Category: society

Me Man, You Woman…oomf oomf!

Thanks to Johnny is a Man for the fantastic link to this post. By far, one of the most eloquent statements I’ve ever read. While a bit on the derogatory side, it summed up a huge chunk of how I feel about internalized homophobia in our community.

(snip)
This Rocco queen is pissing me off. He’s currently trotting out little more than a kernal of experience (along with several dollops of resentment towards the gay community) as evidence supporting the same tired, warmed-over horseshit about how uppity gays who get bashed were really asking for it because they weren’t walking around in a constant state of siege.

(snip)
Basically he’s saying that gays have gotten uppity, let their guard down, and should simply accept the fact that if they behave too much like “fags,” they shouldn’t be surprised when they get bashed. And how reassuring an argument it is that all you need to do to prevent getting bashed is butch it up, and if you can’t or won’t conform to the macho code, tough shit.

Having heard the issue of masculinity beaten to and fro like an old dog it’s refreshing to see a better perspective. More and more we (as gays) are beginning to see beyond the shallow confines of the implied prerequisites of being a “man” in this country.

Good Ole Texas!

Ok, so that’s normally not something I say often. Let’s face it, Texas doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to being “open minded”. So it is w/no small amount of pride that I offer today’s tidbit. Thanks to Towleroad for catching the story.

Apparently, there is one ‘christian’ legislator who has had enough of all the hate-mongering. They passed the despicable amendment but god love her for calling a deuce a deuce!

I have served in this body a lot of years, and I have seen a lot of promises broken… So… now that blacks and women have equal rights, you turn your hatred to homosexuals, and you still use your misguided reading of the Bible to justify your hatred. You want to pass this ridiculous amendment so you can go home and brag — brag about what? Declare that you saved the people of Texas from what

(snip)
If you want to make your hateful political statements then that is one thing — but the Chisum amendment does real harm. It repeals the contracts that many single people have paid thousands of dollars to purchase to obtain medical powers of attorney, powers of attorney, hospital visitation, joint ownership and support agreements. You have lost your way. This is obscene…

“I thought we would be debating economic development, property tax relief, protecting seniors’ pensions and stem cell research to save lives of Texans who are waiting for a more abundant life. Instead we are wasting this body’s time with this political stunt that is nothing more than constitutionalizing discrimination. The prejudices exhibited by members of this body disgust me

It is nice to know there are some respectable folks left in politics. Even in Texas.

Business As Usual

Another glaring example of how corporations are out-of-control in this country.

(story)

Internet phone providers were ordered Thursday to begin supplying reliable 911 emergency call service after regulators heard an anguished Florida woman describe how she was unable to summon help to save her dying infant daughter….

…Her voice breaking, Cheryl Waller of Deltona, Fla., told the commissioners before their vote that “120 days is seven days longer than my daughter lived.” Julia Waller “died at 113 days old because I can’t reach an operator,” she said.

Waller said she got a recording when she used her Internet phone to call 911 after her daughter stopped breathing last March. By the time she was able to summon help with a neighbor’s phone, the child was dead.

Instead of focusing on issues like this, our leaders are worried about who I’m poking at night or who I choose to marry. Where were the morals of the company exec’s who rolled out this service knowing that it was missing a critical component? Once again, we wait until a problem bites us squarely in the ass before we act. Shameful to say the least.

Hon! Have You Seen My Morals?

I often find that conversations involving morality (and monogamy but thats another rant ) always seem to end up in a bitch fight. Neither side is willing to listen or relent and both end up vehemently attacking the other.

I’m trying to collect my thoughts to make this rant sound coherent but ideas keep colliding w/each other so I’ll ask you to bear w/me. . . I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m tired of the factions within the gay community constantly at war w/each other. One side uses their morality as a shield w/their self-righteous speeches proclaiming they’re superiority because they have morality on their side. The other side uses their sexual freedom as an ax to chop away at the traditions society has built up for years and years. Yet, neither side really tries to listen to the other. No one tries to find a middle ground. It’s always “my way or the highway!” Ya know what folks, that same attitude is what has this country in the political quandry its in today!

I still feel like I’m still missing my point. Maybe I can focus on the term itself.

Morality is defined as

1. descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or,
1. some other group, such as a religion, or
2. accepted by an individual for her own behavior or
2. normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

At first read, both definitions sound the same. If you read it that way, re-read it until you see the difference. It is pointless to read further until you understand the above definitions differences.

*ok I stopped here out of frustration. I couldn’t find the right words so after several hours of reading, I found what I was trying to say, albeit not so elegantly.*

…. it is not useful to adopt a definition of “morality” as meaning the code of conduct accepted by the members of a society because in many large societies, not all members of the society accept the same code of conduct. Nor is it useful to adopt a somewhat more general definition of “morality” as the code of conduct accepted by the members of a group because it is not only always possible, it is often the case, that not all members of any group accept the same code. A natural outcome of these problems is to switch attention from groups to individuals. If what is important is what code of conduct people accept, and members of a group do not always accept the same code of conduct, then why be concerned with groups at all?

This consideration leads to a new descriptive sense of “morality.” “morality” is taken to mean that guide to behavior that is regarded by an individual as overriding and that he wants to be universally adopted. [See R. M. Hare, Moral Thinking] In this sense of “morality,” it refers to a guide to behavior accepted by an individual rather than that put forward by a society or any other group. But “morality” does not refer to just any guide to behavior accepted by an individual, it is that guide to behavior that the individual adopts as his overriding guide, and wants everyone else to adopt as their overriding guide as well. This sense of “morality” is a descriptive sense, because a person can refer to an individual’s morality without endorsing it. In this sense, like the original descriptive sense, morality has no limitations on content. Whatever guide to behavior an individual regards as overriding and wants to be universally adopted is that individual’s morality.

This quote was taken direclty from Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Now we are getting somewhere! The picture once fuzzy becomes clear. (well at least for me.) We begin to see that morality is an ambiguous term at best. How can we expect to come together as a group if we are all focusing on our morality instead of our equality. It should be quite clear that we’ll never have the same morality as those who oppose and hate us.

If we don’t learn to move beyond our multi-cultural/racial views on morality, frankly folks, I think we are doomed as a species.

Well, I’ve beat this horse to death so I’m moving on now. Discuss, comment, or bitch as you will.

No Tramp Zone

I’ve been catching up on my blogrolling and I stumbled across Dunner’s posts on gays and public sex. On his first rant, I think he sorta failed to explain himself. I guess after a spirited debate he decided to clarify his positon. On his second rant, he is much more to the point. That said, I still think he is missing the bigger picture.

First off, I have a lot of respect for Dunner and he is one of my favorite reads. I often find his rants to be very insightful and fair minded. I’m usually in agreement w/him on most topics. I think he is more articulate than I am which only serves to increase my interest. That said, I do find at times, like today, our opinions differ. I think it has a lot to do w/age. Granted at 34, I’m only 10 years his senior. But 1o years on the hard side of life can be a good teacher. From what I’ve read of Dunner, his life, while not w/o tribulations, has been blissful by my own standards. If anything, I’ve learned that when it comes to life and society, there is never an easy answer or quick fix as it were.

In a nutshell, Dunner states that if we ever expect society as a whole to accept us then we have to curtail our promiscuity in public.

It’s the same reason why we need to expose hypocrites like Jim West, politicians who spit antigay rhetoric and then expect pity when they own up to their homosexual behavior. If we create a society where it’s clear that gay relationships and gay sexuality are to be as respected as their straight counterparts, life will be easier for all homosexuals, and true equality will be found. But if we’re to expect to gain equal respect for gay sexuality, we gotta cut out the tomfoolery in the public steam room and instead find healthy ways to express it.

As I see it, that is sorta putting the horse before the wagon. If we are still battling for the right to even get married, how can we expect to “find healthy ways to express it.” Our over zealous need for sexual release stems from our constant repression. So from my perspective, we have to fix the problem itself before we can work on fixin the symptoms it has created.

Pop on over and have a read if you haven’t already. Andymatic also weighs in on the subject. What say you?

Critical Mess

For my readers who aren’t local, critical mass or critical mess as we call it, is a monthly gathering of cyclists from all over the bay area to ride the streets of SF. It is held the last Friday of every month and varies from 1 to 5 thousand cyclists. The event started some years ago over problems w/vehicle/cyclist roadrage incidents. Or more correctly, it started over the refusal of motorists to share the roadways of SF w/cyclists.

I am a regular cyclist and am a firm believer in the original ideal. However, the event itself has turned into a chaotic disgusting excuse for hoodlums and radicals to wreck havoc on anyone in a gas-powered vehicle. And the calls run the gambit from simple harrassment to all out assaults on any readily available person in a vehicle.

My question is, what purpose does this serve? Vehicles aren’t going away. And this attitude certainly doesn’t foster any sort of cohabitation of the roadway. I mean clogging up traffic is fine in my opinion but attacking people’s vehicles just because? Standing in front of an ambulance trying to get to someone in need? Come on, that’s childish at best. I’ve heard the argument that “they [motorists] deserve it for all the years cyclists had to be leary of cars.” Well last time I checked, two wrongs don’t make a right. Instead of protesting peacefully and making a powerful point, you get a bunch of juvenile wanna-be’s acting out like petulant children. Grow up already.

Micro Bigot XP

Just in time for 2006 Micro Bigot XP!
Credit goes to Pam’s House Blend for the artwork and to Ameriblog for the link

Haven’t you heard? Microsoft has done away w/its new operating system Longhorn for a much more ‘christian-friendly’ version dubbed Microbigot XP. Don’t worry fellow ‘mo’s. It is only on-sale to ‘god-fearing-bible-thumping-wackos’. No more updates, no more viruses ever. Why? Well, since it is based on good wholesome ‘family values’ there won’t be any need. Besides, who needs a virus protection program when Jehovah is on your side? You can just open up your bank account and “tithe” accordingly and remain virus free.

All I have to say is FUCK YOU Microshit! They actually think that this shitstorm is gonna blow over if they pretend like it was all a ‘misunderstanding’. Riiiiiiiiiight!

In case you are completely clueless as to what I’m talking about, check out Ameriblog on the scandal. The short version: Billy & CO originally endorsed the bill to end discrimination against gays/lesbians and then lo and behold after a meeting w/ONE christian fanatic and being threatened w/a boycott, Microsoft suddenly never meant to endorse the bill. They are only neutral. *This neutrality effectively killed the bill* Then the “official” excuse by CEO Steve Palmer was down right insulting in its blatant disregard for the facts, past and present. The real pisser is he actually never thought it would go public and make a big deal. Of course, now the more they try and rationalize it away the bigger it is going to get. lol

I guess we aren’t the only ones w/an ‘agenda’.

Who Are You?

I took this personality test from Republic of T’s blog. I’m completely the opposite of him it seems.

My results.

ENFJ- The Teacher
Your Type is 100% Extroverted, 12% Observant, 6% Logical and 50% Structured
Your type is known as the teacher, or the educating mentor. You also
belong to the larger group, called idealists. You tend to bring out the
best in other people. You lead without seeming to do so. People are
naturally drawn to you. You expect the very best from people which
takes the form of enthusiastic encouragement which is so charming that
people try their best not to disappoint you. You share your personality
type with 3% of the population.
You need to feel a deep and meaningful connection to your romantic
partners, and go to great lengths to understand and please your mate.
Harmony is vitally important to you, and you often put others’ needs
before your own. You have a pretty thin skin and are easily hurt.
Although you strive for harmony, when your values or ethics are
violated, you can be very emotional, confrontational, and even
punishing. However, you are very insightful about the underlying cause
of conflicts, and an excellent communicator, so you have the tools to
bring about a quick and peaceful resolution as long as you can keep
control of your facilities. You want to be appreciated for your
thoughtfulness and compassion. You need your partner to make a real
effort to get to know you. Above all, you need to be able to express
your feelings and have them taken seriously.
Your group summary: idealists (NF)
Your type summary: ENFJ

vincex’s shorter version of this test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 79% on outgoing
You scored higher than 9% on observant
You scored higher than 4% on logical
You scored higher than 75% on structured

Link: The Quick and Dirty Personality Test written by unpretentious2 on Ok Cupid

Check out his blog to see how he did. How did you score?

Random Tidbits

Lets see, not much to report today. Mostly random crap that I feel worth mentioning.

First, Republic of T had a great post regarding the Shiavo case and the Democrats total lack of a voice during the whole process. While I’m normally of the mindset that the “christian-not-right” drive more people to my side than against with all their madness, it would be nice if more than a few Dems. would grow a spine and voice an opinion once and awhile. As I’m writing this, I am thinking originally the Democrats probably thought it was a non-issue and the fact that the republicans latched onto it w/such fervor caught them completely by surprise. As a result, the Dems. are caught w/their jaw open staring in total disbelief at the sheer ignorance of the republican party. Well, thats my hope anyway.

The BCC contest this past Thursday went well. We got 3 more really good contestants. *I’ll have photos of the contest posted by Sunday on the BCC site. There are two more preliminaries to go before the finals so any of you locals who are having thoughts of making a go of it, get off your duff and get down to The Powerhouse next Thursday. You can even download an application to compete here.

TH’s family is in town for the weekend so I won’t get any solo time w/him until at least Monday. I know it is selfish to want him all to myself but at least someone I know has good family ties.

Roblog is doing a bit better in his drama as of late. I’m very happy to hear that. I’m trying to squeeze in another lunch in w/him so we can catch up.

I think I discovered a way to create a static html/php page using a plugin I found for WordPress. WTF you say? Static just means its one page instead of several. It would make it much easier for me to copy/past code into the layout of the new template. Thats is kind of low priority right now but I promise I’ll eventually get to it.

I’ve been hitting the gym sporadically but I’m almost back into my normal routine. I’ve lost some strength all over but not as much as I had feared. I got a nice pump today from my chest workout and that put me in a good mood. *G* The eye candy today was better than usual as well.

I was released on the fire side at work which means I can work solo over there now. *We are in the process of taking over dispatching from the Fire Dept.* The down side to that means I’ll be back on the PD side Monday and no more getting off early.

I think thats about it. No deep thoughts today. Just sort in the moment.

Ignunce At Its Finest

I’ve been quiet about the whole Teri Shiavo case as I’ve been waiting to see how it unfolds. Let me say for the record, if I was in Teri’s shoes, I would not want to be kept alive that way. I am of a firm belief that there comes a time when you are faced w/a quantity of life vs a quality of life. Even if she does get ‘better’ as some limited few have stated. Better does not mean she will recover people. Their version of better means she would be confined to a bed the rest of her life and only be kept alive by the machines attached to her. Thats not living!

But, I can’t say who is right or wrong because I don’t know. What I can say is Congress’s actions are beyond deplorable. They have turned this horrible case into a political statement to appease their conservative base. Even with public opinion polls showing a whopping 75% of Americans would not want to be kept alive. I was reading some comments on Dunners’ blog and stumbled across a ‘holier-than-thou’ mentality. These people crack me up. They feel no shame in meddling in someone else’s life because of their own misguided beliefs. Let me spell it out for you. Keep your nausiating beliefs in your own backyard and leave me alone.

Today is a scary day indeed folks. This case will set a precident that could haunt us for decades. Congress does not need to be meddling in our personal lives. Once the line is crossed, there is no turning back.

On a side note, this article might be of use. If you do not have a living will or at the very least a DNR (do not resuscitate) in place, you are asking for the same thing to happen to you!