2 Teens Charged In Landry Case - Detroit Local News Story - WDIV Detroit

It seems that every day we hear more and more stories of senseless violence being perpetrated on innocent victims.  Some like to blame it on the economy, but this story can’t be about that.  It makes no sense.

I can see a random robbery or even a car-jacking during hard times.  But to murder someone, for no apparent reason, even when it goes against reason and logic, let alone morality, just makes no sense to me?

I guess I have to believe that drugs were involved, that no one in their right mind would kill someone for no apparent reason.  I don’t know if I believe this because I want to protect my own sanity, or because I really believe it is the truth.  I suppose I don’t want to live in a world where you can be snatched from a Wal-Mart parking lot in the middle of the day, in the suburbs no less.  I even give them my car and everything I can get from my ATM, and still they kill me.  It has to be substance abuse, or a drug deal gone bad.  Please let it be just that.  Sad as that is.  Please let it not be a generation of straight men who are learning to care little for anyone, except themselves.

The heterosexual male is probably one of the most dangerous creatures on our planet today.  If only something can be done about these people.  When they aren’t out killing their wives, girlfriends and exes, they are nabbing folks from parking lots in the middle of the day and killing them.  Or walking into a fitness center to shoot and kill women, just because they can’t get a date.

Maybe one day our society will be run by women and gay men and the only things we might have to fear in the ‘burbs are crimes of fashion and bad taste.

2 Teens Charged In Landry Case - Detroit Local News Story - WDIV Detroit

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Miss California to star in TV ad from conservative group « - Blogs from CNN.com

Prejean, we just met a girl named Prejean.  And who do we have to thank for creating another right-wing saint… Perez Hilton.  The most embarrassing gay ambassador we have.

You know, if he had just taken the high road first, instead of last, it might not have been so bad.  But what the media has ended up with is basically, “bitchy queen attacks poor Christian college girl”.

Now I know we all have different opinions, and she is certainly entitled to hers.  You could tell she was nervous, talking about “in my country we believe in opposite marriage”.  And what country do the rest of us live in?  Shades of Sarah Palin and the Real America flap.  She was asked a pointed political question, as were most of the other contestants.  Trouble is, she knew there was no right answer that would please everyone.  I guess a Miss USA contestant can’t be just for world peace anymore.

My next question is, in what world are we living in where Perez Hilton is chosen as a judge for a Miss USA pageant?  The man is a gossip blogger, and usually a mean one at that.  I did hear one old guy being interviewed about the issue and he said, “what’s he doing judging a contest with a bunch of pretty girls anyway?”  I had to laugh at that too.  How desperate were they for judges???

I hope this one goes the way of Sarah Palin and the Republican majority in Congress.  Into the history books as quickly as possible.

 

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Miss California to star in TV ad from conservative group « - Blogs from CNN.com

Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in Vermont | News | Advocate.com

I have to tell you, I really did not think this was going to happen.  But, it is the first time a state legislature has approved gay marriage, and by a super majority vote to boot.  It actually brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.

Of course, the right wing has already started in on Vermont.  Where formerly they complained endlessly about activist courts, now they are saying that gay marriage should not be approved by those courts or legislatures either.  It should only be approved by a vote of the people.  And the rules just keep on changing to fit their one track minds.

Like we need another vote of “the people” to know that we are unpopular.  That is why Madison designed our three branches of government, in order to protect unpopular causes or groups from the tyranny of the majority.  If you took a poll and asked most Americans where Iraq was on the map, most couldn’t even find it.  Ask them about the Constitution and they know even less.  Yea, I want these folks voting on my life.

Our job now is to keep the ball rolling, at least in New England.  We shall see what happens next.  Stay tuned…

Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in Vermont  | News | Advocate.com

Iowa high court strikes down same-sex marriage ban - CNN.com

Now why can’t the California Supreme Court use the same logic and say that their ban violates the equal protection clause of their constitution as well?  And this was a unanimous vote in Iowa.  A proudly open-minded mid-western state.  God I hope this sticks.

Iowa high court strikes down same-sex marriage ban - CNN.com

Vermont House OKs gay marriage | News Story on 365gay.com

I know they needed 100 votes to get a veto proof majority, and they only got 95.  But some members of the state house said they would vote in favor of same sex marriage if it came down to getting it past the governor’s veto.

And how did Vermont end up with a Republican governor when the dems have such a large majority in both state houses?  And if they had to have a Republican governor, you think being from Vermont he would at least be a moderate.

It should be very interesting to see how this turns out.

Vermont House OKs gay marriage | News Story on 365gay.com

On Making it to the Promised Land

Well folks, I finally made it to retirement.  As of last Thursday, I am a free man.  No more having to get up in the morning, having to be someplace every single day.  I am so happy to have that burden lifted off my shoulders.

Now I get to start living what I like to call my real life.  That would include facing the fact that my dog was just diagnosed with diabetes.  Feeding her and medicating her on a regular schedule will now be my new full time job.  I also have many, many projects to start inside my house, and when Spring actually arrives (it is currently snowing outside), I have even more projects to work on outside.

So, what joy is this you say?  Going from one plate full of responsibilities to another?  Well, just knowing that my responsibilities are only going to be about me and my household seems to make it all worthwhile.  I know that some day I will be able to travel and take it easy, but right now I just want to get my house in order and take it from there.

As I watch the local and national news I have to wonder about the world that I've retired into.  I know that nothing in life is guaranteed (not even another tomorrow), but I still want to give it all my best shot.  So here's hoping for a brighter tomorrow for all of us.

How Many Ways to be Gay???

I tried to follow the Ted Haggard story last week, but I got lost somewhere in the middle of Oprah. Ted says he is a heterosexual man with homosexual attachments. He states that he is not gay. It all made me think of some of the other famous cases of this type. Larry Craig for example. He also proclaimed loudly that he was not gay.

The gays are attacking saying "come out of the closet", the straights are saying he needs to seek help and forgiveness. Me, I find myself somewhere in the middle, dazed and confused.

Kinsey and his Scale tell us that most of us fall somewhere in between totally straight and totally gay. That sexuality is fluid and can change over time. I have to say that that sounds closest to the truth of anything I have heard. I do believe that some men can be physically attracted to other men, but find it impossible to even consider a romantic attachment. The attraction is strictly physical, they see it as their dirty little secret, rather like wanting to be spanked. Not something that defines them outside of the bedroom.

As to how these men ended up this way, there are many roads they may have followed. The most common road seems to be when they are brought up in a very strict religious household. As they become adults they do not see through all they have been taught, but rather buy into it with great alacrity. What better way to hide than to join the enemy camp. This is how we get our Larry Craigs and Ted Haggards. Fear can be a powerful tool for development. Even on Generation X and Y, it still seems to be working that way. How incredibly sad.

Imagine having your heart pull you one way, and your sex drive pull you another. How sad for you, and for the family you create. More often than not, the wife is the husband's fiercest defender. She too becomes victim to this battle between how he sees himself, and who he really is.

For men of the baby boom generation, I think it is too late to try and save them from themselves. They have spent 50 or 60 years seeing themselves as a flawed heterosexual, rather than as a gay or bisexual man. Trying to redefine yourself at that age requires great strength of character, strength that most men don't possess. Especially not after they have built a life around this duality.

This looks like one of those issues that will never resolve itself. We can only hope that this type of behavior will diminish as the generations pass, and society becomes more enlightened. I want to believe in a tomorrow where kids can grow up to be themselves, so long as what they are does not harm anyone (Jeffery Dahmer needed to be a little less himself). Here's hoping for fewer Teds and Larrys in our future.

We're On Our Way

I am writing this from very early in the first Obama administration. All hopes that he can get us out of all the messes we are in are still high. His wish to rid ourselves of the partisan rancor we have lived with since Reagan is still a possibility. That is, unless you listen to the right-wing radio commentators. They would surely go out of business if we all started to move to the middle and didn't want to hear their extreme views any more.

I know there will always be ideologues, and that is a good thing. They help us to change and to grow. That is until their new ideas become old ones, and they still have not been accepted. Trouble is, they never seem to know when that is. Living in their own little bubble doesn't give them any kind of perspective at all. Like Bush and Cheney leaving office and telling us that every thing they did was fine (especially Cheney). I can't wait to see what history has to say about them. Already they are saying that Cheney was pulling all the strings in the first term. It wasn't until Cheney's henchmen went to visit AG Ashcroft in the hospital that Bush found out what was going on behind his back.

Enough of the past. We must now look to the future, to the promise of another day. We can end the wars in the middle-east. We can find a middle ground with North Korea. We may even be able to find a way to trade fairly with China. Obama is right, in that he can not do this alone. He will need all of us, all of our support, to get through these tough times. And he does have a plan, which is more than I can say for Bush/Cheney.

So, as this new administration begins the difficult tasks ahead, let's keep them all in our hearts and minds, and in our prayers. Yes we can...