made me laugh

Is Vermont next?

Hearings opened yesterday in Vermont for same-sex marriage
Filed by: Alex Blaze
March 17, 2009 12:00 PM
n 2000, Vermont created civil unions for same-sex couples with all the state-level rights of marriage in order to avoid letting same-sex couples marry, as their supreme court ordered. Yesterday, they opened hearings on same-sex marriage in the state legislature.

You can watch the hearings over on Vermont Freedom to Marry's website. (read)

Everything I know, I learned from my dogs

I have 2 dogs.. Lucy and Scout.

Lucy is big and old. Scout is young and small. (Both Australian Shepards)

I took them for a ride with me today on a FEDEX run. As usual, Lucy lays down in the back, not really looking out the window, just being patient until we get to where we are going.

Scout stands on the arm rest in the front, her head leaning forward like a hood ornament... watching everything. She looks at the cars, the traffic, the people, everything!! WHAT FUN all this new stuff to see. 

And it occurred to me, this is life. We can enjoy the journey, not knowing where or if we'll get any where. Or we can be focused on waiting til we get somewhere to have our fun and start living.  That perfect job, body, salary, house, lover, kids, grown kids,.. if I could just make it to...X, then I could relax and live and start my real life.

Today, we're not going to the park or to doggy daycare or the vet or anywhere fun.. just a car ride and then back home... and while Scout will have had a grand adventure, Lucy will think, "what the hell? we're just back home?"

Defining Our Terms: Bashing.

Please take a moment to watch this:

Two Oscars for MILK - Writing and Sean Penn

Great Speeches Below:

Suze Orman's Valentine Wish!

Gay Argentine - check out this beer commercial!

Things I've learned from the recent ICE storm.

We had a hurricane of an ice storm recently. Trees down, Power Out, Big Mess. Here are some things I've learned from the experience.

1.  Ice can break trees like I never imagined. 

2. Kitty litter on ice instead of salt seems like a good idea at the time, but turns into a muddy mess later.

3. Having a slumber party of friends when they are all adults and out of power isn't as fun as it sounds.

4. Wood burning fireplaces are gold.

5. Underground power lines and internet lines saved by business, big time.

6. Dogs love snow. Ice, not so much.

7. Muddy paws and wood floors do not mix.

8. Kentucky takes weeks to restore power, don't live there.

9. You can't land a plane if it's too windy.

10. Sometimes, a neighbor who will give you a push is all that is needed.

I love Rachel Maddow. Republicans: Get out of the way!

Rachel says my feelings on this perfectly.

Yes, I'm a nerd

Super Bowl Ads- See I'm not THIS bad.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

President Obama Wears Bullet-Resistant Suit at Inaugural

By Jose Fermoso  January 21, 2009 | wired.com

Barack Obama had more than the Presidential 'beast' limo taking care of his safety yesterday.

According to some reports, he wore a suit made by a clothier specializing in bullet-resistant clothing during the inauguration ceremonies.

While no one from the U.S. Secret Service have yet to mention any details about the garment's structure, some are speculating it may have come from the line by Colombian designer Miguel Caballero. As we noted last year, Caballero is well known for his super tough but flexible and business appropriate clothing (see pic at right), such as the $7,500 polo shirt that can stop a shot from a 9-mm revolver.

Due to some of the unfortunately rising levels of dangerous conflicts in Colombia and other parts of Latin America, the need for this type of clothing has also led to a spike in sales.

According to Caballero, many of his garments offer more thanthree levels of ballistic protection and they are about seven times more flexible than the Kevlar vests that are usually worn. Designers that use Kevlar tie together dense strands of the material (500 to 1,500 filaments per strand of yarn, according to Slate), which is then weaved into the clothing.

With close to 2 million people on hand to watch the president-elect take the Oath of Office, the level of security was understandably tight and every precaution was taken to ensure safety for all.

Earlier this month, we noted that President Obama will be using the safest Presidential limo ever built, the so-called Cadillac One (or simply, "The Beast"), whose toughness rivals a tank and seals off like a bank vault in the event of a potential attack.

A recap of the day

Goodbye to our in-articulate president. It will be nice to have one that can speak now.

Gene Robinson: Gay Bishop Giving Obama Inauguration Prayer

New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, a vocal gay rights leader, will open President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration with a prayer on Sunday's kick-off event at the Lincoln Memorial.

"I am writing to tell you that President-Elect Obama and the Inaugural Committee have invited me to give the invocation at the opening event of the Inaugural Week activities, We are One, to be held at the Lincoln Memorial," Robinson wrote in an email to friends.

The announcement comes after weeks of outcry from the gay community over Obama's choice of evangelical, anti-gay pastor Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation.

"It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way," Robinsonsaid in an interview with the Concord Monitor. "Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority or, in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters."

Robinson is the first openly gay diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion. "God never gets it wrong. The church often takes a long time to get it right. It is a human institution, but one capable of self-correction," Robinson told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "I believe in my heart that the church got it wrong about homosexuality. There is great excitement in my heart to be living in a time when the church is starting to get it right."

Robinson said he would love to sit down with Rick Warren but believed that the California pastor has "perpetrated lies about the gay, lesbian and bisexual community."

Go Tina

The OTHER MALL: Every town has one. Including ours. Funny

Equality Matters - Join the March

In 2004, the Government Accounting Office identified 1,138 federal laws in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights, and privileges.

It's time to educate Americans about what the word 'marriage' really means and talk about the critical rights being denied LGBT couples. Tax fairness. Hospital visitation. Government benefits. Medical decision-making. Exemption from estate taxes. Spousal immigration.

Click here to learn more

Sharon Gless

FILM

Sharon Gless (Finally) Goes Gay 
She’s best known for playing the role of an outspoken, eccentric, overbearing PFLAG mom on Queer as Folk, a tough cop named Cagney on Cagney & Lacey, and most recently the mouthy mother on Burn Notice. But Sharon Gless has returned to gay and lesbian audiences playing a new kind of role: an actual lesbian. 
By Byron Flitsch   (READ)

U.S. Rejects U.N.'s Gay Rights Statement, Cites "Don't Ask"

A joint statement addressing homophobia and LGBT rights for the first time at the United Nations was tabled Thursday, without the backing of the United States.

"We urge states to take all the necessary measures, in particular legislative or administrative, to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention," the draft document read.

The unprecedented gay rights declaration was proposed by the French and read by Argentinean ambassador Jorge Arguello. The nonbinding statement is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

The United States did not sign the statement, but former U.N. spokesman Richard Grenell said the U.S. was hung up on its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which bars out gays and lesbians from serving in the military.

"The fact that the Bush administration hired as many gays and lesbians with top secret security clearances in and of itself means that we are not criminals," Grenell said. "To later suggest that because of 'don't ask, don't tell' we can't support this resolution flies in the face of real compassion."

Grenell added that before he left his post in October as the longest-running American spokesman for the United Nations, he explained to State Department officials that the United States should sign the statement immediately, as a means to show the Bush administration is compassionate and accepting. "Yet, they came up with this phony argument that legally they had a problem with 'don't ask, don't tell.'"

Sixty-six of the 192 member countries, including the full European Union, Central African Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Israel, and Japan urged the decriminalization of homosexuality on Thursday to fellow member countries. In addition to the United States, China, Russia, and all of the Arab nations refused to back the statement.

A rival statement, read by Syria, garnered 58 signatures, according to Bloomberg News. Syrian envoy Abdullah al-Hallaq, reading the statement, said homosexuality could "usher into social normalization and possibly the legitimization of many deplorable acts, including pedophilia."

More than 77 countries find consensual same-sex relations to be a punishable offense, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Association. Seven countries -- Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen -- punish homosexuality by death. (Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com)