If it weren't for Coffee...

Rush drank the Kool-Aid

2010-02-03T09:49:00.005-05:00

He kinda looks like the Kool-aid man, doesn't he?

Here he is, claiming that since we were created by God-with-a-capital-G we are INCAPABLE of performing destructive acts. Like global climate change for example.

Rush: Are you really this stupid? Let's just forget that your understanding of climate science is on par with a fetus. Have you forgotten all the terrible destructive things man has racked up just in the 20th century??

The Holocaust, 2 world wars, resource wars, genocides on almost every continent, industrial pollution, Bhopal, Chernobyl, resistance to civil and women's rights, the KKK, assasinations...

Are you really this stupid?

I suppose that's a rhetorical question.

Just so you know

2010-01-21T16:07:00.003-05:00

For some perspective.

We are now 1 year into the Obama administration, something hailed as a sea change. Back then, we thought the progressive agenda was finally going to see the light of day.

Lets see where we are now.

First, the EPA declared carbon dioxide a pollutant which can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Today, 2 senators are putting forth a piece of legislation that would invalidate that.

Next we have health care reform. With Tuesday's election of Republican in Massachusetts, an already deeply flawed, overly-compromised, industry friendly bill now seems totally dead.

We won't have a public option. ("I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on ABC News, notably leaving near-universal insurance coverage off his list of core goals.")

We're already talking about massive landslide Republican victories in the November midterms.

Yesterday and the day before, the american stock markets actually went UP in the anticipation that health reform is dead. (You see, that way there is no danger that the almighty insurance company profit will be infringed upon by the poor sick saps paying their premiums.)

Rush Limbaugh is on the radio today, telling people how ridiculous it is to spend money on the environment, saying "there is NO SUCH THING as a green job." He thinks Waxman-Markey is "a redistribution scheme. This is an attack on achievers. It's an attack on wealth disguised as something to get to your heart by convincing you that voting for this, supporting this is somehow going to save Woody Woodpecker, Peter Polar Bear, Flipper and deformed frogs."

The Supreme Court decided today that corporations no longer have limits on how much money they can spend on political campaigns. This reverses 100 years of regulations, and equates the first amendment rights of a company with those of an actual person.

And as a country, we're preoccupied with things like whether terror suspects should be put on trial in New York, or whether Obama was born in Kenya, or the "tea baggers".

I don't know about you, but it feels like we got exactly the OPPOSITE of what we hoped we were getting last January. And the winner of political debate is now the person who can sell the most sensational lie.

Can I leave now?

Trouble

2010-01-08T10:17:00.012-05:00

I'm having trouble.

Hear me out, because I feel that you'll question my sanity if I tell you about this trouble.

You see, On the one hand, I am, more or less, what you might consider to be an average American of the 21st Century. I shop for groceries, work an 8-5 job, constantly obsess about whether I'm eating too much fat and carbs, and like Grey's Anatomy.

But when I allow myself to turn on the critical thinking device between my ears, I usually get alarmed.

I get alarmed because I read things.

Like today, I read an article about a man who holds considerable power over the education of the children of Texas. He's on the state board of education. He wants global warming denial to be written into Texas science curricula. He wants to "clean up the image of Joe McCarthy and downplay the contributions of the civil rights movement to society." Also on the agenda: "Ensure that Ronald Regan is portrayed as having created the positive economic conditions of the last 20 years by cutting taxes."

I read an article describing the defeat of marriage equality in the New Jersey Senate yesterday by a vote of 20-14. Then I read the spin by hate groups citing the "almost 2 to 1 victory for 'traditional marriage'". (This of course follows similar stories of a close defeat in New York, the reversals last year in California and Maine, and the contentious battles still playing out in other states.)

I read an article that detailed a major player in the conservative political arena who called a Supreme Court Justice "a goat-fucking child molester" publicly. His response to the president winning the Nobel Peace Prize? "I didn’t realize the Nobel Prize committee had an affirmative action quota."

When I'm not reading, I'm listening to co-workers tell me how they believe Cap-and Trade legislation will increase their property taxes. Or how they heard that Obama's birth certificate is a fake. Or how health care legislation was "forced through congress" and republicans weren't given an opportunity to participate in the process. See, See?!? Obama was totally lying when he talked about "bipartisanship!!"

I hear these things and become afraid. Then I become pensive. Then I become cynical. Then I turn on the TV.

Is it crazy to start to believe that the American experiment is failing? That ideologues have completely taken over all debate, crowding out calls for reason and equality, fairness and justice? That the ideal to strive for in public debate has shifted from "factual correctness and rhetorical superiority" to "say what heats up your base at volume setting 99 and keep repeating it until enough people believe it"?

The only way I can explain what is happening in America is that people have stopped thinking. We assume that we can see the world today through the same lenses our grandparents did. Or that we can coast by, never delving too deeply into things that we can't understand, and let others do the heavy lifting. We have accepted the fact that 4 or 5 or 6 hours of TV is not a bad idea, and we fill all our non-work time with mindless activities.

We have forgotten how to think. Except it is only through an engaged electorate that Democracy has any chance of escaping the downward spiral into oligarchy or worse.

So I'm caught in this paradox. I continue to completely take part in the system. I get up early, complain about how tired I am, drink too much coffee, go to work, procrastinate a little, come home in the evening, cook dinner and watch TV. But simultaneously, I'm constantly bombarded with images and information that lead my relatively balanced brain to conclude that the way we're living is VASTLY UNSUSTAINABLE. Not just environmentally, but socially. Spiritually. Rhetorically. Ideologically.

How can we continue to function as a society if more and more people on the inter-tubes call for a second revolution in response to the democrats passing health care?

How can we avoid social disaster when an increasingly large minority are willing to believe that health care overhaul will lead to "death panels" and "socialism"? Or that gays and lesbians are evil child molesters? Or that the Bible should be the foundation of law?

How can we, as a nation, continue to enshrine inequalities in our legal system, and justify civil injustice as religio-morally sanctioned?

I'll tell you how. When most people can't understand a complex thought such as these, they'll have no problem brushing their consequences aside and turning back to a re-run of American Idol.

I fall victim to this myself. I read things that make me doubt the viability of America as nation, let alone a place to live and raise a family. I begin to wonder whether I'll ever be able to marry the love of my life. I question whether I will ever be able to share in the benefits my co-workers spouses enjoy. I tear up at the thought that he might not be able to see me in a hospital, make end of life decisions.

The crushing weight of evidence shows that the trajectory of informed thought in America has been declining for decades.
I'm faced with the possibility (probability) that my life will be consistently devalued by the conservative majority of my fellow citizens. That an uphill battle is all I can ever hope for.
So I go back to the Grey's re-runs on Lifetime and wolf down another brownie. My other escape is to mentally plan for the time, in some hazy future, when I'll force Kris to help me live out my fantasy of being self-sufficient on a working sustainable organic homestead.My friends, we're in trouble. When the idiot-revolution comes, The critical thinkers will be the first to be stoned. Bible style.

A disclaimer to my readers

2009-06-22T10:45:00.002-04:00

Since there are only a few of you, I figured I'd make this a direct Democracy and talk to my people directly.

I never intended this blog to be a clearing house of all things gay. It's dawned on me that I've been writing about same-sex marriage, bigots who foolishly bash us in public, and the civil rights implications of today's gay struggles more often than not.

I guess it's just my understanding that what happens now will set the tone for GLBT issues for years to come. We've finally got a "progressive administration" in the white house and congress, except they seem to have dropped the ball. We finally have marriage equality organically sprouting up all over the country, except in the most liberal of places, California. We have a renewed sense of pride and outrage, as a community, yet our increasing use of internet technology is driving the fight out of the streets and into cyberspace, where one can argue it can largely be ignored by mainstream Americans and politicians alike.

It feels like we are at this giant, pivotal, crucial moment.

Our rights are by no means guaranteed. We can't just sit around and wait for the bigots to die off and the new crop of socially progressive youngsters to mature to voting age. You know why? because they are being raised by their bigoted parents and grandparents. They live in places like Biloxi and Little Rock and Boise and Fargo where people still eat red meat and buy American. They watch Bill O'Reilly and read Ann Coulter. They're the same people who are causing gun sales to spike because they think Obama is going to take away their second ammendment rights. They're the same people who still think he's a Muslim Manchurian Candidate, built by Al Qaeda and sent to deliver us to the infidels.

So I'm talking. I'm writing. I'm Facebooking and I'm blogging. Maybe I'll start Twittering.

I'm so hopping mad that I'm viewed as a second class citizen by so many people, I'm going to do my damnedest to shame that belief and behavior out of them. And when all else fails, I'll expose their hateful beliefs to the light of day.

One day we will be equal. But that isn't today, nor will it be any day very soon. Until that day comes, you can rest assured that I'll be talking, and reading, and writing, and blogging, and Facebooking. And maybe even Twittering.

Progress toward Equality: We're allowed to "Exist."

2009-06-22T10:23:00.005-04:00

There are days when I'm amazed at all that gay Americans have accomplished. I think about the riots and marches and sit-ins that we resorted to in a time when it was possible to be rounded up and arrested based solely on your DNA. I think about the inspirational moments when we confronted the Anita Bakers and the Pat Robertsons, the Jerry Falwells and the Fred Phelpses.

And then, just when I think we're beyond sexual bigotry, just when it seems we're turning a cultural corner... We have Pennsylvania state Senator John Eichelberger.

He's introduced a bill in PA to ban same-sex marriage, while his colleague, Senator Daylin Leach has proposed an opposing one that would grant marriage equality. They recently debated on WHYY radio on the topic.

Here is a partial transcript.

LEACH: How would he [Eichelberger] want to encourage stability in gay couples?

EICHELBERGER: I wouldn’t. I mean they can practice whatever sexual activity they like to practice, but there’s no reason to give them special consideration. We don’t give them special consideration in Pennsylvania for any reason. Why in the world would we allow them to marry?

LEACH: How would you encourage gay couples to be able to provide for their families?

EICHELBERGER: Well, I wouldn't.

LEACH: What would you expect of them?

EICHELBERGER: There is no reason to encourage that type of behavior in Pennsylvania...That comes back to the definition of family and that’s where we differ. We can call all kinds of things families. I mean, we can say a 3 party marriage is a family, or 7 or 8 people or marrying younger and younger children these days.

HOST: Are you saying that by their very nature homosexual relationships are dysfunctional?

EICHELBERGER: [Pause] Um. I guess I would say that. I would say that.

LEACH: Should our only policy towards [same-sex] couples be one of punishment, to somehow prove that they’ve done something wrong?

Eichelberger: They’re not being punished. We’re allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do. We’re just not rewarding them with any special designation.

...

I think you can tell where I stand on this particular instance of unbridled ignorance, bigotry, and hate speech.

I mean, let's go ahead and make the obvious comparisons. Hitler allowed the jews to exist. Until he didn't. Blacks were allowed to exist in South Africa under Apartheid. Except they were brutally forced into a seperate-and-not-even-close-to-equal caste of society. Back in '94 the Hutus allowed the Tutsis to exist in Rwanda. No, wait, that's wrong. They actually didn't.

I thought I lived in a day and age and place where no one had the power to or right to grant or deny me my big, flaming, open, loud and proud GAY existance. I guess I was wrong. Thank god someone thought ahead and allowed me to exist. Otherwise I'd be one illegal motherfucker. I mean, daddyfucker.

Home video of Prop H8 decision

2009-05-27T09:21:00.001-04:00

"I hope someday they realize what they've done."

Enshrined institutionalized legal acceptible and proper DISCRIMINATION.

2009-05-26T13:55:00.004-04:00

As many of you by now have learned, the Supreme Court of California has ruled in such a way that Prop 8 will stand.

As such, it has put a legal seal of approval on state-sponsored discrimination.

Far be it for me, a legal nobody, to try to navigate the complexities of the question they were asked. (Most people don't realize that it wasn't Prop 8 they were asked to consider, but whether the proposition system was used in a legal way to effectively amend the state constitution and circumvent the existing protocol of convening a constitutional convention.)

Let me instead cite a different kind of historical precedent.

In the early 19th century, it was illegal for a slave to flee his owner. For him to assert his individual rights. For him even to marry (a woman). There came a day when a reasoned man stood up and decided for everyone, even those who didn't agree wit him, that the concept of owning another human being had seen its time come and go.

In the early 20th century, it was illegal for women to vote. There came a day when women (and men) of every persuasion came together and demanded equal rights. Equal treatment. Equal protection under the law.

In the mid 20th century, a panoply of laws across the country made discrimination against African Americans standard practice. Until with one voice and with great struggle and sacrifice, again equality was demanded.

None of these seminal moments in US history came peacefully, without hardship and tears and setbacks. People looked around, saw they were getting a bad deal, and asserted their equality.

Today, that isn't happening.

As the fragile network of GLBT organizations claim responsibility for victory in Iowa, Vermont, Maine, and other states, these claims are transparently false. For the first time in history, rights and being granted and taken away because the majority has grown to see the error of its past transgressions. Majorities in many states now "approve" of same-sex marriage. (As if we needed approval for desiring the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else.)

Courts and Legislatures are finally shrugging off the tired yoke of religious and moral certitude to accept the premise that was true all along: equal protection under the law isn't an option. It isn't a "social experiment" or a "radical agenda." It won't force our 5 year olds to learn about anal sex in kindergarten. It won't cause men everywhere to leave their wives for lives of homosexual promiscuity. It won't stoke the coals of the AIDS epidemic and infect innocent wives and children with "God's answer to sodomy."

Why, oh why, oh why, then, did the California Supreme Court decided today to take a giant step in the wrong direction?

If ever I was tempted to move abroad...

Today is a dark day for me, for my partner, for my gay friends, and arguably for the straight ones too. If we aren't equally protected, which group is next? What if there was a proposition to take away the rights of women to vote, or to put blacks back into segregated schools? What if a coalition of conservatives lied to the public and caused a small majority of them to vote for such a proposition? Based on today's legal precedent, that ruling would stand too.

Because my rights were taken away, no one's are safe. The legal fallout from this decision will ripple through the justice system with the ferocity of an insatible forest fire, and the extent of the damage won't be seen for a long time. I hope you won't be among the casualties. I fear we all will.

It's either write this, or purposely crash my car out of pure unadulterated rage.

2009-05-08T10:34:00.002-04:00

Health care.

We have a love-hate relationship.

It's been my experience, dear readers, that each time I change health insurance plans I have a period of 3-6 months where any insurance company employee I happen to get on the phone has had a recent lobotomy.

Warning- if you don't want to listen to my purely self-centered rant, quit reading now.

As most of you know, I've had a sensitive stomach just about forever, but it began to worry me several months ago that something might be awry down there. I finally went to an urgent care clinic, and was referred to a GI specialist. (I would have gone to my family doctor, but I don't have one in Dayton yet. More on this later.)

The GI doctor basically said, "You probably have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We can only diagnose that properly by testing you for EVERYTHING else, and if it isn't any of those things, it must be IBS."

So I agreed to subject myself to a battery of tests.

Strolling into the Kettering memorial hospital one Saturday in February, I learned that I could only have my blood drawn as an outpatient until noon on Saturdays. It was 12:23. I had to return at 6 AM the following Monday in order to get in line and have it done without having to miss work. Health care 1, Kurt 0.

A few days later, I began the preparation for my colonoscopy. This involved not eating for about 30 hours, and taking 2 different laxatives to completely drain my colon of ANYTHING that might be in there. At the end I was literally shitting pure blue Gatorade, the only thing I was allowed to consume.

The procedure forced me to take a day off work. Biopsies were collected, along with stool samples. Everything was sent out for testing.

Fast forward to the billing phase. I've received charges from the following: The urgent care clinic, the GI specialist, the center where the colonoscopy was performed, the doctor who read the biopsy results, the lab where the biopsies were prepared, the doctor who interpreted the colonoscopy results, the lab where the stool samples were tested, the hospital where the blood was drawn, the lab where my blood was tested, the special lab in California where one of the blood tests had to go, and the pharmacy where I had the prep prescriptions filled. I've spent money out of pocket for co-pays at each of three visits to the specialist, plus the prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines I was instructed to purchase. Curiously, this felt more like an ass-raping than the procedure did.

There have been no fewer than 4 fuck ups resulting in delayed payments from my insurance carrier to these people. Involving choices of facilities and doctors that were never mine to make. For instance: the doctor who interpreted my biopsies was covered, but the facility they prepared the biopsies in isn't covered. Since they are allowed to bill me separately for their services, the charges from the doctor were paid, but those from the facility weren't. The insurance company explained to me that it was MY responsibility, even though I was sedated at the time, to ensure that the GI doctor kept my tests in-network.

Oh, and as for the family doctor situation: I was recommended by a friend to see a doctor who was known to be sensitive to the situation of gay men. I called for an appointment in January only to discover his first available was in MAY. That would have been this morning.

As I made my way to his office this morning, I was a few minutes late. 4 to be exact. I figured I should call and let them know I would be arriving shortly.

Big mistake.

The nurse I spoke with informed me I would have to reschedule. "Sweetie, you're 15 minutes late now, he's just not going to have time to see you." A.) I'm 4 minutes late, not 15. B.) I would be sitting in that waiting room for at least 30 minutes waiting on the doctor, who schedules 30 patients a day, only has time for 15 at most, and can't seem to grasp the fundamentals of math that would allow him to appropriately treat his patients without overtaxing himself or the office staff. C.) Fuck you.

I've been waiting for this appointment for 5 months, and the doctor can't see me because I'm running 4 minutes late.

The next available appointment is now in July.

FML.

Warning: Gas leak

2009-04-29T23:12:00.002-04:00

Is there any doubt that the raging, feckless, pill-popping, neo-con Rush Limbaugh has actually gone off the deep end? It's one thing to yell and scream because the guys in power think differently than you. It's another thing to spin conspiracy theories that are rooted in bigotry, self-righteousness and hate-speech.

"This guy couldn't have risen himself"??

Why Rush? Because he's black? Because he has the ability to captivate people from all walks with his soaring speeches? Because he's inherited the worst set of disasters of any president since the 30's and he's now taking heat form all sides because he can't please everyone all of the time?

Why couldn't he be a self made man?

Do you have to be a drug addicted neo-con to claim that title?

Why is the media ignoring GLBT stories?

2009-04-07T14:01:00.002-04:00

So, today I pose a question to my (4) readers.

Why is the media ignoring the incredible news the last few days about GLBT issues?

For example: Vermont became the first state to legalize gay marriage today through the legislative process. It didn't require long, drawn-out lawsuits filed by tearful gay couples who had to wait years to have their relationships publicly acknowledged, simultaneously winning victory for their fellow gays state-wide. No no no.
This time, the Vermont state Senate voted to legalize gay marriage 26-4. The state House voted to legalize it, 95-52. The (Republican bastard) governor of course vetoed the bill, which sent it back to the legislature. They over-rode his veto, 23-5 in the Senate and 100-49 in the House.

This is a huge victory for gays in Vermont. In the US at large. In states like California where the protection of our rights is hanging by a thread. In states like North Dakota, where a law that would protect gays against discrimination was voted DOWN yesterday.

In HUGER news, the Iowa state Supreme Court ruled just 4 DAYS AGO that the law preventing gays from marrying in that state was unconstitutional, and that if some people were allowed to marry, ALL must be allowed. They ruled UNANIMOUSLY. I'm NOT KIDDING. Their decision, written in some of the most affirming language I've read on the issue, deserves to be replicated here at least in part:
"Our responsibility, however, is to protect constitutional rights of individuals from legislative enactments that have denied those rights, even when the rights have not yet been broadly accepted, were at one time unimagined, or challenge a deeply ingrained practice or law viewed to be impervious to the passage of time. The framers of the Iowa Constitution knew, as did the drafters of the United States Constitution, that “times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress,” and as our constitution “endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom” and equality."

Just for a point of reference, here are a few of today's top headlines from CNN.com:
"Artists making real cash in Second Life"
"iReport.com: Rabbit rescued from floodwaters"
"Kiss scene with Miley took several takes"

So, same-sex marriage was usurped by Miley Cyrus, a video game and some vermin.

It's clear to anyone who follows these things that SSM has reached a turning point in this country. It's being fought in court battles from coast to coast, and everywhere in between. Just this week we doubled the number of states that allow it. The campaign and subsequent backlash surrounding Prop 8 in California. The prospect of SSM in every state in New England by year's end. The dramatic movement of Iowa into our column. All HUGE stories that deserve thoughtful, reasoned media coverage with opportunity for us to weigh in.

Here's my verdict: the media is in a paralytic stupor over the deteriorating economy and the squabbling congressional republicans are doing, or whether the Queen likes the iPod Michele Obama gave her. We've sent them the signal that we'd rather read about celebrity gossip than the difficult-to-swallow topics that really impact our lives. We stopped buying quality newspapers in such numbers that they're going out of business today en masse. We clicked on the "human interest" stories, so they gave us more of them. Thus, we see Miley Cyrus and Second Life at the top of "Latest News."

We told them we wanted to be anesthetized with drivel. And by golly, that's what they gave us.

One of my favorite authors talking about the tragedy that is 21st century suburbia

2009-04-01T22:59:00.001-04:00

I love my job!

2009-04-01T22:36:00.003-04:00

So I've been working with a group of students and faculty who are designing and running a forum on energy this month here at UD.

This is the youtube video they created as part of their effort to raise awareness about the event.

I love my job! These kids are so creative!

Another installment of the Life and Times of Captain Planet

2009-03-26T14:52:00.002-04:00

So my dear readers, (all three of you,) things have been pretty crazy lately. I'm constantly preoccupied with my job, partially because it's exciting and fun, and partially because I am plagued by nagging doubts.

On one hand, I've been part of some important projects so far. I'm working with Dining Services to implement a composting program. I've produced a few educational pieces about campus recycling. I've talked to a bunch of classes about sustainability. I've provided input and support to a group planning an open forum on energy use in April. I'm coordinating a donations drive for move out week to divert usable stuff from the landfill.

I'm feeling pretty good about these things.

On the other hand, I can't shake the feeling that sustainability hasn't moved to the next level on our campus yet. The compost program was in the works when i got here. The recycling program has been growing over the past few years. Not one thing on the list above was SOLELY my idea or creation. I almost feel like I picked up someone else's work and continued it where they left off, but haven't left my mark on it at all.

And I'm worried about how sustainability projects will get funded in the current economic climate. It's difficult during the best of times to justify spending more money on a process to do it sustainably. Administrators like projects that are green, but that also SAVE money. It's getting even tougher to suggest more spending in an atmosphere where everyone is belt-tightening.

I guess I'll continue to do what I've been doing and keep my eyes peeled for opportunities to leave my mark.

In other news, I fulfilled a dream this week. I've wanted a Prius since they came out ten years ago, and by golly, I boutght one on Sunday. :)

So far I've driven it a couple hundred miles, averaged 45 mpg, and still have a half tank of gas.

awesome video about ways to use our plastic bags

2009-03-12T18:46:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting in this chair.

2009-02-03T16:09:00.003-05:00

at my desk at work.

Thinking about the climate committment I have to start drawing up for the President of the University to sign. Thinking about the document on carbon offsets I have to read and summarize. Thinking about the compost program we're launching, and the update I should write, and the dorm recycling nightmare.

Thinking about my incredible boyfriend. :) The one who leaves me little love notes in the can of coffee in the freezer, and on the keyboard of my computer. The one who never misses an opportunity to tell me how much he loves me. The one who takes out the trash and puts the furniture together and never complains about my quirks and curiosities.

I'm doing what I love, and spending my days with someone I love.

Right now, at this very moment, I understand what Maslow meant by being "self-actualized."

This is happiness.

Sharing a strip of highway with litter and dead hookers

2009-01-05T10:54:00.005-05:00

So.

I'm a nice guy. I open doors for people I don't know. I shower affection on my friends and loved ones. I save the planet for a living for crying out loud.

Good things should happen to me.

Instead, we have this little scenario.

Last evening I was picking up a friend at the Dayton airport. It's only about a 15 minute drive from my loft and I'm happy to do it, especially for such a great friend.

The complicating factor in this equation is my car. It's been making a new noise for a few days, and yesterday it seemed to be getting louder and uglier.

So, I collect my friend at the airport, and we start making our way back to Dayton. I notice my headlights are dim. Then the interior lights get dim. Then ALL the warning lights come on my dashboard, one by one.

Then the guages all go to zero. I'm driving down the highway at 65 miles an hour, and every guage says I'm at a complete standstill. Still, the car seems to be driving fine.

As we merge from one highway to the next, I start to lose speed. I made it maybe a quarter mile past the on ramp to Interstate 75 before i pulled my little bitch of a car off the road and called AAA.

I'm used to these bastards taking hours, so Friend and I settled in for a chat. I'm feeling horrible because she's got work in the morning. She's laughing it off. We at least had a chance to catch up.

Just when we thought we might freeze to death, an Ohio State Trooper pulls up behind me. We quickly explain our situation, and he invites us to sit in the back of his car and warm up. (note to self, check off "sit in police cruiser" from life's to-do list.) Best part: he recognizes my friend. See, she's kind of a big deal. She's on channel 7 News.

So Friend and Cop are chattin it up. I'm back on the phone with AAA because apparently if i find out which towing company is coming for me, the cop can radio to dispatch to have them call the place and speed things along. Then the cop starts telling us about his kids. and pulling pics of them up on his phone.

Fast forward: the tow truck is here. Slowsky McGoo is driving. He speaks in such a way I can't imagine he'd ever make it through an entire game of Monopoly. Let alone spell it. Still, he knows how to keep a tow truck steady at 80 miles an hour on wet roads while towing a busted car. Through construction. At 2 AM.

The service station is down the block from my apartment, so I'm nearly home. Friend called a cab to take her the rest of the way home. Again, I feel like crapola. And then I get upstairs and start worrying about missing work.

Moral of the story: American cars suck. Emails to your boss at 2:30 AM are never good news, so don't stress so much about them. Doing a favor that ends in disaster at least gives all parties involved a great story. And finally, have the car checked before then noise gets ugly.

How Religion Ruins Everything

2009-01-02T16:05:00.004-05:00

I am not a religious person. At least, not in the church-going, hymn-singing, traditional way. I prefer to subscribe to a much more new age-y view of the universe that combines a healthy dose of agnosticism with the coolest elements of Hinduism and Buddhism. (i.e. "I'm not sure what the higher power is technically, but we'll all probably find out when we turn into star dust after thousands of years of reincarnating as lizards and ginko trees and hot dog vendors.")

I have always believed that our similarities far outweigh our differences. Deep down inside, we share 99% of our DNA with Chimps. Don't you think that means we share even more with our neighbors, friends and foes?

Now I am guilty of one thing. I am a bit cynical and sarcastic when it comes to religion. Which means I have occasionally stuck my foot in my mouth pretty far by accidentally insulting the few pious friends I'm managed to collect over the years. Most of them know that I'm all talk: I don't really have as much disdain for the Pope as I let on sometimes.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: I can't understand why religious differences should ever come between two people. Be they friends, enemies, lovers or otherwise. It just doesn't make sense to me, no matter what the tenets of your religion might be, that any God would want to stand in the way of love, camaraderie, affection, friendship, or basic good-neighborliness.

Isn't basic understanding and respect enough? Isn't it enough to say "I may not believe the same thing you do, but I understand your faith in something and I defend your right to possess it"?

Why is it that we allow religion to get in the way of so many of our relationships?

I think one of my New Year's resolutions will be to curb my cynicism and do my part to love and accpet everyone in my life without letting religion get in the way.

There's too much sadness in the world to allow our faiths to stand in the way of creating something beautiful and happy.

Not quite Tucker Max material.

2008-12-02T19:00:00.004-05:00

Dayton has been good to me- I met a man-friend. I won't call him a boyfriend, because we've only known each other a very short time. He's cute, charming, painfully humble and good-natured, and likes to make fun of my half-devilish-half-angelic bashful face.

Let's call him... John.

John came over last night to hang out. We put the TV on and did a little channel surfing. Then we did a little hand roaming, and then a little lip touching, until finally it was getting kind of hot in the living room.

As I adjusted positions and drew a bit closer to the boyishly cute yet ruggedly handsome hottie beside me, we heard a sudden CRACK! followed closely by a lurch toward the floor.

Yes friends, your mild mannered blogger friend broke his new couch while playing tonsil hockey.

Rewind for a minute...

It's two days ago. John is hanging out with me just after all my new furniture is delivered from Ikea. The reason we know he's a keeper is that he insists that it will be fun to put it all together. In one afternoon, with him doing the majority of the work, we assembled 2 couches, a dining room table and 6 chairs. And he can't wait to come back and finish the buffet, talk about paint colors, and decorate for Christmas.

So my friends, you see, John built me this couch and then helped me break it.

I'll agree this isn't the most scandalous thing ever to be posted on the web, but it's one of the better stories in my repertoire, and I thought you'd enjoy.

a little hiatus

2008-11-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

I'm in the middle of moving for a new job, so posts might be few and far between for a week or two. Then again, I might procrastinate by posting all the time.

Wish me luck :)

Obama got elected, but let's not ignore the rest of the results...

2008-11-06T22:32:00.003-05:00

So I'm as excited as you are that Barack Obama will be our 44th president...

... but why has the media largely ignored the other momentous outcomes of Tuesday?

Let's start with the biggest vote, Prop 8 in California. Even though gay marriage has been legal there since May, this proposition amends the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. It's also retroactive, so it effectively invalidates the marriage licenses granted to over 18,000 couples since May. This would mark the first time in our nation's history that a right was given to a minority and then taken away again.

Similar amendments were passed by voters in Arizona and Florida, though gay marriage wasn't previously legal in those states.

Then we have Arkansas. Not to be outdone in the gay-bashing realm, the citizens of Arkansas voted to disallow "single" people from adopting children or serving as foster parents. Advocates made no attempt to hide the fact that by "single" they meant "gay". Since gay marriage isn't allowed in Arkansas, all gay people are, for legal intents and purposes, single. Never mind that it's accepted fact that this new rule will create a huge surplus of children in need and a huge shortfall of adults who can legally care for them.

Voters in Nebraska are now reporting that a proposition on their ballot, called the Civil Rights Initiative, was confusing. These voters thought they were voting to affirm the rights of minorities, when in fact the wording of the initiative criminalizes affirmative action within the state's borders.

Oh, by the way, the same thing passed in Colorado.

I suppose the brights spots are the legalization of doctor assisted suicide in Washington state and the decriminalization of one ounce of pot or less in Massachusetts. South Dakotans again voted down a proposition that would have limited abortion rights. Voters in Colorado also voted down a proposition to limit choice which would have defined life as beginning at conception (thus making Plan B illegal).

Despite these few progressive votes, the ballot measures that passed across the country were harsh reminders that conservative politics is far from dead. Let's keep that in mind as we celebrate the demise of the Republican party, shall we?

Keith Olberman on the hateful McCain supporters

2008-10-15T14:39:00.002-04:00

Is Keith Olberman the only person who gets this? How can McCain tolerate this kind of hate speech, in THIS country, with our history of racial assassinations and violence?

More importantly, how is his candidacy still viable?

Facebook and FakeOutrage

2008-10-02T17:33:00.004-04:00

It would be somewhat of an understatement right now to say that we are facing the greatest confluence of dangerous problems anyone alive has ever seen.

To my initial amazement and then disgust, some folks seem to care more about the layout of the Facebook interface than these issues.

As of this writing, the largest groups that claim to "hate the New Facebook" listed well in excess of 10,000,000 members. TEN FUCKING MILLION.

If we got ten million people to demand clean energy in key congressional districts, we'd be surfing Facebook on a wave of wind power in less than a decade. If we could find TEN MILLION people who threatened to oust their representatives unless campaign finance was reformed, we would see the extinction of the Slimus Lobbyist lickity split.

If we and 9,999,999 of our best friends came together on clean energy, government reform, fuel economy standards, common sense foreign policy, community development, education reform, and organic food labeling, we could radically transform our society in ways that would make our survival as a civilization look like a possibility again.

But we could only muster enough courage to care about FACEBOOK!

In many ways the generation I belong to is breaking boundaries long held as gospel. We're voting more and we care more than the Gen Y'ers before us. But the milenials haven't yet grasped their true power. We are the first generation to have tools like Facebook that unite us and deliver the information we need at light speed. We could harness the combination of tech-savvy and political activism we apparently have and MAKE something out of the world we're inheriting.

Come on folks! Look at the big picture and let's go. Think we can't make the necessary change? To quote the most inspiring leader of our generation, YES WE CAN.

Who are we?

2008-09-26T17:41:00.005-04:00

I was watching TV yesterday with my dad, who watches CNBC all day long. He obsessively follows the stock market, fretting every moment because his retirement and livelihood are at the mercy of the almighty Market.

This is the same Market that conservatives implore us to leave alone. The one that supposedly regulates itself. The one that neo-cons want us to believe is the penultimate distributor of wealth. The fairest mechanism for creating products and rewarding good ideas while punishing bad moves.

The same Market that looks like it is about to collapse right out from under us.

If we're really serious, there was always one fatal flaw in the conservative notion of pure markets and classical economics and such. Simply put, the classical economic paradigm upon which we have built our entire national and global system requires unlimited resources to function.

Think about it. For the economy to continuously grow it must never approach limits. It can never feel the impact of a shortage of fuel, feedstocks, labor, or consumer demand. Anyone with a functioning cerebral cortex can see that these growth conditions have never and will never exist.

To the faulty assumption that the economy is based on, add the shady nature of the current problem. We're hearing about "investment moguls" who are getting rich today by buying up bad mortgages and insurance against defaults. They either get rich when people pay the mortgages back, or collect insurance if people default.

Which brings me to my question: Who are we?

We are the only species on this planet who, through self-consciousness and altruism, has the ability to avert calamity and create better conditions for life than the cards nature dealt us.

We used to marvel in our own ability to philosophize, to be both cruel and benevolent, to use nature and preserve it, to create wealth and distribute it, to take care of each other while looking out for ourselves.

The philosopher in me sees the increasing subordination of group well-being to the self, and marvels at the ugly turn we took when money became the singular goal of our lives.

Our communities are falling apart, our families are falling apart, our physical infrastructure is crumbling, our schools are failing, our neighbors are losing their homes and our friends are losing their jobs.

And our government is focused on how to bail out Wall Street, how to protect our access to oil, how to subvert environmental regulation for the sake of economic growth, how to encourage xenophobia by inflating a false crisis of immigration, and how to decrease our confidence in fair elections by implementing a shoddy electronic voting system.

Who have we become?

Oh, Sarah Palin.

2008-09-26T17:14:00.003-04:00

Sarah Palin managed to personally offend me and many of my closest friends during her interview with Katie Couric the other day.

When asked about her curious lack of Passport, Palin said, "I'm not one of those who maybe come from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduated college and their parents get them a passport and a backpack and say, 'Go off and travel the world.' Noooo. I worked all my life. In fact, I usually had two jobs all my life, until I had kids. ... I was not part of, I guess, that culture."

So is she saying she didn't go to college? Did she have unsupportive parents? What culture is she talking about? (I'm choosing to ignore the complete lack of competence she displays when forming coherent sentences for the moment.)

Most of us will intuitively understand that the kind of wealthy family she's talking about, the kind that can afford to finance their kids' international romps, is rare. Most families don't have the means to support grown children as they lead lives of luxury. These are the Paris Hiltons and the Nicole Richies of the world.

I'd like to paint a very different picture for Gov. Palin.

What about the child who, through incredible ability and initiative, is afforded the opportunity to attend private school on scholarships? This child excels given the access to quality teachers and mentors. He joins a school group that travels to Europe to learn about the world and our place in it. He goes on to college where joins a choir that travels to Europe again, this time as a musical ambassador spreading a positive image of America to the rest of the world during a time when our government was tarnishing that image through ill-conceived wars and cowboy diplomacy.

Is this person, who traveled abroad not with excess wealth but with curiosity, passion, and a drive to understand the world beyond our shores, worthy of your scorn Gov. Palin?

Sarah Palin's knee-jerk response to the Passport question might rev up the poorer side of the Republican base, but it's likely to anger many families who work incredibly hard so their children can have the opportunity to do things that most couldn't dream of a few generations ago.

Can we afford to have a half-dead president with old ideas and a half-crazy vice president with no clue? Why are we even giving these two serious consideration??

Well, at least she's protected from witchcraft...

gaybashing

2008-09-25T17:47:00.001-04:00

Living in Northeastern Pennsylvania is incredible in some ways and unbelievable in others.

When you choose to live here you must be aware that demographically it's more like Appalachia than urban center, and therefore you tacitly accept that you'll be exposed to a range of what I like to call "Red-state behaviors."

Less than 30 miles from my childhood home there is an annual rattlesnake round up and a polka festival. These traditions are important to those who partake and represent a closeness of community that, quite frankly, I believe more places could benefit from. They are innocuous if anachronistic.

Something I wasn't prepared for when I returned 3 months ago, however, was overt plainspoken hate toward homosexuals.

A few days ago, as I sat typing away in a local donut shop, several "regulars" sat down for an evening of sipping, munching, and bull-shitting. I'd seen most of them before, and indeed many of them seemed to stop in every night to see friends, grab some caffeine, and avoid unpleasantness at home.

Usually their banter consisted of gossip about friends and enemies, sexual escapades, work-related woes, political ramblings, and local news oddities. This particular evening, they had a different topic in mind.

"We just came from the Roadhouse," one man announced, "and we had a table of gays right next to us."

His friend added, "Yeah, they were kissin right in front of everybody, weren't they?!"

The first man finished the thought: "I don't know what these fags think they're doing, but we'd better be careful or our kids are gonna see that shit."

I had forgotten during my year living in Washington D.C. that a significant portion of the country mirrors these beliefs, and my blissful ignorance was shattered by the group's comments. I was suddenly very aware that my sexual identity could create problems for me in a way that it never had.

Rather than go off on some rant about the merits of liberalism or the stupidity of social conservatism, I'm just going to let these comments speak for themselves, and add my voice to the growing chorus calling for equality, compassion, and openness. I'm not a praying man, but my heart is with those who are victims of this kind of discrimination and hate.

...I'd have nothing to live for.

2008-09-25T17:41:00.000-04:00

That's not true, of course, but these days it's hard not to think that way. I've been phychologically stranded in job-limbo since July, and physically stranded at my parent's house, which for all intents and purposes resembles One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

So these days you'd be likely to find me in a coffeeshop, looking for jobs online, drinking something sufficiently caffeinated, and above all, waiting...

I decided to create this blog out of pure boredom, a dearth of unoccupied time, and a vague realization that my life is a cross between David Sedaris and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, though decidedly less humorous (to me).

Hopefully I'll continue posting, and you'll continue reading, for if history is any guide there will be some pretty outrageous stuff to report.

Thanks and happy trails :)