so fucking lame

Garrison Keillor: A Prairie Homophobic Companion? - TMZ.com

"In an article titled "Stating the Obvious" in salon.com, the Minnesota author wrote, 'The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men -- sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers and go in for flamboyance now and then themselves. If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control. Parents are supposed to stand in back and not wear chartreuse pants and black polka-dot shirts.'"

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the "GLBT community" (which i am a part of) needs to get over this crap. as do the ACLU and other liberals that think they should legislate what everyone thinks and says in defense of gays, and every person that's not a "straight white male." "patriarchy, blah, blah blah" this is life, this is America, they've got a right to say it, and others have the right to say they're idiots. or fire them because they don't want them representing their company.

this "hate speech" thing is snowballing out of control. a slippery slope, as they say. people can be prejudiced and bigoted if they choose to, or never get past their lousy upbringing. i don't think it helps anybody's cause to whine about every "slur" that some b-list celebrity or basketball player makes. i thought the ACLU and the left in general wanted to PROTECT the 1st amendment, not chip away at it. i will continue saying and thinking whatever i damned well please, and i hope everybody else does too. at least you can find out that they're a-holes easily that way.

we're living through a time when a kid takes her school to court because she was disciplined and teased for saying "that's so gay." a comment uttered by about 1/2 to 3/4 of kids and teens in the US daily, and without hatred behind it. it's an expression, and in time, it will fade to more infrequent use. everybody's just losing their mind over this stuff. and i tell you what, if, God forbid, some crazy politician makes a law against some words, and Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock can't use the dreaded "n-word" anymore - screw it, i'm moving to Canada.

when you begin to curtail speech that "someone" finds offensive (the terrorists win!), that's just the beginning. first go the "hate" words, then some that make people "uncomfortable," then what?

"Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings." - Heinrich Heine

i've listened to G. Keillor enough (his story about the church ushers competition is one of the funniest things i can remember hearing) that i would bet that he didn't mean any of it in a disparaging way. and for those saying he was "branding all gay men as trendy fashionistas.....," please note - he said "The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men..." the key word there is *stereotypical*. in the eyes of a huge chunk of America, when they think of gay men, that's what they imagine. not to mention thinking they're hedonistic, drug using sluts. sadly, that's a very accurate description of a segment of the community. i hope that in coming generations, as acceptance of gays grows, maybe there won't be so many gay guys who hate themselves for being gay and try to self-destruct and lose themselves in those ways, often without even realizing it.

i think all Keillor was saying is that we need to work on our image. there are plenty of us that are family men and women. these are the people that need to be "out" the most. because we don't get the attention - it all goes to the club guys and the ones who wear thongs and chaps to gay pride, or those damned guys dressed up like nuns with beards in freaky face paint/makeup (i'm not even Catholic, but that creeps me the hell out). the news flocks to that because it's titillating and flamboyant and a lot more interesting to report on than the average citizens that live average lives, and happen to be gay. the fact is, we need to be more visible simply as human beings, not just sex-crazed Peter Pan types. that should start with our own shows and media, but that's another story.

in a nutshell: get over it

But what if they *want* to fight?

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"Gay Rights - Bill Richardson not only has taken unpopular progressive positions on gay rights, but also has succeeded in getting those positions adopted.

"[I]n terms of actual [gay rights] accomplishments Bill Richardson stands above the other current candidates because he's actually pushed forward and implemented laws that have helped our community."
- Matt Foreman, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

'He's … been wonderful. He's kept every promise he's ever made to the [gay] community.'
- Alexis Blizman, Executive Director, Equality New Mexico.

Animal Rights - As Governor, Richardson spearheaded the movement to ban cockfighting in the state of New Mexico, even though it was an ingrained institution with many citizens there."

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WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! he banned cockfighting? they just said he was *for* gay rights! wtf....???

oh, ok. they switched to a new topic there. my bad. at least he "spearheaded" something. that sounds a little gay.

/i actually did misread it the first time. kinda threw me off.

Bill Richardson - That's my guy.

Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee
The most experienced Dem candidate, and as far as the ones that I've seen, the one most likely the be an honest-to-God human being. A down-to-earth type with a sense of humor, and I get the feeling that he wouldn't shame the United States as somebody's been doing lately.

Current Governor of New Mexico (2nd term), 15 years in Congress, former Secretary of Energy under Clinton, former Ambassador to the UN, nominated 4 times for the Nobel Peace prize for negotiating the release of hostages, servicemen, and political prisoners. He actually has experience with diplomacy, something sorely needed these days.

From the article Beyond Hillary and Obama:

"At home, Bill Richardson’s accomplishments have been equally incredible. He has followed a centrist course in government, economically conservative but socially liberal. As governor of New Mexico, he balanced the state budget while cutting taxes for the middle class and increasing funding for education. He eliminated over $200 million of bureaucratic inefficiencies. His statewide energy policy has made New Mexico one of the few states that meet the requirements of the 1997 Kyoto Treaty. During his time in office, the New Mexican economy has been revitalized with the creation of 84,000 new jobs, many of which have been in high-tech industries. All the while, he has been a strong social progressive, pushing New Mexico to legalize civil unions while Democrats in other states have done nothing."

Wow.

For $82 a Day, Booking a Cell in a 5-Star Jail - New York Times

How hard up for money is California (and other states) to offer upgraded cells to inmates for cash? So, well-off people not only end up with better representation in court, to avoid going to jail, but can pay to be separated from the riff-raff in their own cell? Some are even allowed computers and/or iPods. That's one of the most outfuckingrageous things I've heard of.

They don't offer it to those who commit "serious" offenses, only the little things, like drunk driving(!), "white-collar crime", etc.

Last time I checked, I think jail was meant to be a punishment for doing bad things. The "sales pitch" for the Pasadena jail at one time was "'Bad things happen to good people.'" WRONG! Good and bad people sometimes DO BAD THINGS, and are sent to jail. According to the Pasadena police rep, people sometimes "have had a lapse in judgment and do not want to go to county jail." Pardon? Who the fuck *wants* to go to jail.

I spent 4 days in the Orange County jail for failing to pay some old speeding tickets. I messed up, and my options were either a few days in jail, or plead not guilty, come back in 2 weeks, probably with a lawyer I couldn't afford, and try to convince them that I didn't do it. But I did, so I sucked it up and went. I remember thinking, Fight Club-style, "you don't want to die without going to jail, do you?" Scared shitless, no doubt, but all in all it wasn't *that* bad of an experience, mostly because the people I met there were alright. No fights, no trouble, even made some temporary friends. A big factor in that was that I was on the women's side. Almost all of the people I talked to were in for non-violent drug offenses, mostly possesion, mostly having to do with speed. I remember one chick who told me she'd shot up speed *while driving* once. If you ask me, she needed treatment more than anything else. They get out and are right back into it. Another girl, a beautiful girl about 20, told me the first thing she planned to do when she was out was go get some shit. Other than them, I remember meeting one pretty 18-year-old who was a prostitute from Vegas. That was a sad one.

The bulk of the sheriffs were power-mad dicks, just assholes for no good reason. I can understand why they'd be jaded and a little mean - these were the people who walked up from place to place, totally unarmed and relying on the guys watching the cameras from the one-way mirrors. They have to exert a measure of control, authority, and showing-you-who's-boss to protect themselves. But some of them went above and beyond, just because they could.

You had to wear used (but washed) underwear and were forced to wear a really uncomfortable, scratchy (also used) bra at all times - and yes, they checked daily - had to show the strap each morning at what was roll call, I guess. And the damned things were *underwire* for pete's sake. Who needs a fucking underwire bra in JAIL?? No privacy, bathroom stalls that were about 3 feet tall(!), and just general institutional bullshit. But it did open my eyes up to a bit of how the penal system works and what it's like for the people in there.

Fortunately, I'd been in the Army (Reserves - but I still went through boot camp, surprisingly similar to jail, only more work and less sleep), and had gone through rehab at 17, so I was more prepared than some. But I still wouldn't want to go back. I will certainly never consider a life of crime after that.

I just can't believe that the gov't is so money-hungry that they'd do this kind of shit. What's next? Advertising in jails? Ads for bail bond companies, lawyers, malt liquor? I don't know why it surprises me, but it did.

I mean, I've gotten used to the racket they pull here in CA - every bloody freeway is allegedly "Under Construction," even if you haven't seen anybody working there in months, or even years. And every one has a sign: "Fines doubled in construction zones," or something to that effect. That's before our great 171% "assessment" fee that almost triples your fine, and then any other crap they decide to tack on.

Makes you consider becoming an anarchist. Or at least a Libertarian.

Retired Gen.: Bush should sign Iraq bill | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Retired Gen.: Bush should sign Iraq bill | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

"The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place," he said. "The president has let (the Iraq war) proceed on automatic pilot, making no corrections in the face of accumulating evidence that his strategy is failing and cannot be rescued. He lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies." - Ret. Lieutenant General William Odon

That's about the best summary of the Iraq war that I've read.