What I'm Thankful For

Thanksgiving Holiday

Hi ya'll,
It's been a great few weeks, but I have to get back to life, do my homework, term papers, exams, wash the dishes, look for a new apartment,,, all those kinds of fun things that I have successfully been putting on the back burner until after the election.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Keith Olbermann on Prop.8 and Love

If you missed Keith's special comment last night... it was one of the most moving things I have heard, a touching tribute to true love, humanity and the state of our world.

So I be written in the Book of Love,
I do not care about that Book above.
Erase my name or write it as you will,
So I be written in the Book of Love.

Boycott Utah!

Sign the petition to review the 501(c)(3) status of The Church of Latter-day Saints here

UPDATE: This website is documenting the many Mormons who are leaving the church over this issue... props to the folks standing against this injustice!

Proposition 8 won in California on Tuesday. Part of the reason is due to fear pandering, slanderous, lying and misleading ads on TV, radio and in print. These ads were funded in a large part by Mormons, as part of a deliberate and calculated campaign by the LDS Church to defeat the measure and amend the constitution of California. Mormons from Utah gave millions of dollars towards this campaign which now takes away the rights of same sex couples to marry.

OK, granted, I have had a very longstanding beef with the Mormon church. First, as an atheist, and secondly having lived underneath an apartment of Mormon missionaries, and thirdly just as a person who regularly uses my brain.... the whole thing about Joseph Smith, con artist extraordinaire and the magic glasses given to him by the angle Moroni, the talking hat, and the whole thing about God having made the skins of Native Americans brown as a punishment for not accepting Jesus, and Jesus living in America among the Native peoples (oh there is just so much)... it just reeks of total bullshit (OK, not unlike other more established fairy tales, but I have outrage especially reserved towards NEW ones) ... and people buy into it lock stock and barrel??? Oh boy- I just don't get it. Plus, what a bunch of freaking hypocrites! Their whole history is of being tormented and hated because of their lifestyle... they claimed the land that is now Utah for their own so they could practice their religion without harassment... so now they decide to harass some other group who suffers torment and hatred because of their lifestyle. Please... I'm gonna puke.

My first response is this: You have a whole state to yourselves, why not leave us alone?? Many of us come to California to get away from the kind of church controlled/influenced government that infects many other areas around the country. Here, at least in San Francisco, we find and foster diversity, fairness and equality. Now a church, from another state, decides to inject its dollars to build a Christian morality in our legislature? Mormon account for roughly 2% of CA population... but the Mormon church and it's members contributed 77% of the money behind "Yes on 8". Something stinks.

Here is a document one of our fellow Kossacks somehow got ahold of: DailyKos.com
It proves a distinct and organized attempt of the Mormon Church to interfere with and influence a proposition in California. Having exerted efforts in Hawaii, the church now, in 1997, directs it's efforts to California.

In todays Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com Passages I find particularly offensive/sickening:

The church encouraged its members to work to pass California's Proposition 8 by volunteering their time and money for the campaign. Thousands of Mormons worked as grassroots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign.
Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said in a statement about the temple protests Friday that it is "disturbing" that the church is being singled out for exercising its right to speak up in a free election."While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process," Farah said.

Church a part of California's democratic process??? What part of this sentence makes sense?
The blogosphere responds:

"At a fundamental level, the Utah Mormons crossed the line on this one," said gay rights activist John Aravosis, an influential blogger in Washington, D.C.
"They just took marriage away from 20,000 couples and made their children bastards," he said. "You don't do that and get away with it."

So why single out the Mormon church? The Catholics were just a vehemently opposed to Prop. 8. Well, once again I say.... the Mormons have a whole fucking state to themselves, so why do they put so much money and energy into effecting our politics in California? I can't stand it.

"At this point, the Californians are the victims and the Mormons are the persecutors," he said. "We had won this until they swept in. ... We need to send a message to Utah that they need to stop trying to inflict their way of life on every other state."

And what about our fellow Californians who supported the measure? It's hard to just shake hands and let bygones be bygones, because they AREN'T! This measure goes forward from this day on to not only strip away rights but to AMEND the constitution. This from C.W. Nevius at the Chronicle:

This isn't like a disagreement between two co-workers about who should be president or a debate about whether city funds should be set aside for affordable-housing projects. This is a deep, visceral divide between two cultures...

But now the Prop. 8 backers are complaining that they are the wronged party."I think what infuriates me the most is that supporters of Prop. 8 could now possibly be portraying themselves as victims after successfully taking the rights away from other people," said San Francisco resident Paul Holtz. "It's bizarre, paranoid, and silly for them to be claiming suffering at this point."

It's hard to guess where this will all end. Hopefully the courts will straighten it out. Was this a constitutional change the should have required a 2/3 vote? If so this measure is invalid. Is there a precedent for stripping away rights once they have been granted? I can't help but be reminded that, if left up to VOTERS, African Americans would have never been granted equal rights. Not the Japanese or Chinese. So why should such an important decision be left up to voters, who in their ignorance and fear, fall prey to ads blasting lies and distortions across our airways 24/7? The people made the right decision in our Presidential election, but not for Prop. 8. One barrier fell while another was resurrected. This is not over! We have only just begun to fight for the rights of all people.

Am I the only one who thinks all the whining of the Prop. 8 supporters now rings hollow? I'll let C.W. have the last word:

... my guess is that many of the Prop. 8 supporters, like Pira Tritasavit of San Francisco, are asking some difficult questions of themselves. "As a Christian," he said, "should I feel apologetic for voting my conscience? Should I feel proud over a victory? Should this be 'rubbed in their faces?' Is this a done deal now? I don't think so. The passing of legislation can never change human hearts."
To which VanGundy [referring to attacks on Prop. 8 supporters] replies: "Bitterness, name calling and finger pointing will do nothing to help. Ignorance is our enemy - not people."

But Prop. 8 supporters need to understand the basic truth. They can't have it both ways. They won a bitter, unpleasant and divisive battle. It's unrealistic now to expect those who lost their rights will understand and respect the Prop. 8 point of view.

Countries where same sex marriage is legal or perform civil unions or partnerships:
Spain, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa, Andorra, Czech Republis, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Luxemborg, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., Uruguay, Hungarywww.mormonsstoleourrights.com
www.americablog.org
www.lds.org

The Democratic Shift

Funny isn't it! When the Dem's stopped trying to pander to The Right, The Right centered and concentrated (with Palin's prodding) and took control of the Republican Party. Then all of a sudden, moderate and intellectual Repugs came over to our side, abandoning the little wingnuts to their own devices. This map shows counties that, compared to 2004, voted more Democratic. This ingenious map shows dramatically the shift away from right wing extremism, and I find it comforting and reassuring. For more go here.

There was dancing in the streets!

Well, I'm still trying to take it all in... last night was tense, stomach wrenching, nerve fraying, then cautious optimism, then afraid-to-say-it-out-loud possibility, then we've-won-this-for-sure giddiness, then out-and-out rock the house HE WON!!! OBAMA IS OUR NEXT PRESIDENT!!!!!
We were in the lobby of the W hotel downtown, amidst hundreds of revelers. We watched and listened as Obama gave his acceptance speech. I cried... sobbed more like it. You see, I was born and raised in Georgia. My family consisted of your stereotypical racist bigots you find in that area. However, my mother's folks, in Alabama, were kind and just, even though they were prejudiced, I would not call then racist. I guess it's a finesse of degrees, but in the South, that counts for a lot. My mother's mother never said the "n" word, unlike my father's family... I can't even tell you how bad they were. But my father did not want us to grow up like that, and for all the faults I can list for him, he did believe in civil rights and he was not at all racist. Neither was my mom.















My father marched in the civil rights marches in Alabama in the 50's. He gave sermons condemning the white Citizen's Council and the KKK. Both my parents had black friends, and encouraged us to make friends of all colors. all these things did not win them popularity contests amng other white southerners. My dad was marched out of his church and out of town at gun point for those sermons. He lost another church job for teaching a Sunday School class on world religions. Apparently my own life was threatened for befriending the lone back girl in my class, because her parents and mine decided that we could not spend time over at each other's homes any more. When I protested through tears and tantrums, my dad said I would understand the seriousness of what was happening when I got older. Her parents and mind understood that we were in danger because of the KKK in the area. They did what they had to do to protect us. Other things I remember is that we had a brick thrown through our window with some kind of note (they never let us kids know what it said) after my mom and dad helped a black family who had a car accident in front of our house by bringing them inside and taking care of the kids while taking the dad to the hospital. Later, we moved from a Florida town suddenly when I was 14 because my dad have something to do with exposing the Sheriff as a leader in the KKK. To his death he would not tell me what exactly happened.
My mother was a public school teacher. She did not protest or cause big waves. Her work was much more personal and quiet. She spent her own money to buy glasses, shoes, clothes, even medicine for the very poor kids who were in her classes, the majority of them happened to be African American, as the black communities sometimes are very, very marginalized in the South. She attended funerals, weddings and baptisms of her black students, former students and fellow teachers. In the South, this can be looked down upon, because church congregations tend to be very separate, and also it involves venturing into the "black side of town" which most whites wouldn't do.
So, my parents, while not "liberals" as we tend to think of it, were not racist and proudly struggled to make sure my brother and I, despite growing up in the midst of it all, would not turn out to be racist either.
So last night I cried for them. They died 5 years ago, and did not get to see Obama elected as the 44th President of the USA. They would have worked for him, would have voted for him, and would have been thrilled that after all they did for their whole lives, that we as a nation have finally come to this point in history. And what's more, my cousins, brother and sister-in-law all worked for Obama. We are not proud about who our ancestors are, and the bad things they may have done in the past, but today we can be proud to say that our family has come a long way in two generations.
I wish so much that they could be here to witness and be a part of this. I cried because I miss them and I thank them for making me who I am today... working for hope, justice and progress. For this moment when I can truly say I am proud of my countrymen and women. So, Mom and Dad, I raise a glass in your honor!

Yes We Can by Will.i.am

TODAY IS THE DAY

Today is the day we have all been waiting for...
Today is the day we have all been working for...
Today is the day we have all been HOPING for...

Now Get Out And Vote!!!

The Quotable Palin

Good read..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/the-quotable-palin_b_140161.html

The chilling case against Bush/Chaney

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/
By Andrew Sullivan:

"Cheney and Bush, unlike any presidency in American history, have dangerously pushed constitutional government to the brink of collapse. They did not merely assert a unified executive in which actions and regulations reserved to the executive branch were kept free from Congressional and judicial tampering. That is a perfectly defensible position, especially in wartime. They did not merely act in the immediate Agabuse wake of an emergency to protect American citizens swiftly - again a perfectly legitimate use of executive power, unhampered by Congress or courts. They declared such power to be unlimited; they asserted also that it was as permanent as the emergency they declared; they claimed their dictatorial powers were inherent in the presidency itself, and above any legal constraints; they ordered their own lawyers to provide retroactive and laughable legal immunity for their crimes; they by-passed all the usual and necessary checks within the executive branch to ensure prudence and legality and self-doubt in the conduct of a war; they asserted that emergency war powers applied to the territory of the United States itself; they claimed the right to seize anyone - anyone, citizen or not - they deemed an "enemy combatant," to hold them indefinitely with no due process and to torture them until they became incoherent, broken, brutalized shells of human beings, if they survived at all. They did this to the guilty and they did this to the innocent. But they also had no way of reliably knowing which was which and who was who. Never before in wartime has the precious, sacred inheritance of free people been treated with such contempt by the leaders of the democratic West."

Please! read this article.

Final Word on ACORN- Repug LIES

From Politico:

For weeks, Republican leaders have warned that widely reported problems with fake voter registrations could result in a flood of phony votes in pivotal states.

But Ronald Michaelson, a veteran election administrator and member of the McCain-Palin Honest and Open Election Committee, said in an interview that he could not name a single instance in which this had occurred.

“Do we have a documented instance of voting fraud that resulted from a phony registration form? No, I can’t cite one, chapter and verse,” he said.

The claims and counterclaims about fraudulent voting have emerged as a prominent issue in the 2008 campaign. Sen. John McCain declared in the final presidential debate that ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the low-income advocacy group whose temporary staffers submitted thousands of faked applications — “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”

Read the article HERE

Repug IT chief headed for deposition

Breaking News!!!

So... let me get this straight... Mike Connell, the guy who was convicted and served jail time for rigging the 2004 Ohio election is now, as we speak, in charge of the Republican party's election network, and has just been ordered to give deposition on Nov 3rd, testifying in court in a case that also indicts Karl Rove? This is amazing!
Sure, right now McPalin are making a big deal that Obama has a poor elderly Kenyan aunt in public housing who has overstayed her visa... SCARY!!!
But this is the real important shit...the Repug Party/McPalin campaign has in it's employ as the TOP I.T. Man a criminal who is now going to be deposed right before the most crucial hour for stealing the election. I guess he better make sure everything is rigged a day early. I can only hope that he alone holds the keys to the system and it will crash and burn without him.
Who needs conspiracy theory when this shit is real? You know, I have been wondering why, all of a sudden McCain has been beaming with confidence. I figured someone whispered in his ear "Don't worry Senator, you will win in Pennsylvania." Sound familiar?
Now, it is a possibility that the whole scheme will be revealed in court on the day before the election. I feel like throwing up. There is no honor at all in the Republican party, or McCain. He is beaming, IMHO, and bursting with greedy ambition at the thought that this election could possibly go his way with a little cheating here and there. It really make me ill.

And for anyone who has doubts that it really happened in 2000 and 2004, please read "How to Rig an Election" by Allen Raymond, convicted of election fraud in 2002. He details what he was paid to do and how it can, and does, still happen today.


I cannot even consider what would happen if Obama does not win. It will be the utter and complete destruction of everything I could possibly hope for our government. It will be a complete sham and to see McCain and Palin joyfully taking the oath of office would really be too much for me. I know I'm not the only one... And if anyone feels like they could resign themselves to the outcome, thinking it wouldn't really make any difference... I think we have seen enough in the last 8 years to disavow that belief.

Watch what Bush does in the next 2 months. He is poised to sign a ton of legislation right now decreasing regulation on environmental standards, air quality, and consumer protections:
From the LA Times

The White House is working to enact an array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift existing constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

The lame duck will not go down without sneakily laying a big pile of steaming duck shit on the American people.
And for today's entertainment...