remove old price stickers, put new ones on and then make new signs. I’m not talking about 1 or 2 changes a day. I can have over 200 a day depending on the products that change when the market changes. THIS is the concept that consumers do not understand and this RESULTS in the payouts described in part one. Things get missed, signs don’t get updated quick enough etc. etc.
So what am I getting at. This law sucks for retailers and does very little to enhance or benefit the consumer. REALLY, what are you planning to do with that extra 5 cents? When you sell 6 million items in a store, humans miss things and there are really very few retailers interested in taking advantage of consumers. Whats in it for the retailer to do so? Why would we want to willingly piss off a potential customer? I’m sorry folks but THINGS COST MONEY. I’m sorry that you have to pay for your goods and services and I’m sorry that prices go up and down on a regular basis but thats how life works. Why not do YOUR part and simply pay attention when you are shopping? Why is it that EVERY OTHER STATE is permitted to simply use proper signs and shelf tags to sell their products and you don’t hear about issues with pricing in those states? Why are we paying out money to someone who happened to pick up one product in a bucket of 50 items where the price sticker has fallen off, and how is it that we must pay out because of DISHONEST customers who ROUTINELY peel off price stickers and replace them with stickers for a lesser price? Think this doesn’t happen? Think again. I see people do it on a regular basis, they will sit there in the aisle, remove price stickers and drop them on the floor and then go find a cheaper product and put that sticker on the item they want. Who’s being taken advantage of here?
OK, thats enough. In the end folks, this is a law I can’t change but just like you can bitch about stuff not being priced, I can bitch about those of you who find it perfectly acceptable to take advantage of the law and I can bitch about those you too simply to lazy or incapable of being and observant shopper.
Sometime this summer I will write a bit more about some different subjects if I can every get my ass out of work for any length of time. I WANT THIS SIGN for my store. Get OFF your fucking phone if you want my attention.
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Summertime, and the living is easy….
Jun 19th
For those who don’t have to work anyhow.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update on this blog. Life is crazy for me right now. Work, Work, Work, sleep, sleep, sleep. It’s a redundant cycle that won’t end until late August it seems. All things considered, this is turning out to be a pretty decent summer. The weather has been SO much better than last year, temperatures have remained fairly consistent in the upper 70′s to 80′s. Right where it should be. The boat is in the water at the cottage and the folks are keeping very busy building fences, making cookies, and keeping up with the neighbors (as much as they can stand it anyhow). Looks like sister Sarah and nephew Christopher are going to be making a trip up to the northwoods as soon as this next week. Sounds like Sarah might need a break even before their road trip in August. Looking forward to seeing them, especially Christopher. I’ve only seen pictures since last Christmas, I’m sure he’s growing fast and will eventually be in shock to discover a new sibling draining some of the attention away from him. First born’s tend to get the best and the worst of things. They are of course always FIRST, but the loss of devoted attention when a new family member arrives is a big step for any child to deal with. Most do just fine and I’m sure Christopher will too. He’s got great parents.
Things have been fairly busy on the national news front lately. Of course the BP oil spill is the consuming story. It has been interesting to follow things as they have developed. It sickens me that our government as well as BP seem to think that an escrow account with 20 billion dollars in it is going to help solve this massive environmental disaster. It doesn’t even matter any more when they eventually cap the flow of oil out of the hole in the ocean floor. The damage has already been done. Millions of gallons of oil and thousands of tons of methane now displacing what once was crystal clear waters in the Gulf will be killing us slowly for decades. News came out today that oil and gas is now seeping up through the ocean floor near the well which is presenting another issue. Could it be creating a sink hole due to pressure? Nobody knows but if that is occurring, the worst of this disaster is not even close to being over yet. We’ll see what happens.
In other news, the Prop 8 trial held closing arguments this past Wednesday. Once again, proponents of the ban on gay marriage in California sputtered and shouted but in the end produced absolutely NO evidence to support their position. This is a hugely significant case that will eventually make it to the supreme court. A decision is expected in a few weeks and then it’s off to the appeals process. I don’t have the energy to recap the whole thing, if you want to know about it more than visit the Prop 8 Trial Tracker web site for a full re-cap of all the arguments. It really has been a pleasure watching one of the most successful lawyers in this country defend my right to exist and it amazes me that in a courtroom, where politics is NOT the key element, all those who are so intent on upholding discrimination against the GLBT community simply fall flat on their faces. It’s been amazing to watch.
I have been able to keep up a little bit on my photography. I’ve uploaded a few new galleries to leelanauphotography.com since my last entry. Please be sure to check them out. I’m looking forward to eventually having some time off this summer to really do some exploring with my camera, perhaps in places I’ve not been. So, until my next entry which might be tomorrow, or several weeks from now, enjoy this picture of early summer in Leelanau.
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This is Not A Hate Crime
May 7th
You be the judge. How might you have voted had you been seated in the jury box? I think you know my answer and it’s not what the jury said. (note, the black screen at the start of this is part of the video).
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Teabagging for White Men
Apr 20th
Well, good luck getting this video to play for you but it’s worth the wait if you have the patience. It’s a popular video and YouTube is being slow. Here are the Teabaggers, in their own words on Tax Day 2010. Below the video some rather telling stats from a recent poll regarding the makeup of the Teabagger movement. Pretty much confirming what I already knew if you ask me.
From the Huffington Post today (as well as in many newspapers around the country):
A recent New York Times/CBS poll confirmed the obvious: Tea Party activists are overwhelmingly white, male, conservative, lower-income, and GOP-leaning. Nearly all passionately believe that President Obama is shoving the country to socialism. All lambaste the federal government for giving the company store away to the poor. The poor in this case are blacks. That race lurks perilously just beneath the surface with Tea Party activists is beyond dispute. To many the equation is government programs equal hand outs to undeserving blacks and the poor and that in turn equals money snatched from the pockets of hard working whites.
Read the Rest of the scathing poll here and learn many of the rest of the reasons that you should abstain from teabagging.
HERE is the actual Poll the was conducted.
And HERE is the New York Times article.
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It Continues…
Apr 18th
and each time I run across a story like this it will be re-posted and linked to on this blog until such time as it stops happening. Obama recently signed a Presidential Order stating that any medical institution receiving Medicare/Medicaid funds must not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, those who do, will lose their funding. The goal was to make head way at preventing this sort of thing from happening. We’ve seen 2 stories like this now in 2 months and thousands more go unreported and untold. For you heterosexual married rereads of this blog, what might YOU do if your spouse landed in the hospital for whatever reason and despite your marriage (and the rights you have through that marriage to make medical decisions for your incapacitated spouse) were told not only your directives were unimportant, they also had no legal bearing. Think about the things you take for granted.
Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.
One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes…
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When Your Writing is Validated
Apr 11th
it feels nice. This follows my post and comments the other day of the Ugly Betty Videos. Check out the link, the author is about the same age as I am. This is from the Independent Gay Forum, a conservative blog where Andrew Sullivan has been a regular contributor. Primarily gay libertarian perspectives on social issues.
Sometimes we don’t notice our victories until long after a battle has been won. Over the last couple of years, gay marriage has secured territory most people didn’t even realize was contested, and its loss will be far more devastating to gay marriage opponents than their victories in all the court cases and all the elections in the world.
I’m talking about sweetness.
Our opponents demonize us — sometimes subtly, sometimes explicitly, but viciously and relentlessly. Their chief weapon is sex – ours, not theirs — overlaid with a self-righteous piety that is funny when Dana Carvey does it, and wrongheaded no matter whose pursed lips it leaks out of. But while everyone from the Pope on down has been focused on the inherent disorders and immorality of homosexual sex, another front in the gay rights battle opened up: Gay teenagers in love.
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When Will We Learn
Apr 10th
Well, another long day at work and I’m home now, eating noodles and vegetables and reading blogs. Those of you that follow this blog know that I enjoy politics but one thing that I enjoy more is amusing myself with America’s stupidity. I’m a pretty rational person. I think things through, I ask questions, I read, I learn and I don’t take things for granted. True, that may not have been the case in a few ways for those of you that knew me as a dumb-ass 20 year old but things change, people do tend to grow up….eventually.
I came across this little tidbit on the web tonight and wanted to share it. Americans LOVE their entitlements! Good lord where would we be without Medicare and Social Security, and soon Healthcare. We love things that are handed to us on a silver platter but god forbid we be fucking rational about it. Let’s talk about taxes and how exactly the Federal Government (the provider of Entitlements) gets money. The primary revenue stream comes from us. We are tax payers, we dump a certain amount of our income into the Federal Pot so to speak throughout our working lives. This is supposed to pay (among other things) for the entitlement programs that exist and that people just can’t live without! We all know that today, our Federal Government is in a tight spot. The budget needs to be balanced so what happens? We cut things that are “unnecessary” out of the budget so funds can be allocated appropriately. Trouble is, NOBODY (or at least only a very few people) is willing to cut things out of the budget. Take a look at the graphic below.
Take a look at those numbers. These are all things the Government spends money on, yet hardly anyone feels they should receive lower federal funding than they are already currently getting! In the areas above, the biggest percentages only account for 3% of the Federal Budget according to the survey! So you could cut them out entirely, and gain nearly nothing! So, we want our cake and we want to eat it too! Sounds like America.
So, how do we balance the budget? As much as I hate to tell you this, the ONLY way to balance the budget is to increase revenue and that means YOU HAVE TO RAISE TAXES. Yes, I know, shoot me now, I get raped every week by the government taking large chunks of money from what I willingly earned by busting my ass at work for 12 hours a day. But guess what, I am one of the few that would be willing to increase my tax contributions in order to live in a country that is actually solvent and actually spends appropriate dollars on appropriate programs for it’s citizens. Trouble is, there aren’t very many people like me. Only 5% of the people polled in this survey said that taxes needed to be raised. The Chairman of the Fed knows what is necessary, even President Obama knows that taxes have to be raised but NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR THAT. I can only hope that someday, the people of my generation will come to understand reality a little better than the boomers have over the past 30 years while we grew up. We must either reduce the size and scope of the federal government OR we must raise taxes to pay for the things that we so badly want. It is right there in black and white. What are you willing to do?
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The Anti-Christ has Risen
Mar 23rd
According to a Harris survey to be released tomorrow, 24% of polled Republicans say they believe the president is the anti-Christ.
Are you shocked? I hope not. This is coming from the party that has officially fallen off it’s rocker. In the last 2 days, they’ve called Barney Frank a faggot to his face, they’ve yelled BABY KILLER to rep Stupak, and they have obstructed anything and everything they possibility could over the past several weeks to try and prevent the passage of Health Care Reform. Which passed anyway.
There was a time in my life, in the not to distant past, when I was able to agree and even support many of the things Republicans claim to be about. Small Government, states rights, immigration reform…. I can say that in a lot of ways I still agree with those principals but there is one thing that all those are not: They are NOT part of today’s Republican party. This party has done so much damage to itself over the past year that it’s going to be a very long time before they can regain any sort of dominance in Washington. The Republicans have been taken over by TEABAGGING fools, who have no agenda other than obstructionism, who wanted to put Sarah Palen in the White House, and who scream the fact that they are racists homophobes every time Fox News puts them on the TV. Then there is Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh, I can’t even go there because I don’t want to lose that much peace from my life.
If you’ve not read it, check out an editorial today in the New York Times – An Absence of Class, he hits the nail right on the head.
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FIRE THEM!
Mar 14th
Once again, Bill Maher has penned an honest portrayal of the idiocy in this country. I admit, I’m a bit biased when it comes to this but lets talk about education for a minute. First, my background. A significant number of my immediate and extended family members are teachers or have been teachers at one point or another in their lives. Growing up, education..or more to the point, GETTING ONE, was the number one rule, ahead of anything else despite my pathetic attempts to think otherwise at times. My folks made time for reading every night to my sister and me whether it was reading TO us or allowing one of us to read to THEM. They both struggled along with us trying to figure out ways to tell a 14 frustrated year old that Algebra is actually relevant and to just suck it up and learn it and they RE-LEARNED it with me. My folks went out of their way to provide Sarah and me with educational opportunities, not because they wanted genius children (hopefully that was not their wish) but because they both knew and understood the importance of a basic education. They sent Sarah and I to enrichment programs, they participated and helped us to participate in Cub Scouts, Brownies, plays, programs, events, museums, and yes, even instruction about shoveling shit on the farm. Education is important. It was important to my parents and it was eventually important to me. I’m not talking here about post-secondary education but the basic shit. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic — K-12 public education.
Firing all the teachers may feel good – we’re Americans, kicking people when they’re down is what we do – but it’s not really their fault. Now, undeniably, there are some bad teachers out there. They don’t know the material, they don’t make things interesting, they have sex with the same kid every day instead of spreading the love around… But every school has crappy teachers. Yale has crappy teachers – they must, they gave us George Bush.
According to all the studies, it doesn’t matter what teachers do. Although everyone appreciates foreplay. What matters is what parents do. The number one predictor of a child’s academic success is parental involvement. It doesn’t even matter if your kid goes to private or public school. So save the twenty grand a year and treat yourself to a nice vacation away from the little bastards
Click on the link above to read the rest.
I get so sick of the bullshit in the papers and on line criticizing teachers for ‘failing kids’. Bullshit. The only teachers who are failing kids in this country ARE THE PARENTS. Yes, there are bad teachers, AND bad doctors, lawyers, and scientists but come on if you are going to take the time to write in to the newspaper editor, at least show your kids that you know how to use a spell checker or that you can FINISH a fucking thought in a single sentence! So, the next time you get an urge to criticize a teacher, stop and think for a minute about what you are doing. Is little Jimmy’s failure to learn his times tables the fault of the teacher OR is it YOUR fault for failing to make sure little Jimmy got home after school to DO HIS HOMEWORK! OR, is it YOUR fault for failing to drill them into his head like you were asked to help do by the note you got from the teacher BECUASE YOU YOU COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO SHOW UP FOR PARENT / TEACHER CONFERENCES!
One reason, among many others that I got out of the Education thing for myself was that I had a very difficult time understanding the lack of involvement of parents in their kids lives because it was SO foreign to me. Growing up I couldn’t shit without one of my parents asking me about school and about my life and good Lord there were times when I absolutely HATED their incessant nagging, prodding, and scornful stares and I would slam my books on the table and leave for coffee at Denny’s just to piss them off more. My parents were doing their jobs, THEY were being teachers, never mind their own backgrounds. THEY were demanding accountability from me and THEY were going to stand by me and help me even while frustrated with me to make sure that at the VERY least, I got my ass through High School with an education. Yes, I know everyone has shit going on in their lives but come on, you do not have to be a scholar to be a teacher to your child, you only have to be there and show that to your child. They will know your expectations, you don’t even have to explain what they are, that’s the beauty of a parent / child relationship. The kid WILL come to you for help even when they know you won’t be able to give them the answers.
Lack of parental involvement is the #1 reason that our education system in this country is shot. It is not however broken and it is not un-fixable. It is also not the sole responsibility of teachers in this country to raise YOUR CHILDREN.
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