Government forcing School to distribute anti-gay Boy Scout recruiting materials

In an mirror of the government forcing Law Schools to allow Military recruiters access to college and university career planning facilities, the No Child Left Behind act is forcing schools to distribute Boy Scout materials despite that group's discriminatory rules towards gays.

US Mislead to Attack Iraq by Al Qaeda

Interesting. America invaded Iraq to combat a secular Muslim culture ruled by Sunni's. A culture which the Shiite Al Qaeda probably wouldn't mind if we eliminated. A case of killing two birds with one stone. We stepped into a nice little trap. How stupid are we?

Football coaches want their players to be christians and saved

From my point of view _completely_ messed up. Harassment training is needed. Lawsuits should be pending.

Iraq based on lies; Bush thinks god said to do it

The Americans ostensibly went to war in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction as presented by Powell at the UN and Bush in state of the union. The WMD were never found.

Before this UN presentation, Wilson went to Niger to investigate if Saddam tried to get uranium from Niger. Wilson says Saddam did not and repeats it in NYT Op-Ed column.

Bush administration, trying to discredit Wilson, says Wilson got his assignment because of his wife, the cia agent, in the process, outing a covert operative.

Bush administration says no, no we didn't break the law. Libby and Rove say that they were just passing on information already garnered from reporters. However, reporters do not have access to classified information; Bush and Cheney's office does.

Libby indicted for lying.

I read in another article, Bush says that god spoke to him and said to invade Iraq. So, it had nothing to do with WMD. Bush was just doing as god told him. Of course, I assume god told him to lie about the fact that god really was the reason behind the war. Not all Americans believe in god, so practically speaking saying "god said so" wouldn't fly. Of course, there is a book that says god doesn't like liars, but well he probably thought: sometimes you just have to select the parts of the book to obey when it's convenient, right? you know what I mean.

Damn Americans are fucking idiots to vote this Bush guy into office, no matter how bad the alternatives were.

Veto - California (almost) legalizes marriage between persons of the same-sex

-- orig post 9/6

Well, Governor Schwarzenegger was not as socially liberal as we thought. He will veto AB849, based on the idea that the proposition 22 passed five years ago (in 2000), preventing the recognition of same-sex marriages in other states (e.g. Hawaii at the time or Massachusetts now) in California still represents the will of the public with respect to marriages originating in California herself... But if so, why doesn't the proposition say so? I thought conservatives like a narrow reading of laws. I suppose it is only when the laws don't favor them that they want a narrow reading.

-- update 9/29

The Governor has vetoed AB849.

AB849 support from bay area religious leaders

An Open Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger Regarding Gay Marriage

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

As religious leaders in Santa Clara County, we are writing to encourage you to sign AB849 into law. We believe that this law is fair, appropriate, and needed! Our state laws should support all of our citizens, not just those who happen to be heterosexual. Our state should support the right of all consenting adults to marry.

We respect religious diversity. Some churches and faith communities embrace and support same-sex marriage, other churches and faith communities do not. We recognize and uphold the right of each minister, faith community, and denomination to determine on their own which couples they will marry and which couples they will not. However, this is a decision that should be made by people of faith within their own communities. It is not a decision that should be imposed on churches by the governor's office.

Sincerely,

Rev. Michael Patrick Ellard, Senior Pastor
Rev. Victoria S. Kolakowski, Scholar in Residence
The Metropolitan Community Church of San Jose

Rev. Beate Chun, Pastor
Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Rev. David J Harvey, Pastor
Celebration Of Faith, Praise and Worship Center

Rev. Jerry Fox, Pastor
St. Paul's United Methodist Church

Rev. Elane O'Rourke, Pastor
Campbell United Church of Christ

Bill Welch, President
Dignity/San Jose, a local chapter of DignityUSA
An inclusive Roman Catholic faith community

Rev. Karen F. Siegfriedt, Rector
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino

Rev. Dr. Roger Wharton, Chaplain
SJSU Campus Ministry - sjSPIRIT.ORG

Rev. Margo Tenold and Rev. Dr. Diana Gibson,
Co-Executive Directors,
The Council of Churches of Santa Clara County

Rev. Nancy Peters, Minister
First Congregational Church of San Jose

Rev. Melanie Patton Colpaart, Pastor
Conscious Living Center of Los Altos
A Member Church of Religious Science International

Rev. David Mundy, Ministry Liaison
The Central California/Nevada Sub Region of MCC

Judy Rickard, Roberta Etheredge, and Gertrude Welch
Members of the Gay Ministry Committee,
Council of Churches of Santa Clara County

Rev. Michelle Webber,
Foothills Congregational Church, United Church of Christ

Rev. Bran Scott, Pastor
New Community of Faith
American Baptist Convention / United Church of Christ

Rev. Ellen Grace O'Brian, Spiritual Director
Center for Spiritual Enlightenment

Stephanie Flaniken, Clerks' Committee Representative
San Jose Friends Meeting (Quakers)

Rev. David Bruner, Senior Minister
Center for Spiritual Living
United Church of Religious Science

The Very Reverend David Bird, Dean and Rector
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

Rev. David Sunday,
Independent, Interfaith Minister

Rev. Roger Jones, Pastor
Rev. Michelle Favreault, Minister of Religious Education
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Sunnyvale

Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern,
Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto


-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Michael Patrick Ellard, Senior Pastor
MCC San Jose
P.O. Box 388
San Jose, CA 95103
(408) 607-5471 - Direct Line
(408) 279-2711 - Church Office

Unpatriotic to pull out? Impeach W first...

Despite how nice it is to say I told you so (and I can't even do that because I was duped by W. into initially supporting the war), it does make sense that we can't just pull out of Iraq. There does seem to be a good strategy outlined in Rich's editorial defending Iraqi civilians rather than going out to hunt insurgents. That would require a lot more support, troops, and money.

Since the president has a very low approval rating, we as a country can no longer trust him and his cronies to do this job right. So maybe the thing to do is to impeach this W. guy and get another person in there who we trust, _not_ Dick Cheney, and finish this job right. Who would it be, and how could this be done? Call your congressperson.

Maureen Dowd my heroine

I'm not sure what I'll do to feel righteous when the New York Times makes it's editorials pay-to-view. I'm probably too cheap to pay up. Anyway, here's what I proudly call a scathing assessment of W and his trumped up war.

NYT Opinion: Iraq is a quagmire, quagmire, quagmire

Public opinion is moving more and more negative about the Iraq war. Bush is still lying through his teeth: "these were terrorists", but Americans are finally seeing through his duplicity.

Canada is progressive leader

Canadian House approves marriage between persons of the same sex nationwide.

US 35% Evangelicals BusinessWeek

A recent business week article (you would need to register [free] to see the article online) puts the % of white evangelicals in America at around 25%. And % of black evangelicals at 10%. That's over 1/3 of the country. Wow. That's a big number and scary when you think about their typically conservative views.

Do genes of fruit flies mean anything?

So, well, fruit flies can be turned gay by altering a single gene. I believe this means there's nothing to worry about for all those worried heteros out there.

In case you missed it, CA Superior Court Affirms Marriage Between Persons of the Same-Sex

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=101&e=1&u=/po/20050315/co_po/califrulingaffirmsrightforgaystowed

Also, the AP story, http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20050315/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage_16

It's probably a temporary legal advance. But just read how strangely conservatives in Maine react to it (tee hee): http://magic-city-news.com/article_3387.shtml

canada laws to become more favorable to same-sex couples

Giving in

This opinion piece (link above) in the new york times says democrats need to become more like Republicans. On the one hand, it makes me sick. On the other, this election was sick...

Did SF and Mass hurt significantly?

In the Democratic 'soul-searching' following the defeat on Tuesday, I haven't heard question (or answer) of whether indeed the 58 million who voted for Bush in fact represent half of the 300 million Americans or whether all the churches in every contested state had incredible turnout percentages -- driven by 'morality' issues such as marriage between two people of the same sex. On the democrats side there was no morality machine equivalent to church -- only the Iraq war which perhaps doesn't quite hit home as heavily, especially since Republicans are hiding all the costs. If a priest or pastor says to vote Republican, is that legal (probably yes) and is there only a small percentage who would not listen?

Diatribe against Bush supporters

So, everywhere church-going folks say that morality is why they voted for W. They say they feel they are oppressed in not being able to express their beliefs, but can any of them say they are more oppressed than members of the LGBT community? Has a religious person in America ever been killed because he or she went to church? Has anyone ever shouted epithets and threats at them on the street or even at school or work because of the cross they wear? And when religious christians flex their will in 11 states to prevent marriage between persons who happen to be of the same gender or even civil unions, can they truly claim to be oppressed? Perhaps they are oppressed in not being able to oppress others into their same beliefs. And so well, I find this selfish morality of theirs hypocritical and sickening. But at least, they are consistent in that their "hero" Bush is a perfect exemplar of this doubtful and inverted morality. May history show them to be the godless, selfish, immoral, and ignorant beasts that they are.

Startup

Trying this wonderful new tool called Blog. Actually, I've had this account since 2001. But it was a pain in the ass back then. Let's see if it has gotten any easier.