Maine joins Iowa (still can't get over that one), Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut in making same-sex marriage legal.
Here is Governor Baldacci's statement:
“I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.
“This new law does not force any religion to recognize a marriage that falls outside of its beliefs. It does not require the church to perform any ceremony with which it disagrees. Instead, it reaffirms the separation of church and state.
“It guarantees that Maine citizens will be treated equally under Maine’s civil marriage laws, and that is the responsibility of government."
That, my friends, sums up the arguement for same-sex marriage and puts to rest the meme that it will dictate to churches who they can marry.
And let us not forget that the District of Colombia has decided to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside its jurisdiction. The tide is turning.
It's a great time to be alive.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Consequences of Gay Marriage
Stolen shamelessly from the comments on Joe.My.God who found it on Girl Du Jour who got it from Bob Cesca's Goddamn Awesome Blog who got it from Andrew Sullivan who got it from GraphJam. I think I may have traced it all the way back to its source. Damn, we bloggers are an incestuous bunch.
But it was sooo worth the effort. Now back to work.
Weird Wednesday
It's Wednesday again and time for the weekly weirdness. At first I thought this was going to be a tough week, but things started picking up after a little searching.
We begin with what I thought at first was a recycled article but turns out to be someone else trying to smuggle birds in their pants. Sony Dong got caught with birds in his pants at the LA International Airport. Yes, that's right. He strapped 18 birds to his legs, wore custom tailored pants and got caught when an inspector noticed bird doo and feathers on his socks.
Next is a Pennsylvania man who went on a very weird crime spree. He broke into apartments in Lehigh and used spray paint and chocolate syrup to "redecorate", after he burgled them. He got caught with silver spray paint and chocolate syrup on his hands and has been charged with burglary. Though he admits to the burglaries he says someone else did the actual breaking of the breaking and entering. Um, I don't quite see the point of that allegation but what can you expect from someone who uses silver spray paint and chocolate to vandalize apartments?
Speaking of chocolate, scientists in London have unveiled a vehicle that runs on biofuel made from the waste from choclate factories. The car runs on biofuels made from vegetable oils and chocolate waste. It's also made partly from plant fibers. But what I want to know is what does the exhaust smell like? Chocolate cake?
Three last criminal nitwits to finish the day. First is a cowboy charged with RUI. That's right. Riding under the influence. He was ticketed and given a $25 fine for his self described joy ride on his horse. Police weren't sure what to do the horse. After all, you can't really "tow" a horse.
Next are two crimes with "sound" in common. And I use that term loosely. Two sousaphones were stolen from a Newport News, VA high school. For those of you who don't know, sousaphones are the largest instruments in the marching band. Not something you can casually sneak out under your shirt. Police are baffled.
And last we have two idiots who tried to hide from police in a ladies restroom after stealing a car. When police checked the restroom the geniuses answered from the stalls in falsetto. Remarkably enough, the police were not fooled. The two brothers were arrested.
That's all for today. As long as there are stupid people, we'll have fodder for the news of the weird. But I'd pay to see the car that runs on chocolate.
We begin with what I thought at first was a recycled article but turns out to be someone else trying to smuggle birds in their pants. Sony Dong got caught with birds in his pants at the LA International Airport. Yes, that's right. He strapped 18 birds to his legs, wore custom tailored pants and got caught when an inspector noticed bird doo and feathers on his socks.
Next is a Pennsylvania man who went on a very weird crime spree. He broke into apartments in Lehigh and used spray paint and chocolate syrup to "redecorate", after he burgled them. He got caught with silver spray paint and chocolate syrup on his hands and has been charged with burglary. Though he admits to the burglaries he says someone else did the actual breaking of the breaking and entering. Um, I don't quite see the point of that allegation but what can you expect from someone who uses silver spray paint and chocolate to vandalize apartments?
Speaking of chocolate, scientists in London have unveiled a vehicle that runs on biofuel made from the waste from choclate factories. The car runs on biofuels made from vegetable oils and chocolate waste. It's also made partly from plant fibers. But what I want to know is what does the exhaust smell like? Chocolate cake?
Three last criminal nitwits to finish the day. First is a cowboy charged with RUI. That's right. Riding under the influence. He was ticketed and given a $25 fine for his self described joy ride on his horse. Police weren't sure what to do the horse. After all, you can't really "tow" a horse.
Next are two crimes with "sound" in common. And I use that term loosely. Two sousaphones were stolen from a Newport News, VA high school. For those of you who don't know, sousaphones are the largest instruments in the marching band. Not something you can casually sneak out under your shirt. Police are baffled.
And last we have two idiots who tried to hide from police in a ladies restroom after stealing a car. When police checked the restroom the geniuses answered from the stalls in falsetto. Remarkably enough, the police were not fooled. The two brothers were arrested.
That's all for today. As long as there are stupid people, we'll have fodder for the news of the weird. But I'd pay to see the car that runs on chocolate.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Bwahahaha!!!
This is a thing of beauty. H/T to Joe.My.God who got it from Bil Browning at the Bilerico Project. If you've never dropped by those two sites and you care at all about LGBT rights, please do.
And props to Joe for the mention on the Rachel Maddow show. Bloggers Unite!
Warning: If you don't like strong language, don't watch this. Though if you're here the chances are slim to none that certain words aren't in your vocabulary.
And props to Joe for the mention on the Rachel Maddow show. Bloggers Unite!
Warning: If you don't like strong language, don't watch this. Though if you're here the chances are slim to none that certain words aren't in your vocabulary.
RTT- To be or Not to Be and Other questions
It's Tuesday. You know the drill. Go to the Un Mom and see all the other random ramblings.
I just finished rereading David Brin's The Postman last night. For those of you who have seen the Kevin Costner film loosely based on this book, hear me out. The film is entertaining but fails to delve into the deeper philosophical underpinnings found in the book. And it also makes up shit out of whole cloth but we won't go there. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the movie, but only because I hadn't read the book first.
Anyway, one of the things Brin talks about is the idea that our nation is what I call a collective imagining. This collective vision was fostered deliberately by people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington during the founding of our country and still holds true today. We are what we believe we are. And when we stray from that vision, it disturbs the collective mind. So when our leaders do things that deviate from that ideal, even if it takes us a while to realize it, we react. In these troubling economic times, I've often thought that the real answer to our problems lies not so much in where we move the money but in our collective understanding of what's going on. Modern economics on a global level is so complex that the average person has no idea what do to when things go wrong or even how they got there. But the way out lies just as much in bail outs and market corrections as it does in our confidence that things will get better. It's one of the reasons that economists track consumer confidence. Our collective belief that our economy will survive is key to its actual survival.
On another philosophical front, Texas is beginning to look at new science textbooks for the 2011 adoption. We've just finished writing our science curriculum and textbook publishers will use this as a guideline. Why is this important? Two reasons. First, Texas is the second largest purchaser of school textbooks in the nation. What we and California choose really define what the rest of the nation has available. Second: our State Board of Education has a serious problem. It has way too many Creationists and they are insisting on including Intelligent Design in these textbooks and presenting Evolution as a theory. If they succeed in this endeavor, it's possible that textbook publishers will decline to print anything for them, thus denying Texas children updated materials. Of course, the publishers could cave (they've done it before) and the rest of the nation will have their science textbooks dumbed down. Either way, it well and truly sucks. I can't believe this is even happening. Once again, I'm embarrassed to be from Texas.
I've been thinking lately about what I'd do if the idiots win and Texas secedes. What will happen to the national big box stores like Home Depot and WalMart and Target when Texas becomes an independent nation? And where in the world would we get the money to maintain the Interstate roads? Would NASA leave? And could they take me with them? I don't think I'd stay. I know people are all wigged out about the swine flu but politicians talking about states rights scare me a lot more than a bug I know how to avoid. Plus, since I was old enough to have lived through the last swine flu fiasco, I likely have some immunity. Who'da thunk being alive in the 70s would be good for anything? Certainly not me.
Not that I really think that Texas will secede. But it would be a disaster of epic proportions. Hopefully not the kind where only the cockroaches survive but epic nonetheless.
Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo. Go eat some Tex-Mex in celebration. Or whatever passes as Mexican food in your neck of the woods. Just a note: Taco Bell does not count.
I just finished rereading David Brin's The Postman last night. For those of you who have seen the Kevin Costner film loosely based on this book, hear me out. The film is entertaining but fails to delve into the deeper philosophical underpinnings found in the book. And it also makes up shit out of whole cloth but we won't go there. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the movie, but only because I hadn't read the book first.
Anyway, one of the things Brin talks about is the idea that our nation is what I call a collective imagining. This collective vision was fostered deliberately by people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington during the founding of our country and still holds true today. We are what we believe we are. And when we stray from that vision, it disturbs the collective mind. So when our leaders do things that deviate from that ideal, even if it takes us a while to realize it, we react. In these troubling economic times, I've often thought that the real answer to our problems lies not so much in where we move the money but in our collective understanding of what's going on. Modern economics on a global level is so complex that the average person has no idea what do to when things go wrong or even how they got there. But the way out lies just as much in bail outs and market corrections as it does in our confidence that things will get better. It's one of the reasons that economists track consumer confidence. Our collective belief that our economy will survive is key to its actual survival.
On another philosophical front, Texas is beginning to look at new science textbooks for the 2011 adoption. We've just finished writing our science curriculum and textbook publishers will use this as a guideline. Why is this important? Two reasons. First, Texas is the second largest purchaser of school textbooks in the nation. What we and California choose really define what the rest of the nation has available. Second: our State Board of Education has a serious problem. It has way too many Creationists and they are insisting on including Intelligent Design in these textbooks and presenting Evolution as a theory. If they succeed in this endeavor, it's possible that textbook publishers will decline to print anything for them, thus denying Texas children updated materials. Of course, the publishers could cave (they've done it before) and the rest of the nation will have their science textbooks dumbed down. Either way, it well and truly sucks. I can't believe this is even happening. Once again, I'm embarrassed to be from Texas.
I've been thinking lately about what I'd do if the idiots win and Texas secedes. What will happen to the national big box stores like Home Depot and WalMart and Target when Texas becomes an independent nation? And where in the world would we get the money to maintain the Interstate roads? Would NASA leave? And could they take me with them? I don't think I'd stay. I know people are all wigged out about the swine flu but politicians talking about states rights scare me a lot more than a bug I know how to avoid. Plus, since I was old enough to have lived through the last swine flu fiasco, I likely have some immunity. Who'da thunk being alive in the 70s would be good for anything? Certainly not me.
Not that I really think that Texas will secede. But it would be a disaster of epic proportions. Hopefully not the kind where only the cockroaches survive but epic nonetheless.
Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo. Go eat some Tex-Mex in celebration. Or whatever passes as Mexican food in your neck of the woods. Just a note: Taco Bell does not count.
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