Newspapers: The great debate

TIME also did a piece on the future of newspapers.

I would elaborate, but my mother is chasing me into out the door for a fit of consumerism inhonor of Christmas. Think I will make her stop at In-N-Out Burger as payment.

Check this piece out. It has the opinions of media movers on the future of Newspapers.

Will they die completely? Read More!

How to have a green Christmas

I'm on a TIME Magazine kick.

TIME published a piece on how to make your Christmas more environmentally friendly. The report covers trees, lights, decorations, candles and even gifts. It makes suggestions like using LED lights, which consume less energy and using Pointsetia hemp to package your gifts. (Yes, you can actually buy pointsetia hemp.)

Of course it makes the traditional suggestions liek buying a potted tree that can be replanted. And, it also recoomended using pointsetia hemp to wrap gifts. (Yes, you can buy pointsetia hemp... on the internet - check out Importica.com or Paporganics.com.)But, there was some unique, practical ideas in the article that can be of use, suchas using LED lighting to be more energy efficient or recycling plain brown paper bags from the grocery store with pretty bows to conserve gift wrap.

Read More!

A semi-positive Wal-Mart post

Wal-Mart was boycotted by some religious groups on Black Friday for its participation in National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and a $60,000 donation to Out and Equal, an organization which promotes equality in the workplace.

According to the Ventura County Star conservative leaders saw this as a betrayal, accusing Wal-Mart of "sliding down the slippery slope" and "being extorted by the radical homosexual agenda."

On another interesting move by Wal-Mart that may please the liberals in the country. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott announced a plan to make Wal-Mart greener.
Whether or not these was an appeal to the liberal community. TIME Magazine reported that Wal-Mart has even gone so far as to demand greener policies from its suppliers.

Still, let us not forget that Wal-Mart is the largest minimum wage employer of the country and that it continues to buy goods from foreign companies without specific human rights regulations. So, starving your employees is fine, as long as the little bit of the foos they eat comes out of paper instead of plastic.

Condoms too big for Indian men

I couldn't resist sharing this one.

A study revealed that Indian and Pakastani men are having problems using condoms because standard sizes are too small for them. After measuring men from all regions and classes, the study found that Indians are 4 to 6 centimeters shorter, on average, than anywhere else in the world.

I don't know what was more humorous about this article, the fact that Indian men have small packages or that BBC News actually published a statement about how they use them.

"It's not size, it's what you do with it that matters," he said. "From our population, the evidence is Indians are doing pretty well."

Another Central PA School Shooting

ABC News reported that a janitor was shot and killed Kittanning High School today, and that, due to the proximity of the shooting scene to classrooms, school has been cancelled.

Read More!

Kittanning is a suburb Pittsburgh.

It appears that this shooting was not at the hands of a student. But, coming in the wake of two other violent school shootings in the state this year, it reaises questions about gun regulation in Pennsylvania yet again.

Just over one week ago, Shane Halligan, a 16-year-old student at Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County, just outside of Philadelphia, shot himself with an AK-47 in a crowded hallway. In October, there was the,Amish school shooting in Lancaster in which five girls were executed in their classroom.

Although it appears that this shooting in Kittanning was not at the hands of a student, it raises, yet again, the question about gun regualtion in Pennsylvania.

What do you think? Are PA gun laws too lax?

Daily Martini: Blue Shark

I'm feeling saucey today.

Blue Shark Martini

1 1/2 oz Tequila

1 1/2 oz Organe Vodka

1 oz Blue Curacao

Serve in a cocktail glass with orange slice garnish.

Have a designated driver and enjoy.

Columnist: Gay rights are civil rights

I found this in an Op-Ed from one of the most conservative counties in California no less. It's thrilling to know that our straight allies are not only recieving as much flack as we are, but they are giving educated responses back. Remember, as Mr. Pitts points out, this is not a struggle over morality or sexuality, it's a stuggle for equality.

Black-white, gay-straight -- the moral issue is the same
By Leonard Pitts Jr.

This is for a reader who demands to know why I write about gay issues. His conclusion is that I must secretly be gay myself.
Actually, he doesn't express himself quite that civilly. To the contrary, his e-mails — which, until recently, were arriving at the rate of about one a week — evince a juvenility that would embarrass a reasonably intelligent fifth-grader. The most recent one, for example, carried a salutation reading, "Hi Mrs. Pitts."
We're talking about the kind of thing for which delete buttons were invented. So you may wonder why I bring it to your attention, especially since acknowledging a person like this only encourages him. It's simple, actually: He raises an interesting question that deserves an answer...
...I'm not here to argue sexuality. I just find myself intrigued by the idea that if you're not gay, you shouldn't care about gay rights.
The most concise answer I can give is cribbed from what a white kid said 40 or so years ago, as white college students were risking their lives to travel South and register black people to vote. Somebody asked why. He said he acted from an understanding that his freedom was bound up with the freedom of every other man.
I know it sounds cornier than Kellogg's, but that's pretty much how I feel.
I know also that some folks are touchy about anything seeming to equate the black civil rights movement with the gay one. And no, gay people were not kidnapped from Gay Land and sold into slavery, nor lynched by the thousands.
On the other hand, they do know something about housing discrimination, they do know job discrimination, they do know murder for the sin of existence, they do know the denial of civil rights and they do know what it is like to be used as scapegoat and boogeyman by demagogues and political opportunists.
They know enough of what I know that I can't ignore it. See, I have yet to learn how to segregate my moral concerns. It seems to me if I abhor intolerance, discrimination and hatred when they affect people who look like me, I must also abhor them when they affect people who do not. For that matter, I must abhor them even when they benefit me. Otherwise, what I claim as moral authority is really just self-interest in disguise.
Among the things we seem to have lost in the years since that white kid made his stand is the ability, the imagination, the willingness to put ourselves into the skin of those who are not like us.
I find it telling that Vice President Dick Cheney hews to the hard conservative line on virtually every social issue, except gay marriage. It is, of course, no coincidence that Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian. Which tells me his position is based not on principle but, rather, on loving his daughter.
It is a fine thing to love your daughter. I would argue, however, that it is also a fine thing and in some ways, a finer thing, to love your neighbor's daughter, no matter her sexual orientation, religion, race, creed or economic status — and to want her freedom as eagerly as you want your own.
I believe in moral coherence. And Rule No. 1 is, you cannot assert your own humanity, then turn right around and deny someone else's.
If that makes me gay, fine.
As my anonymous correspondent ably demonstrates, there are worse things to be.
— Leonard Pitts writes for the Miami Herald.
Source: Ventura County Star Op-Ed

This guy is my new hero.

Optimism for reception of lesbian family rights

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of a non-biological lesbian mother, granting her custody over the children she helped raise. The court found that the it was in the best interest of the children to stay in the custody of the non-biological mother, citing her ability to provide more stabilty for the children. This was a break from the traditions of the court which has historically ruled in favor of the biological parents in custody cases.

Reaction from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community emphasized the importance of providing healthy homes for children and family rights, finding that aspect of the case to be more essential than LGBT equality.

A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article quoted LGBT leader Lee Carpenter:

"These things are frequently framed as gay rights issues, in terms of the parents' rights. That's partly true. But the part of the story that's missing is it's very important for kids," said Leonore F. Carpenter, legal director for Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, which represented Ms. Jones, along with attorney Maureen Gatto, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

"A child in a homosexual household deserves the same rights as a child in a heterosexual household," she said. But she emphasized that "This isn't just about gay families. Any [third party] who has been acting as a parent can apply this."
Read More!

I was pleased to find on a LiveJournal account by Booju_Newju a posting that presented the Post-Gazette article with a question: Should biology play a part in custody?

Comments invariably said that the interest and safety of the child must come first in custody cases, even from those who stuggled with the idea of a same-sex couple raising children.

NJ Supreme Court OKs Civil Unions

New Jersey passed a bill making civil unions legal in the state. According to the Inquirer, Legislators were not far from approving same-sex marriage.

"Many key lawmakers said they would have supported a gay-marriage bill, but they didn't think it had enough support in the Legislature. Civil unions, however, sailed through both houses - 56-19 in the Assembly and 23-12 in the Senate."

The law moves the state one step closer to legalizing marriage for same-sex couples. Activists say they will be back in the Legislature with proposals for a Marriage bill within two years.

Read More!

It is expected that residents from neighboring states Pennsylvania and New York will be taking advantage of the states new law, crossing the border to partake in the benefits that come with civil unions, including tax credits, property and estate rights, and powers of attorney.

Frankly, it should be interesting to see what the new law will do to the concentrations of gays and lesbians in neighboring states. Since the rights of civil unions are not recognized in Pennsylvania or New York, it is possible that the law will encourage migration. With the concentration of tax dollars pulled out of the LGBT community, this will certainly put pressure on other states to review their laws again.

It's a huge victory for the LGBT community.

Daily Martini: 77 Sunset Strip

Apologies to my fans... computer problems

77 Sunset Strip
1 oz Bacardi Limon
1/2 oz Absolut Citron
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Triple Sec
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Grenadine

Shake and pour into chilled cocktail glass. Top with Sprite
Garnish with Orange slice and cherry
Enjoy