[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Pam's House Blend - Front Page's LiveJournal:
- LGBT people need to convince the majority to allow them to have civil rights
- If most LGBT people are not Christian, how can Christians support their rights?
- Events like Southern Decadence show that LGBT people are not serious about marriage
- Isolated incidences of rage and violence by [some] LGBT people show that [all] LGBT people are not deserving of civil rights
- If LGBT people do not repudiate every violent and immoral act by LGBT people, they are tacitly supporting those actions
- Timur, who exterminated as many as 17 million people and built towers of their skulls, as well as raping women and enslaving children.
- Tsar Ivan IV
- Maximilien_Robespierre (over 1200 guillotined)
- Joseph Stalin
- Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun
- Use whatever economic levers are available to us. We and our allies simply cannot patronize businesses that are opposed to our equal protection under the law. The HRC has provided us with a list. Once the administration changes, I am in favor of putting considerable pressure on the IRS to revoke the Mormon's tax exempt status.
- Educate the public. Every individual who can be swayed to the scientific evidence that sexual orientation and sexuality are biological and not choice is more likely to be an individual who supports GLBT rights. We should be flooding our newspapers with letters to the editor, particularly in smaller markets where they are more likely to be published. We should also be active participants in Internet discussions including those on opposition fora. Each time, we only need to get a small percentage of people to become more critical thinkers.
- Appeal to Americans' basic sense of fairness. We are their neighbors, fire fighters, teachers, police, physicians, lawyers, plumbers and accountants. People need to see us in those terms rather than in the abstract.
- The Citizenship @ Microsoft annual report
- The Unlimited Potential campaign, our umbrella for a number of programs aiming to enhance worldwide access to technology. For example, many specific grantees of our Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills Program are identified.
- A list of our strategic partners such as Tech Soup who support NGOs by building their information technology capacity, in part through software we donate
- Employee giving and volunteer programs including company matching of cash and volunteer time contributions
- Our specific efforts using technology and other resources for relief of natural disasters and other humanitarian crises
We also detail our activities in numerous surveys by third parties such as the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, and other publications.
As the Citizenship @ Microsoft report details, Microsoft's priorities in its citizenship efforts are transforming education, enabling jobs and opportunities, encouraging local innovation and industry collaboration, maintaining a safe and secure computing ecosystem, and maintaining high standards of accountability in our business practices. Microsoft's worldwide citizenship efforts are far more broad and diverse than a simple list of cash donations could convey. Reducing our citizenship practices to a list of donations would distort and oversimplify our efforts, and could in fact be counterproductive by providing opportunities for distraction by groups pursuing narrow agendas.
Because the information requested by the proposal would provide little or no incremental benefit to our shareholders and other stakeholders, the Board of Directors recommends a vote against the resolution.
| Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 | |
| 4:00 am | Flashback: The Sixth Floor Museum
On Wednesday, we drove to Dallas from Arlington to visit the Sixth Floor Museum, located in the Texas Schoolbook Depository building. Depending on whether or not you accept the Warren Commission report, this is where sole gunman Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
 It was a beautiful fall day, much like the day the tragedy occurred. Since the events occurred 42 years ago, almost to the day -- and at the same time as the assassination (12:30 PM) -- we saw everything in Dealey Plaza in the same lighting. That made it extremely eerie to be in this place, seeing the "grassy knoll," the surrounding structures and buildings, and Houston and Elm streets, which have largely remained unchanged because of the historic nature of Dealey Plaza. It seems a smaller space than I imagined.   Left: a memorial poster of sorts on Elm Street; right: The sign for the museum at the book depository, which is on the corner of the Elm extension.    Left: the grassy knoll. The arrow in the picture on the lower right points to one of the "X" marks on the pavement on Elm Street -- noting where shots struck Kennedy. The bottom picture is of the railyard monitoring station, which is behind the grassy knoll, separated by the infamous wooden fence where conspiracy buffs say another gunman took the fatal shot at the president. The area is now the parking lot for the museum. There are plenty of exhibits on the first floor, which is open to the public, including a graphical timeline, and artifacts, such as the scrubs and shoes worn by one of the doctors at Parkland Hospital where the limo raced with Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connolly. We went up into the museum ($13.50 with the audio tour), and we spent nearly three hours up there. The sixth floor of the building has retained the feeling of a warehouse, but it has been completely transformed and filled with physical exhibits and photos. As you wind your way through, there are areas with video terminals that play news reports or interviews with witnesses, and alcoves with seating where continuous short films play on various topics (American culture at the time, milestones in the Kennedy administration/policies, world reaction to the assassination, media coverage, etc.). The museum doesn't shy away from Kennedy's political failures (The Bay of Pigs), and thankfully steers clear of the woman-chasing nonsense, which doesn't belong in this particular museum. One of the short films featuring Walter Cronkite, underscored the reality that JFK was only in office for a thousand days; we'll never know what he might have done in a second term that would have affected this country for good or ill (Kennedy never dipped below 56% approval, btw). However, JFK had a completely different, more sophisticated world view and optimism about our country (the space program), its potential to effect positive change (Peace Corps) and trust in the people -- the current man sitting in the Oval Office looks like a f*cking clown next to JFK. The seventh floor is equally engaging; it houses a new exhibit, Covering Chaos, which is devoted to the media coverage of the assassination, which was a milestone in terms of television news coverage (four days straight, no commercials). It made me feel old to see the faces in the video footage of the coverage of Oswald's murder by Jack Ruby. Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Robert MacNeil, and Jim Lehrer were at the beginning of their careers. Jennings actually flew to Dallas on his own tab from Canada to cover the events. Another segment of the exhibition compares the technologies of 1963 and today; it was interesting to see the huge cameras used. I don't know how they fit these gargantuan objects, along with the journalists, in the crowded hallways of the police station where Oswald was perp walked. We made our way toward the exit, where they have guest books for people to sign with their impressions. Above the guestbooks was this quote, which made me cry, and it affected Kate as well... Yes. That is where we are today. A time where we have the Patriot Act and the Pentagon is expanding its domestic surveillance activity. After seeing all of the museum, and thinking about this state of things, I contributed my two cents to the guestbook: I cannot fathom how far the promise of this country has fallen. For all of Kennedy's mistakes and flaws, his sense of what we as a country are capable of cannot be denied. The current administration shows us what happens when amoral people helm the greatest country in the world. This is a sad situation. |
| Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 | |
| 8:19 pm | Notorious Heterosexuals I'm annoyed. I've been reading a thread on a denominational bulletin board where some have been telling the LGBT people things l can't tolerate: I'm fed up. It's time to turn this thing around.There have been some pretty notorious heterosexuals: And we know that heterosexuals kill their mates (and that can't be good for marriage): Not to mention child abuse and neglect, the 50% divorce rate, and the number of heterosexuals who carry on extramarital affairs. In the face of all this, I have to ask: Why do we still allow heterosexuals to marry? Are these the kind of people in whose care we want to leave children? Do we want these people in our armed forces? Do we want them to be teaching in our schools, or leading our governments? Of course not!
And, of course, there are many heterosexuals who are not like this, and that is exactly the point. There are also gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people who are exactly the sort of people who would be good parents, teachers, soldiers, and leaders. If anyone wants to make the argument that no LGBT people should be allowed to marry because some go to circuit parties or some lose their temper when their rights are violated, I will reply with some of the most awful and vicious things heterosexuals have done and paint the speaker with the same brush. I have had it. If I am responsible for every gay faux pas, then every heterosexual is guilty of every awful act of every other heterosexual. |
| Friday, November 21st, 2008 | |
| 8:28 pm | Essential Gay Activism Don't count on anyone simply handing over gay rights upon polite request.David HartLet us first understand that our adversaries are dominionists. One of our failures in opposing Proposition 8 was not successfully communicating this fact to the general electorate. These folks are not content simply to have fundamental religious beliefs. In contrast, they will only be satisfied when the United States becomes a theocracy. They seek to impose those religious beliefs on everyone else. If you study the agenda of the religious right and its numerous overlapping interest groups, it is their intention to control what we -- the people -- read, what movies we see, what music we listen to and what television shows we watch. Ultimately, the religious right wants to control what and how we all think. The greatest threat to dominionism is critical thinking. This, in turn, engenders the religious right's war on science. We all know, for example, that the universe is 4.5 billion years old; that evolution is generally accepted scientific fact and that sexual orientation is biological -- not choice. We also know that acceptance of GLBT people can be directly correlated to accepting the scientific conclusions that sexual orientation is involuntary. Educating the general public about sexual orientation and sexuality is essential. Yet, that was seemingly absent from the debate over propositions 8 in California and 2 in Florida. The religious right is perfectly content to oppose scientific findings with "the bible says thus and so." Critical thinkers are more persuaded by empirical scientific findings. The religious right has been empowered to frame their arguments as "protection of marriage" and the old standard of "protection of children." Now, of course, the mainstay of persuasion is "the will of the people" which is flawed argumentum ad populum. Notably absent from their arguments is any cogent construction that explains how one couple's same-sex marriage affects, in any way whatsoever, another couple's "traditional marriage." One of the religious right's most cynical endeavors is to divide us along racial lines. The intent is to cause people not to view our struggle as one for civil rights. Huckabee and others are making the fatuous argument that we have not suffered the same violence and oppression as blacks. That is patently preposterous. Every day, gay people are physically assaulted -- even murdered -- disparaged, marginalized or discriminated against simply because we are gay. The religious right provides permission slips for people to do violence to us. Furthermore, they uniformly oppose every anti-bullying law and every anti-discrimination law. The stated reason for doing so is to prevent anything that might "normalize the homosexual lifestyle." The very fact that they would state their objective in these terms depicts a spectacular level of arrogance. Complicating matters is the fact that the Republican Party is in league with the religious right. I would encourage everyone to read the conservative Kathleen Parker's latest column wherein she explains that "... the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents ... " She concludes that many in the Republican party realize that the relationship is toxic "But they need those votes!" It is profoundly absurd that 27% of gays and lesbians voted for McCain/Palin. That must change. I have an agenda. We must: There is a time-honored tradition of peaceful protest in this country. Non-violent civil disobedience is certainly a part of that process. When they start locking us up for a day for trespass or (non-violent) disorderly conduct we advance our cause. People need to know that we are not giving up and that we are not going away -- Not quietly. Not at all. |
| Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 | |
| 2:49 am | FREEDOM! Early Sunday morning we will land in the Netherlands and spend 10 days in a country where we are legally whole. How pathetic is it that I have to leave my country to realize my rights? If I had the option of staying there, I'd never come back. "Land of the Free", my ass. America is the Land of Hate. Oh, but America, don't forget to feel all warm and proud about your sham ideals on Thanksgiving Day! Any American with a soul won't be able to swallow that turkey. |
| 12:00 pm | The Peter features a letter: Dr. Neil Clark Warren and eHarmony.com 'Caving into Evil' All I can say is that I hope to see more letters like this on the Americans for Truth From: JanShall we start a list of explicit hetero dating sites, or better yet, cruising on CraigsList? |
| Friday, November 21st, 2008 | |
| 7:36 am | Gary Lawrence: Familiarity breeds contempt (for Mormons) Gary Lawrence, director of Proposition 8's Mormon grassroots effort. The Brethren [the top echelon of Mormon leadership] have felt that the best way to organize and pass the Proposition is to have an Ecclesiastical arm and a Grassroots arm to the organization ... The senior folks who run the grassroots are LDS at the coalition and are headed by Glen Greener and Gary Lawrence.Here's Gary, back in August, firing up his Mormon brigades ... Why Mormons Are In This Fight: If same-sex marriage advocates [win], the whole structure collapses - the family, the nation, and in time civilization itself. The time has come for those of us who believe that God, not man, created marriage ... to take a stand and defend it.(Gary's astounding post-victory TV interview after the break) But before we roll tape, here's Gary again from the summer, this time calling on Mormons from across the land to join the battle ... While we ... are mobilizing thousands to walk precincts, you can help us from the comfort of your homes ... if you live in the Eastern or Central time zones, you can use free late-evening minutes on weekdays to call when Californians have just finished dinner.Mission accomplished. And how is Gary celebrating his victory? By promoting his latest book, of course: How Americans View Mormonism (Seven Steps To Improve Our Image) Here's the author taking his turn on KSL5 TV: My favorite piece of advice from Dr. Lawrence to his fellow Mormons: Perhaps the good doctor might consider that "being yourself" is a poor prescription for winning friends when "who you are" is someone willing to lead a campaign to strip your own child of his civil rights. Meet Matthew Lawrence: "Matthew is gay and is the son of Gary Lawrence, 67, who is the "State LDS Grassroots Director" for the state of California."This kind of heartless crap really upsets me, and I think maybe I need to speak directly to Gary at this point. What this says about you as a father, Gary, is why it's not surprising that you appear completely oblivious to the absolute incongruity of you, of all people, now touting your advice on the subject of improving Mormonism's image. How about taking a moment to reflect on your own comments in that KSL interview? "Thirty-seven percent of all Americans do not know a Mormon, and 55 percent of all Americans do not know an active Mormon. In fact, those who know one Mormon have a worse opinion of us than those who don't know any Mormons."Gary, if you were the only Mormon I knew, and if I thought for a second that all Mormons were just like you, you can bet I'd have a pretty low opinion of Mormonism. Considering how your own research indicates that the more people get to know you, the less they like you, how can your writing another book about Mormons (not to mention your going on the teevee to promote it) be viewed as anything other than a counterintuitive and boneheaded move? Your own findings would seem to suggest that perhaps the first step to improving the Mormon image would be for Mormon PR flacks like yourself to simply go away. Here's my advice, Gary: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Why not climb out of that hole, use some of the $212,463 that the Prop 8 campaign has so far paid you and Lawrence Research, and take the entire family on a nice vacation somewhere? Your loved ones might appreciate that, and it would free up the airwaves for all those decent Mormons out there who we need to be hearing from ... and who are the only hope Mormonism's got for repairing the damage you've done. This is all your doing, Gary. Jan Shipps: A "Perfect Storm" of Bad PR for Mormon Church Own it. |
| Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 | |
| 12:03 am | Company support contradicts its own non-discrimination policy I'm conflicted whether I should bring up this topic at work, because I don't want to seem like a "Grinch". I work for a very progressive company that offers full domestic partnership benefits, a "Pride" employee networking group, and sexual orientation ( However, one thing bothers me. We, as a company, donate money and time to organizations that don't support us.
One of our big money drives every year is for United Way, and we actually give people time off of work, and pay them for time spent organizing/fundraising for United Way. I wasn't the most happy about this because our local United Way supports our Boy Scouts of America troop. While I was a boy scout from the age of 5 until 17, I jumped ship due to their right to openly discriminate against homosexual members. I really didn't want to protest too much on this topic, however, because the United Way DOES give charitable money to many other organizations in the community. However recently, it has come to my attention that we directly supported and gave money to a local Boy Scout troop, in repairing a climbing wall at one of their camps. We also gave some employees one of their regular days off of work, so they could be there and help "volunteer (albeit paid)" time helping them restore this wall. They were paid by the company for this time spent. This really does bother me. We're openly supporting an organization that violates OUR non-discrimination policy, and also possibly forcing other people in to work and cover the shift for the guy taking a day off, so he can then go get PAID to support this organization. Am I crazy, or do I have a justification to be a little bit upset about this? I want to bring it up, but don't want to really be labeled as a troublemaker. However, I don't think organizations are going to change until they start being hurt in the purse strings, and companies stand up and say they won't donate money/time. Your opinions/feedback are appreciated. Ben |
| 1:00 am | Maine Family Policy Council is running out of gas Mike Hein, Mike Heath and the rest of the idle fundamentalists in the homosexual stronghold of New England are trying to gin up some outrage by tying random events to The Gay Agenda in the wake of Prop 8 - screaming about hate crimes. From a press release that landed in my inbox from Hein: Michael S. Heath, Executive Director of the Maine Family Policy Council, today commented on hate crimes perpetrated by gay activists on members of the public who are defending the institution of marriage and the family: |
| Friday, November 21st, 2008 | |
| 7:01 pm | Hutcherson Gets Little Microsoft Support for Anti-Gay Proposal Microsoft had their annual shareholders meeting the other day. As anticipated, His Royal Homobigot, The Reverend Ken Hutcherson was there to "put the fear of god" into Microsoft for not hating on the gays. His proposal got 4.59% of the vote, and was not approved. The language of the wacky proposal and the official transcript of Hutcherson's defense of it before the shareholders are below the fold. You can listen to his presentation by clicking on "Webcast" under the heading Recent Events, Microsoft Annual Meeting of Shareholders found here. Hutcherson is introduced 16:00 minutes in. Funny, but I don't hear anything remotely "fear of god" in there. More like, I hear in his voice a guy who knows he's going to fail mightily. But that's our Ken. Also, check out the bio of the guy who actually penned the proposal for Hutcherson. It's at the very bottom of the diary.
The Proposal and Microsoft's Recommendations to its Shareholders, from the 2008 Proxy statement: PROPOSAL 7 By the way, check out Hutcherson's associate Thomas Strobhar, the apparent brains behind the bigotry. He styles himself the investment guru for haters and forced-birthers. A real piece of work. I wonder how much he soaked Hutcherson for penning the proposal? For over twenty five years, Thomas Strobhar has worked reliably to meet the financial needs of the people he serves. Moreover, he has integrated moral screening criteria into his investment strategy in a way that few advisors have attempted. |
| 10:07 pm | Pole Dancing Mormons Oh, the irony. I'm sure she's thinking about The Man Upstairs and the sanctity of marriage while she's grinding the pole for "fitness." Not that there's anything wrong with pole dancing; I just wonder what church elders think of this "sport"? When we last saw the Mormons, they were attempting to murder love. Having succeeded on that, they've apparently moved on to more pressing concerns: getting pole dancing into the Olympics.BTW, the petition for Olympic pole dancing has a massive 300 supporters on it. H/t Americablog. |
| 7:20 pm | Domestic Partnership Benefits? They are after those too. Crossposted from Bilerico-Florida. We knew it was coming. David Caton, executive director of the Florida Family Association (one of the groups backing Amendment 2), says he will push for a change to the Hillsborough County Charter in 2010 to preemptively ban same-sex benefits for county employees. That's right, banning benefits. This is exactly what we warned would happen and they swore wouldn't. Isn't lying a sin, Caton? I guess you're just glossing over that part of the Ten Commandments...
"That type of relationship"?? So loving, committed couples shouldn't be able to share even the most basic benefits? It looks like the true face of the Amendment 2 supporters is coming to light. Caton said efforts to recruit volunteers and gather signatures will begin next year. Caton also laid bare the plans of the backers of Amendment 2:
So denying health care and other rights to families is now part of the "pro-family agenda"? After months of listening to Amendment 2 backers bleating about how "health benefits and hospital visitation" wouldn't be affected, the truth comes out. Not surprising from a group that used lies and illegal tactics throughout its campaign. Caton is simply saying what we already knew- they won't be happy until they have taken everything away from us. Am I the only one who is completely sick of those claiming the "moral majority" being the biggest liars and hypocrites out there? They run horrendous, hate-filled campaigns against us filled with lies. They protest our pride events and boycott equality minded businesses for years, but cry foul when we take to the streets to protest or call out their financial supporters. They claim to be "pro-family" while tearing apart our families. Take a good, hard look, Florida. This is the lie you believed when you went to the voting booth. |
| 8:43 pm | Princeton Proposition 8: Preserving the Sanctity of Sidewalks For years, Princeton Freshman have trampled sidewalks of town and campus alike with impunity, despite consistent popular support among upperclassmen for a return to the days when the Frosh had to walk on the grass. Now, thanks to recent successful efforts to eliminate rights of a minority group in California and other states, the upperclassmen have a strategy to restore Traditional Perambulatory Values here on campus. "Princeton Proposition 8," a student group dedicated to saving our sidewalks, is collecting signatures in order to put Frosh sidewalk use up for a vote of the student body. The group had tremendous success yesterday, gathering signatures from more than 300 supporters! Supporters gathered in the bitter cold at 9:30 this morning for a second day of visibility and signature-gathering. Pictures from yesterday and today below the fold! Singing...
See my flickr page for more pictures! |
| 3:00 pm | Hillary as Secretary of State It looks like whatever murky international ties to the finances of Bill Clinton have been addressed and Barack Obama plans to name Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. Steve Clemons had this to say: Clinton may be the bad cop to Obama's good cop. Because she is trusted by Pentagon-hugging national security conservatives, she may legitimize his desire to respond to this pivot point in American history with bold strokes rather than incremental ones.So what say you, Blenders? |
| 3:45 pm | The Bush economy: the list of big name retailers going under grows Wow. The Bush economy is taking a lot of companies down the toilet as Dear Leader and the GOP try to wash their hands of the destruction left during his eight-year reign of terror as he packs his bags and flies to Crawford. While discussing the general misery of the Bush economy, take note of the businesses listed below that won't get to belly up to the taxpayer buffet like Big Auto and Wall Street. Yet all of these closings translate into a whole lot of people out of work -- people who won't have money to buy a car built by Big Auto. These retailers simply aren't "too big to fail", but enough of these midsize businesses going under will have a big impact on the already craptacular economy. It looks like a lot of malls will be ghost towns soon. STORE CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS:Unfortunately this list continues below the fold. You might want to rethink getting gift cards from stores that made the list and are still clinging by a thread - they are under no obligation to stop selling gift cards that the company will not be able to redeem down the road when they declare bankruptcy. Gap Inc. closing 85 stores In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic . The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 -will be weighted toward the Gap brand. |
| 10:14 am | The wonder that is Sarah Palin - on-screen turkey slaughter at her presser Paging Tina Fey, we need one more skit from you... it doesn't get any better/worse than this. The failed GOP Veep candidate gabs about the greatness of small business and happy turkeys while the fowl is offed behind her. And she knew what was going on.:
|
| Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | |
| 10:20 pm | After 2008 Election, Some States Want to Make Voting Easier; Others Determined to Make it Harder Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters Weekly Voting Rights News Update By Erin Ferns Following an historic turnout in the 2008 election comes a flurry of election reform agendas from both sides of the battle over voting rights. Since November 4, some state lawmakers have seized on the success of early voting and Election Day Registration (EDR) as models for facilitating voter registration, while others appear to have been threatened by the heightened turnout and inspired to introduce restrictive voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bills for the 2009 legislative session. Following what appears to be significant progress this year in closing participation gaps among historically underrepresented young and minority voters, we review Election Day stories in states with voter ID and EDR laws, and preview next year's legislative battle for election reform. Election Day Registration In North Carolina, lawmakers report being "proud" of the implementation of the state's 2007 Same Day Registration law, which permits early voters to register and vote at established "One-Stop" voting sites, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. In the 2008 primary and presidential elections, the law seemed to boost voter registration while cutting the use of provisional ballots by more than half, compared to figures from the 2004 election. On average, EDR states tend to outperform non-EDR states in election outcome by a minimum of 10 percentage points, according to public policy group, Demos. "State Rep. Paul Luebke said he expects other states to model North Carolina's early voting system," according to the report. "The only change he would suggest for the next elections would be to standardize the hours, encouraging local boards of elections to stay open longer in early voting." Despite the smooth success of Same Day Registration at early voting sites in North Carolina and other states,Republican lawmakers in Ohio are pushing to end the state's new mandate to allow voters to register during the early voting period. State Republicans recently announced that they would file legislation to move the voter registration deadline to 65 days before Election Day, according to an Associated Press report. They hope to pass the bill before the 2008 session ends "and a new, Democratic-controlled House takes over in January." However, election law expert Dan Tokaji said the bill will likely run into opposition as "federal law clearly prohibits states from having registration deadlines earlier than 30 days before an election." Before the Nov. 4 election, the "Republican Party sued Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to stop the same-day window...but state and federal courts upheld it." Brunner has planned an election summit in December to review the elections process and will likely not adhere to any changes before the new legislature takes over, according to the AP report. Meanwhile, states like West Virginia are considering implementing Election Day Registration, which currently exists in about eight other states in its traditional form whereby eligible citizens may show up at their polling place on Election Day, register to vote and cast a ballot. First implemented in Maine in 1973, EDR is also practiced in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Other states, like North Carolina, Ohio and Connecticut permit variations of the option to register and vote at the same time, either during an early voting period, or--in the case of Connecticut--on a special ballot that only allows them to vote for the president. "I lost my card, and I didn't think I could do it too close to the time," said one West Virginia voter and supporter of an EDR law, according to Parksburg, W. Va. News station, WTAP. "So, if it was that way, I could have voted." However, Woods County clerk, Jamie Six, who "studied the idea for the state clerk's association" is against the implementation of EDR. "The poll workers have a long and very busy day already," Six said. "And to add this to their plate to take care of on election day, we don't feel it would be fair." While EDR in the state is unlikely, Six says it is possible to allow voters to register during the early voting period. "A committee of the West Virginia Legislature is to hear from Six on Monday," according to WTAP. In the 2008 session, about 19 states introduced EDR legislation. Bills are pending in four states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. None of these bills have moved since this summer. At least two states, Texas and Montana, which currently practices EDR, have pre-filed several bills relating to EDR for the 2009 session. Voter ID While some states were facilitating voter registration and voting this year, Indiana - home of the country's strictest voter ID law - reportedly turned some of its young voters away without casting a regular ballot, and even encouraged poll workers in other states to mandate voter ID when no such law existed in the first place. Despite being properly registered and equipped with out-of-state and student ID, the young voters were only allowed to vote provisionally on Nov. 4, leaving some discouraged and others in tears, according to a letter to the Indianapolis Star by Leon Riley, an election official at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse precinct. "The Indiana voter ID law amounted to disenfranchisement for a number of young, well-informed voters, as well as some voters who have various limitations of resources, transportation and problem-solving ingenuity. Is this what we want for some of our brightest and best, or for some who need help along the way? In fairness, this unnecessary barrier must be abolished," wrote Riley. The day before the election, an emergency motion was filed to stop enforcement of the voter ID law based on constitutional violations. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago denied the motion a week later without citing any reasons why, according to the Indiana Lawyer. With the controversy over the U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of Indiana's voter ID law, and a flurry of voter registration fraud allegations in the weeks before the election, poll workers in some states appeared confused over their own states' laws. Voters in Mecklenburg County, Virgina, for example, complained that poll workers illegally asked them to provide proof of identification, including photo ID, according to the Smith Hill Enterprise. There were also reports of misleading signs outside of polling places that indicated photo ID was required. The misinformation amounted to a misinterpretation of the Help America Vote Act, which required voters who registered by mail after 2003 to provide proof of ID. "The voter being asked to present a photo ID is not the preferred language to use," said Jessica Lane of the State Board of Elections. The preferred language, she said, is to ask for "a form of ID." Whatever the intention, voters were set back after waiting hours in long lines, leaving to get their IDs, or possibly, not return at all, according to the Enterprise. "I am registered with neither party. I am a devout independent with libertarian leanings, but I believe in the constitution and the fact that everyone needs to get out and vote," wrote one concerned voter. "Was anyone denied the right to vote? If they did not have a photo ID and saw the sign, did they say 'Oops. I guess I can't vote' and leave?". For voter ID advocates, preventing the extremely rare crime of individual voter fraud is worth the risk of compromising a voter's right to cast a ballot. However, preventing many eligible voters from casting a ballot just to prevent a rare crime hardly seems on par with democracy. A four year investigation by the federal government found only 24 instances of voter fraud out of more than 214 million votes cast. Several studies have found that a number of already under-represented Americans - primarily young, elderly, minority and poor - would have a difficult time meeting the requirements. These studies include a Brennan Center survey that found 21 million Americans were without the required identification; a University of Washington study that found about a quarter of Indiana's young, African-American and low income voting-age populations lack the necessary ID; and a University of Georgia study found the state's Latino and Black voters were twice as likely not to posses required ID compared to White voters. Yet despite the lack of evidence of voter fraud, and a well known, recent history of young and elderly voters missing out on the democratic process in Indiana (including Indiana nuns and Notre Dame University students who were turned away in the 2008 primaries) lawmakers in states like Oklahoma and Texas are hoping to make voter ID a reality in 2009. While acknowledging that Oklahoma Speaker of the House Chris Benge "and the others pushing for a voter ID system have a certain level of common sense on their side (one idea is to offer free ID with their plan), Wayne Greene of the Tulsa World dismisses the argument that if people are required to show photo ID to cash a check, they should be required to show ID when they vote. Greene points out that there is plenty of evidence of people attempting to cash fraudulent checks, but no evidence of people attempting to cast fraudulent votes in Oklahoma. "Benge told me he didn't have any examples of fraudulent voting to justify what sounds like a pretty expensive free ID system," Greene says. The state, which introduced and failed seven voter ID bills this year, will convene for the 2009-2010 session next February. Immediately after Election Day, lawmakers in Texas - where there was a serious voter ID battle during the 2007 session - pre-filed a few bills requiring voter ID as well as proof-of-citizenship at registration. In total this year, 25 states introduced voter ID bills, and bills are still pending in four states: Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Track these and other election-related bills by visiting www.ElectionLegislation.org. After this presidential election's phenomenal turnout that showed the American electorate is finally closer to representing all of its citizens, lawmakers should recognize that voters take this fundamental right seriously. The passage of laws that help facilitate that right are far more conducive to a fair and healthy democracy than the passage of those that prevent some citizens from voting at all.
Quick Links: In Other News: More minorities voted this year, but white turnout dropped - McClatchy Newspapers Minnesota group asks feds to investigate problems with state's voter rolls - Associated Press Woman seeks limits on mentally disabled voters - Associated Press |
| 3:04 pm | Remember Me--Trans Day of Remembrance reflection for LGB folks I first read the play Hamlet when I was 13 years old. Although I refused to read any assigned books in English class, I secretly read a bunch of unassigned books on the side. Hamlet had been one of my first covert literary diversions. I still remember how moved I felt when the ghost of Prince Hamlet's father, once a powerful king and warrior, pleads with his son, "Remember me." No longer mighty, no longer in control of his own life, all that remains is the memory of the Danish king in the minds and hearts of others. Considering the violence and treachery that led to the King's assassination, the plaintive request gave me a deep pang at the injustice of his death and the fragility of his life. On Tuesday night I attended the Transgender Day of Remembrance commemoration in Seattle, WA. This is the fourth year in a row I have gone to this event that remembers the all too many transgender people who have been murdered in the past year. Sitting there Tue night, hearing over and over how these trans women and men (and even the parent of a trans child) experienced unbelievably violent and cruel deaths, I felt a deep pang again. After each trans person read one of the narratives, they concluded with the simple phrase, "We remember." In the midst of demonstrations over state bans for gays and lesbians marriage, in a rising activist movement some have called Stonewall 2.0, I urge every gay, lesbian, bisexual person and straight ally, to take some time an attend a Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony. (Most take place on Thursday Nov 20). If you cannot attend one or there is not one near you, please visit the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) site. Sit with these stories. Fellowship in the sufferings of our sisters and brothers. Allow their stories to settle in, to shock you, to sadden you, to fill you with a determination to stand up for the protections and rights of ALL queer people, especially our transgender sisters, brothers and gender-others. You can see a full listing of TDOR events here. You can read read the stories of those lost in 2008 here. Also check out TDOR web comic site. Read, Reflect, Remember. |
| 5:18 pm | Not just a name on a list Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a solemn day where our community comes together to remember and honor those lost to anti-transgender hate and violence. The list is horrifically long this year, with 16 new names added to the list.
Our community in South Florida has done its best to rally around Simmie's family- holding vigils, raising money, and keeping pressure on the police to find the killers. Through this process, my husband and I have gotten to know Simmie's mother- a woman who has turned unspeakable tragedy into a call to action. She is my hero.
She has been everywhere, doing whatever she can to make sure what happened to her child doesn't happen to another family. She has been an inspiration to watch and a privilege to stand beside. Through it all, I've gotten to hear about her child, the stories every parent knows- scraped knees, family dinners, hopes and dreams. I've gotten a glimpse at who Simmie was through the love of a mother. So as we observe today and look at the too-many names on the list, take a moment and imagine the lives that were shattered and what we can do to make sure this stops. Take inspiration from Simmie's mother, as I do, and fight for change. These are not just names on a list- they are our brothers and sisters. They are our family. |
| 7:59 pm | Reflections on 10th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance As always, this is a difficult day. I’ve been aware of Transgender Day of Remembrance since its first year, and have always commemorated it in some way each year. Sometimes attending an event if there was one in my region, often lighting a candle at home, and in the last few years, saying something about it to the congregation of our local UU during a Sunday service. Every death hits me hard. For any transperson, I think there is always a feeling of “there but for the grace of G-d/dess go I". I transitioned and did over a year long full time real life test in a rural southern town in 1993. No HRT, nada. If angels exist, there was certainly one at my shoulder, for I passed perfectly… as a man with long hair and a baritone voice wearing women’s clothing and jewelry. For the most part, people treated me with respect and used my new name and pronouns however I had a few close encounters during that time in which my possible last moments in this earthly plane were staring at me rather harshly. As I’ve written previously, I later re-transitioned, and since that time have lived in between or outside binary gender. I don’t live in the same small town, but am still in a rural area. Some people might look at me and automatically perceive male simply based on birth sex characteristics, however if one is observant to subtle cues, they’re fairly likely to perceive something very different. I’m often mam’ed. But if I speak, I see the looks of confusion, and then the quick switch to sir. They’re obviously wondering what I am. Male? Female? Maybe genderqueer? Gay? Transgender? It is an extremely vulnerable place to live, and yet I must be true to myself. And so, every day is a question for me. As it is for many others in our LBGTIQetc community. Any day could be my last. Today I could become the next person added to this list. Another hate crime statistic. This underlying feeling is pervasive in my psyche. Even when I’m not paying attention, it is there, and I think it affects every choice I make, large or small. What to wear today? Might this clothing be flaunting my difference too much? What to say? Have I just outed myself as transgender to someone who is transphobic? Have I just outed myself to someone who will no longer employ me for my services? And so on. It is a constant stress. This is my constant reality. Someday, I want to see an end to the need for this day. I want to see a year where I’m not reading news items each week or month of yet another transgender sister or brother who has lost their lives to violence. This Transgender Day of Remembrance should always exist, and I will always honor it, but I want to do so from the vantage point of the way things used to be in some distant past, not the way it continues to be in our present. But until that time, on this day today, and every year hence, I will light a candle and say the names of my trans sisters and brothers and remember their gifts to all of us. Blessed be their memories. And today I will be glad that I have managed to live another year as who I am, and that my name isn’t among them. |
| 5:00 pm | ProtectMarriage.com's latest e-bla$t Just pathetic...these folks never sleep. Yes on 8's Ron Prentice brags about the $urplus of cash they have, then makes a pitch for more buxx.  Dear Friends, Many people have asked what the Yes on 8 campaign has in mind for next steps. There has been, unfortunately, some chatter from outside groups who claim to represent the Yes on 8 campaign, that has resulted in confusion as to what we are doing. As you know,ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8 is the only official campaign in favor of Proposition 8. It was our group that qualified the measure for the ballot and raised the approximately $40 million to pass the initiative. We had significant help from some critical allies like the National Organization for Marriage, Knights of Columbus, Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. ButProtectMarriage.com is the only committee that passed Prop. 8. Some other groups are attempting to use the passage of Prop 8 for fundraising and publicity purposes. I'd like to address what we are focusing on, what we are not focusing on, and ask for your continued prayers in support of our efforts. Legal Challenge. Our most important work now is to defend the People's right to enact Proposition 8. We have asked the California Supreme Court to set a hearing to decide on the challenges that have been filed against Prop 8 because we are confident that the Court will do the right thing and uphold our right to enact the measure by initiative. By encouraging the Court to hear and decide these cases now, we are hoping to avoid years of costly litigation over Prop 8 as the cases would normally wind through the court system. We have also urged the Court to deny all of the requests for preliminary injunctions that would suspend Prop 8 while the cases are pending in the Supreme Court. Since we, as the Official Proponents, were not originally named in the lawsuits, we have asked the Court to allow us to formally intervene as official parties, so we can vigorously defend Prop 8. Also, we are opposing the efforts of other groups to intervene in the cases, including the Campaign for California Families which actually campaigned against Proposition 8 until a short time before the election. Since we are the only organization representing the official proponents and the campaign committee that was responsible for passing Prop 8, allowing outside groups to participate in the defense of Prop 8 will only harm our chances of success. Public relations. We continue to work vigorously in the court of public opinion to defend Proposition 8. Our campaign firm, Schubert Flint Public Affairs, is still on board and is working on long-term public relations strategies for consideration by the Executive Committee. Schubert Flint and members of the Executive Committee have given hundreds of media interviews over the past two weeks defending Proposition 8 from attack. Future planning. Because we fully expect to prevail in court, we expect that, at some point, we will need to defeat a ballot proposal by advocates of same-sex marriage. Our opponents have threatened such a proposal as early as 2010. We are already beginning the planning process to lay the groundwork to defeat a future proposed initiative that would legalize gay marriage. What we are not doing is discussing the possibility of recalling justices who oppose us. We are fully confident that the California Supreme Court will uphold Proposition 8, even if some members of the Court disagree with the issue. We encourage all supporters of Proposition 8 to set aside any discussions about the possibility of recalling any justice of the Court. We see no need for such discussion. For now we must allow the Court to make the correct legal decision. Making threats to recall justices from office is counter-productive and harmful to our chances of winning in Court. Counter-protests. Many of our supporters have asked about holding events to offset the numerous protests that have been held by our opponents. We organized a press conference last Friday in Southern California that was heavily attended by the media. This event showcased the vast support that Proposition 8 received from a wide array of groups, including representatives of numerous faith traditions and ethnic backgrounds. Beyond that rally, we do not encourage supporters to organize local demonstrations or counter-protests. Doing so will only spawn further protests from our opponents and potentially spark street corner confrontations. Criticism of our opponents' tactics is mounting daily and they would dearly love to provoke our supporters into a confrontation that makes us look like aggressors. Every protest our opponents launch features angry gays screaming at California voters. They call voters bigots and homophobes, and many of them have used racially derogatory terms in referring to African Americans and their strong support for Proposition 8. Their protests are doing great harm to their public position. Fundraising. We currently have a campaign surplus which is allowing us the ability to continue defending Proposition 8 for a period of time. However, we will likely launch a new fundraising effort in a few weeks to ensure that we have the financial resources necessary to compete in the Supreme Court and the court of public opinion. As you consider giving, please remember that our committee is the only committee that represents Proposition 8 – defending it before the courts and with the public. Prayers. Please keep the leadership of the campaign, our consultants and our supporters in your prayers. All of us have been targeted by gay activists with vile emails, phone calls and threats. We are praying for those like Scott Eckern, who was forced to resign as Artistic Director of the California Musical Theater because he gave our campaign a $1,000 donation, and for the owners of El Coyote restaurant in Los Angeles who are being boycotted because an employee supported us. One supporting business was forced to shut down its Web site and send all phone calls to voice mail due to the disgusting harassment by our opponents. These are just a few examples of those who have been subjected to hateful actions by our opponents who, ironically, demand tolerance from others but seem so incapable of showing tolerance themselves. Thank you for your continued support of traditional marriage and Proposition 8. Thank you, Ron Prentice Chairman, Yes on Proposition 8 |
It's hard to believe that it's been 45 years since the assassination of JFK. A few years ago I spent Thanksgiving in Arlington, TX. We drove to Dallas and visited the Sixth Floor Museum. Here's what I said about the experience, as well as the contrast drawn between Dear Leader and Kennedy. --Pam
