My Inner Place Of Peace Revisited

A room in deep blue, dark red and purple, it is medium sized and softly lit. The room is dominated by large low bed on a raised platform. The bed is surrounded on three sides by draped by paisley patterned gauze and is composed of a very large Persian patterned cushion surrounded by similar pillows of many sizes. On each side of the bed by the headboard are tables of dark wood with drawers in them. On the tables are lamps for reading and soft illumination. The walls are painted in abstract patterns except for the wall behind the bed. On that wall is a painting of a gorgeous trans-gender angel. The ceiling is the night sky with the Milky Way going from one corner of he room to the other.

This room exists only in my imagination for now and is still not yet complete. It is the safe place I go to relax and renew.

Is There Anybody Out There?

I’ve been away a while. A major family emergency has come up and is ongoing and it has thrown me for a loop. But I need to get back to writing, it helps me and I hope interests you.

One thing that has come to my attention even in my despair is the nasty split between mainstream gays and the transgender community. It seems many gays pay at best lip service to transgender rights. They seem all to ready to throw us under the bus if it will give them any perceived advantage. The latest trend seems to be erasing the trans identities of hate crime victims. Anybody got any comments or perspective on this?

Thoughts For A Dying Empire

A occasional series which I hope will illuminate the twilight of the American Empire

What, then, is patriotism? "Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels," said Dr. Johnson. Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our times, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment for the exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities of life as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the average workingman. - Emma Goldman' 1911

Yes I am an Anarchist.

More Of (my) Queer Theory

An important point to Queer theory is the right of a person to self define. To choose the terms that you feel best represent your sexuality, gender identity and philosophy. It menas being free to find your authentic self even if that is a utterly mainstream heterosexual gender binary conformist.

But I’m wandering into existentialism at this point, the horror the horror.

Thoughts For A Dying Empire

A occasional series which I hope will illuminate the twilight of the American Empire

The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose — especially their lives. - Eugene Debs 1913

True then, true now

I Am Tired

Tired of posting about politics. I want to turn to queer theory, well my queer theories any way. The way I see queer is the concept that we are all unique in our own way and to a greater or lesser degree variable in our nature. Our senses of gender, sexuality and personality aren’t fixed but exist in a cloud like an electron. Most of us seem to have a rather small cloud that fits into the area of ‘normal’ sexual orientation and gender identity. The there are those of us whose diffuse clouds wander far from the main sequence.

We are the way we are because of a mixture of nature, nurture and environment.

And now I’m too tired to keep making sense but I will come back to this. I would rely love some discussion on this here or on Twitter.

I Hate Everything About You

A bunch of theocratic bigots calling themselves the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission are planning to ‘protest’ the Matthew Shepard Act’s ‘thought’ penalties by yelling out hate and incitements to violence in Washington D.C on the 16th of November in hope of being arested. One minor problem is there are no ‘thought’ penalties in the Matthew Shepard Act. It applies only when there has been a crime of violence against one of the protected groups motivated by hate and bigotry. So unless these asshats plan to physically attack some queer passersby they ain’t going to be arrested. Oh and another little point, one of the protected groups are the religious. So if one of these clowns ever gets bashed because he’s Christian he will be covered. This stupid stunt is being pulled because these egomaniacs desperately want to be martyrs. This best way to react to them this time is to ignore them and let them sink into a well-deserved obscurity.

Another Quick One

All the teabagging idiots are complaining about government functionary standing between them and their doctor but seem to have no problem with a corporate functionary doing the same thing. Basically they are saying that so long as some one is profiting off of their health problems rationing health care is just peachy keen. Sixty years of anti-communist propaganda has indoctrinated them well.

Atheist Quote Of A Random Day

A continuing feature of this blog brought to you by just another atheist

Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing. - H.L. Mencken

Reinforcing Failure

The Republican party of North Carolina has invited Doug Hoffman to speak at a fund raiser. This is the Doug Hoffman who handed New York’s 23rd congressional district to the Democrats for the first tiem in a century. Yep, that’s exactly the guy you want to help you ’reclaim our government’ as local party chairman Tom Fetzer said. You always want to take advice from the losing candidate on how to win elections.


Hat tip to Pam’s House Blend

Aftermath

Well that was a mixed bag to say the least. Main proved to be just like California in the percentage of people willing to vote for hate and bigotry. Nice to see the left and right coast agreeing on some thing for once. Meanwhile by the same 53% to 47% Referendum 71 was approved in Washington upholding the Domestic Partnership laws. There may be a lesson in there somewhere for us, do away with marriage and replace it with domestic partnerships.

There is also a lesson in Kalamazoo upholding by a 60%+ margin a fully gender inclusive local anti-discrimination ordinance. That lesson is pass a fully inclusive Federal ENDA now, the time is right.

Live Blogging The Election Results Of Interest To Queers

For what it’s worth I will be live blogging the election results that are of interest to queers. Snarky comments added at no extra charge. No results yet but soon(ish)

UPDATE: Well the Republican McDonnell is winning in Virginia 63.47% to 36..42%, what a fucking surprise

UPDATE Damn, good and very bad news. In Washington measure 71 has been approved 51.13% to 48.87% so the domestic partnership law stays in affect. The bad news is that with 69% of the vote counted Question 1 striping us of marriage rights is passing 52% to 48%. That’s pretty much the same margin that proposition 8 passed by here in California. So it looks like the religious bigots are going to win again,

UPDATE Some sort of good news, New York’s 23rd congressional looks like it is going Democratic. Owens is beating Hoffman 49% to 45% so the conservatives purge has handed the Democrats another seat in the house.

Why Voting On Civil Rights Is A Bad Idea

Well here we go again in three states, Maine, Michigan and Washington, queer rights are up to a vote tomorrow. Putting minority rights up to a vote is a really fucking terrible idea. Don’t believe me? Well maybe a little history will help persuade you.

Up until 1963 California, specially my hometown of Los Angeles, was one of the most rigidly segregated states in the union. This was not enforced by Jim Crow laws as in the South but by covenants and conditions on deeds. In the really racist wasp enclaves this not only precluded sales to Asians, Blacks and Latinos but Jews and sometimes Catholics. In 1963 the Rumford Fair Housing Act was passed that made it illegal for anyone selling, renting, or leasing a residence to discriminate based on race, creed, color or national origin. This was in fact very unpopular and in 1964 proposition 14 was placed on the ballot to repeal housing protections. It passed 65.39% to 34.61%. The U.S. Supreme Court struck it down. If not for the ‘judicial activism’ so loathed by conservatives California would still be one of the most segregated places in the world.

So while I hope we win tomorrow I still now that these issues should never be up for a vote. Until we get a fully inclusive ENDA and court cases upholding our rights we still live at the sufferance of a bigoted majority.

Atheist Quote Of A Random Day

A continuing feature of this blog brought to you by just another atheist

Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions - Blaise Pascal

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca the Younger 4 b.c.- 65 CE

A towfer for tonight