Streak of Bad Luck

Well, not much as bad luck but I've been really busy this week.

Other than it being the deadline of two major time-consuming reports, everyone at work seems to just come to me for everything. I think since it's my first decent job for a while, I was too eager to prove myself and it results to a general acknowledged competency which in turn built a trust with a lot of people, so when they have some tasks that they want to accomplish, they come to me. The moral of the story is - it's best to act dumb. Other than that, I belong to a lunch club where 9 members each cook twice a month for the others, so we don't have to buy lunch outside. We have a pretty well equipped kitchen and we're surrounded by nothing but fast food for blocks, so it only make sense to this. Inadvertently, I have become quite famous for my cooking and whenever there are some activities that have something to do with food, they come to me. So I've spent the whole day last Sunday baking for Valentine's day candy gram at school for 60+ people, prepped for a class that I taught on chocolate, making chocolate truffles, chocolate covered this and that. More prepping on Monday, taught on Tuesday, cooking for lunch club on Wednesday. All the while working on my deadlines and other things that got piled on me. So I got sick.

I have learned to say no, but an old habit die hard. We're supposed to have a staff development day on Tuesday and they want me to make lunch for 15 people. I said no. Especially when the budget is $50, I mean what can you do for $50? They specifically said if I go over I'll have to chip in and I'm so tired of cooking at this point. I've said no. I'm sick. But a few people talked to me about it and sending me emails and stuff and I feel pressured. I don't want to become the Asian servant that everyone comes to for menial tasks and I don't want to be the one who had to sacrifice his days off doing these things while I'm already putting in 10 hours a day while others go on with their lives or their second jobs. I also don't want to chip in while I have to work at it already, I don't get paid enough as it is.

I'm sorry, I'm not particularly in a good mental space right now. I just paid $300 federal taxes because I worked two jobs this year. I was somehow expecting some money back for working so hard but it's not necessarily related. Mitt Romney got to pay 16% while people like me who worked 2 jobs get shafted. On top of that my state ID had expired and I found out that I might have misplaced or lost my green card which means that if I want it replaced I'll have to shelf out another $600. Everything is so discouraging. At least I have a job, right?

Sorry for the rant. On the bright side, I've learned that after a ranting session, things usually turns brighter. So here's to hope. I'll spend the rest of my long weekend thinking what I can do with $50.

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On Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Throughout the past year some of my friends more in touch with the gay activists circuit had became fans of Dan Choi. I get it, it's refreshing to find an activist to be so passionate about gay rights and to be rightfully a public figure with a voice is very inspiring and he's Asian to boost. I understand how repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell is important. If you're willing to sacrifice for your country, your sexuality shouldn't be the subject of scrutiny. Especially when you don't plan to TELL anyone but your boss or colleague actively seek out information on your sexuality by looking through your personal e-mails.

Other than a few African nations, there are no other countries with a more homophobic culture than United States. Maybe it was the religious right or maybe it's the depiction of gay promiscuity in the 70s became the stereotype for gays or maybe it's the traumatizing HIV started out as the gay disease, we are demonized because we are not the norm. A lot of homophobes thinks that being gay makes you less of a person, or it signifies lesser in moral and discipline, as if a gay person will go into the army and have sex with everyone.

Christian Newswire even go as far as saying if DADT is repealed, the soldiers will get AIDS which is stupid on so many levels. Gays are already serving in the military, if the soldiers are going to get AIDS, they should be already getting it. Plus just because you're gay, it doesn't mean you have AIDS and if they have gotten some serious sex counseling, they would know it's not that easy to transmit HIV. Of course, you cannot reason with people who won't reason, that pretty much rings true with homophobes, religious right, teabaggers, Republicans, the Fox News crowd and racists alike.

I do believe that DADT is getting repealed very soon. A recent compromise has been proposed in which firing of gay and lesbians soldiers will halt but the full repeal still has to wait until a study is done to ensure that there will not have a negative impact on readiness, recruitment, retention and other key factors that affect the military. I'm pretty sure some soldiers will say that if DADT is repealed they will leave the army thus creating negative impact on retention. As it stands, there's no non-discrimination policy in the repeal which means we are repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell part but still you can't ask or tell because even they won't discharge you for it, it will still make your world very difficult. And what is the punishments for the one who asked, or even worst, spied?

It's horrible for me to not care but I don't understand why gay folks would want to serve where they are not welcomed. If we're being mistreated and have to constant be in fear of being outed and dishonorably discharged, not because we committed a sex crime but merely because of our sexual orientation. For that very reason, everything we worked hard for, the hours, the wounds, the achievement we have attained will all be meaningless in a flash. So why? If the military would rather lose valuable translators than have us gays be in the army, why bother? If that's how the policy makers want to run the army, why do we insist on sacrificing our time and lives in it?

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Loser Watch: Stephen Baldwin

My infatuation with hairy men started early with Tom Selleck and Alec Baldwin. I was a teenager in the late 80s and nobody is sexier than Alec Baldwin. It's fortunate for Alec to have 3 brothers, I thought the handsomeness should be multiplied and benefit the world but understandably not everyone can be as good looking or as successful as Alec.

Reading Slog, apparently someone (probably Stephen Baldwin or someone close to him) has created a site called Restore Stephen Baldwin asking for donation for Stephen Baldwin. It claims that after he announced publicly that he's a Born Again Christian in 2002, his income has decreased 70% and in the name of God we should help him out.


The site claimed that Stephen is used to Hollywood's glitz and glamor and after being born again, he took a stand and refused a lot of roles with gratuitous sex and violence and for that reason he was forced to file for bankruptcy. He has since been ridicule and mock for his belief and so he should be restored to his former celebrity status in order for him to reach millions with the Gospel and glorify God. I was thinking that might be a joke but it looks more like a pastor is using his name to get donations from people that those two might probably split.

Um, okay. The only problem with this is that Stephen Baldwin was never a megastar, given he has the Baldwin name but he seems to have been the least successful of them all. Ironically, his most famous movie for me was Threesome about a love triangle where the gay lead was infatuated with fratboy who was played by Stephen, who was infatuated with the girl who was infatuated with the gay lead. The other sorta famous movies were The Usual Suspects that I have yet to watch and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas where he played Barney Rubble which is sorta religious-like when you count the belief that dinosaurs and human coexisted. I dare you to name 3 other movies that starred Stephen Baldwin by heart, I know I can't.

Nowadays his relevancy is appearing in one episode of CSI in 2005, going on The Apprentice, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Outta Here and Celebrity Big Brother which I'm guessing aired in the UK which is as high as any heights in his career. So it begs the question "What exactly are we restoring Stephen Baldwin back to?" Before his Born Again Christian thing, he was a drug addict, he was at best a C-list actor. When you don't make it in Hollywood, there shouldn't be a safety net. Tons of people get famous and then go out of style, just ask Vanilla Ice or MC Hammer. The best example would be Mr. T who work hard to be in people's face doing commercials, he didn't have to reject or accept immoral roles and I'm curious on what kind of violent or sex roles are Stephen Baldwin being offered. Amateur porn?

Maybe the title of this post is a little harsh but I can't wrap my head around how someone is used to fame and fortune so we must help him to stay that way, it gives me almost as much rage as helping out major banks by bailing them out and then they turn around to use the funds to give their employees bonuses. Read the Q&A and don't miss these ridiculous golden nuggets:

Q- Why does Stephen need personal wealth?
A- Stephen’s influence is in Hollywood. Hollywood worships money and without it you are seen as a loser and cannot be an effective influence to this group.

Q- How much money does he need?
A- From what I read in public court documents Stephen needs several million dollars to pay all of his creditors but he deserves hundreds of millions for his Job like faithfulness in the face of relentless loss and persecution

Some have asked why $4.21. Job 42:10-11 is the model and inspiration for this movement. $4.21 is the lowest possible left to right combination of these scriptures.

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Cruel and Unusual Punishment in California, And For What?

Via Slog

If you thought Constance McMillen's case where she got banned from going to prom and then the school threw a fake prom for her while all the other kids attended their prom at an undisclosed place was unusually cruel, consider this:

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes. Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s “roommate.” The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county’s actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property.

And this is why gay marriage is important. Not for anything else, there always will be mean-spirited people who will enjoy separating a gay couple and make them suffer to satisfy their own religious beliefs or their own value system. I hope Clay wins the case and even he can't get back his partner's final days or his house and possessions, I hope he gets the monetary equivalent which should be a boat load. Justice needs to be observed.

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Leave Us Gays Alone

As predicted, some asswipe with too much time and money on his hand bought a quarter page ad space on the New York Times defending the pope on those recent children molestation scandals.



I wouldn't call him an asswipe, if he had justly defended Vatican or the pope. But as I expected yesterday, Bill Donohue here is saying that it is not pedophilia when most the victims are post-pubescent male, the crisis is instead about homosexuality. A kid can be 12 and still be called post-pubescent, with that logic one could also argue that Father Murphy who raped more than 200 deaf boys did not rape them because they are young boys but because he was attracted to deaf people, so it was a hearing issue. Doesn't matter what you call it, the Catholic church knows about their clergy who vowed for celibacy is raping innocent children and all they did was slapping them on the wrist, transferred them elsewhere and release them to molest children again. It would be fine for a random institution to put a staff with a drinking problem into therapy and then reinstate them back to their jobs once they are recovered, but it won't be fine for a wine distributor to reinstate a wine tester with the same problem back to his/her job.

Leave the gays out of this one, we are no more likely to molest children than any straight folks. Try as you may to change the focus and blame us for implicating the pope, but the fact is hundreds and thousands of children had been raped and sexually abused within the Catholic church and it's still happening today. Fix it, change your policy so you don't have to wait for Vatican to make every decision to defrock a priest, because while you're waiting 10 more kids are going to get raped. As an organization that is supposed to uphold morality, it is really not saying much when you just let these offenders loose again by transferring them elsewhere.

And New York Times... don't just fucking print anything.

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People seems to be more wrapped up on calling being gay a sin, but ignoring other passages in Leviticus that called for stoning of adulterers, women who's not a virgin on their wedding days, people who eat shellfish and the phrase "Til death do us apart." Of course, they only upheld what's easy and convenient for themselves. There are a lot of people trying to change us and one of the many methods is shock treatment, we have all heard these stories but maybe some straight folks don't realize to what extent gays are tortured and sometimes even murdered just because we're gay. Yes people, there are these so called doctors who will strap electrodes on you and then show you naked pictures why frying the hell out of you just so to condition you to dislike members of the same sex.

One of these so called doctors, Aubrey Levin nicknamed Dr. Shock works in South Africa to "cure" members of the military of their homosexuality. He's a well known rightwinger with a history of homophobia and, of course, he was caught and filmed by his patient to making sexual advances. Since the arrest, dozens of young men had come forward with allegations of sexual assault and abuse. Just goes to show that next time if another self-righteous rightwinger comes out all homophobic, like Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Roy Ashburn, Mark Foley, Troy King... etc., he's probably a closeted homosexual who's so self-repressed that will end up becoming a pervert.

Don't try to change us, leave us alone!

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Oklahoma passed a bill to get themselves exempt from the Matthew Shepard Act. The act expands a 1969 hate crime law to include crimes motivated by the victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Well, apparently they cited the wrong federal bill number in their legislation and Oklahoma is actually now exempt from federal laws about reporting racial and religious discrimination.

OK.

In trying to strip gays and lesbians of their rights, they have passed a legislation stripping the rights of a different group of minority. Sad but funny. It reminded me of this poem about Nazi Germany.

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up. ~ Martin Niemöller

See what happens when you try to discriminate gays? Leave us alone!

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And leave Ricky Martin, Sean Hayes and James Randi alone. It's not a big surprise and none of use would have cared. It's not like now that they're gay, we can all line up and have out way with them one at a time. Just because Angelina Jolie is straight doesn't mean every straight guys gets to do her, now does it? As SNL's Fred Armisen doing Joy Behar on the view - So what? Who cares?

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On The Crumbling of The Catholic Church

When I was a kid, I was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Macau. It was an all-boy's school and there were lots of priests. I liked them, some are grandfather types, they were all very kind. Even though I was pulled out in half a year having contracted bronchitis after sleeping right in a bed right next to the drafty exit door of the large dormitory hall, I loved the experience so much that I wanted to get baptized and become a Catholic. My grandmother told me that life choices like these should be waited out and see how I feel a little later and it waned, I wouldn't have endured Sunday school anyhow.

I haven't been molested. Not in my Anglican primary school or the Catholic high school. If I were, maybe I would change my whole view of sex. A Mexican acquaintance told me once that he was molested but his priest asked to be fucked, so he didn't feel too much like a victim. Even though I have heard of these molestation stories throughout the years, I have no idea on the extend of it. In the recent news circles, molesting children sounds almost like it's one of their under the table privileges. Other than Dan Savage posting his Youth Pastor Watch segments on Slog, Joe posts his Holy Crimes segments weekly; It's a horror show full of child molestation, extortion, embezzlement, fraud and the occasional drug dealing and murder. It almost seemed that people with inner struggles are more proned to become religious or maybe folks just join the clergy for the tax breaks and the free housing.

How does an organization who aimed to be doing good cash in their good reputation and turn a blind eye to all these life-altering misconduct? Surely they know that just relocating a child molester and a few hail marys are not going to change a person. Are they just praying and hope god will change these people? In the recent scandal, a cleric who worked under the current pope in 1979 took an 11 year-old to a vacation trip. He was then administered alcohol, locked in his bedroom, stripped naked, and forced to suck the penis of his confessor. The current pope's deputy decided to transferred the person to Munich for therapy, then returned him to "pastoral" work, where he soon enough resumed his career of sexual assault. The pope, of course, denied to have knowledge of this incident.

Another scandal involved REv Lawrence C. Murphy in Wisconsin who had raped more than 200 deaf boys in a school for the hearing impaired. The incidents happened between 1950 to 1974. He was going to be on a secret canonical trial that will potentially dismiss him but he wrote two letters to the current pope protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations. He got his wish. Apparently, Father Murphy not only was never tried by the church, but also got a free pass from the local police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims. I mean, Wow! When you're fucking 200 boys, deaf boys at that, it's practically a buffet.

The pope, as we know, is infallible. He's the head of the church and the head of Vatican City, so he cannot be prosecuted. The one thing that drives me mad is how backward the church is and instead of addressing the issues. They will just close their eyes and hope to pray the scandal away. Child molesters will just be transferred to a different location and not prosecuted or discharged. Worse, they will dismiss it as part of homosexuality and blame it on us. The pope cannot look more evil if he tries, I don't think he would even resign and I don't think reverting the celibacy requirement will do any good since Catholicism is now quite synonymous with child molestation. All this would do is probably making people less likely to go to church or join the clergy, or maybe it'll make child molesters more likely to join them. Maybe people would realize that believing in Jesus and God does not necessarily mean you have to go to church, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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Bothering News (March 2010 Edition)

American Dad over at Talking Points Memo has written a detailed list of Republican wrong-doings and hypocrisy called "An Open Letter to Conservatives". The list is pretty exhaustive and full of references and I think it is a must-read for anyone interested in politics or the state of the country today. Especially when members of congress are receiving death threats and having their properties vandalized for a bill that benefits all Americans. Something has gotta be done about it.

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It's prom season and Constance McMillen made it big being denied to attend her prom. Her school in Itawamba, Mississippi canceled the entire prom in the name of not wanting to cause distractions to education. Um, that's not how the world works. You're causing distraction just by canceling the prom because a gay student wants to attend and then you're inviting lawsuits which is an even bigger distraction. On top of all, the other students will blame Constance for the canceled prom and further isolate and discriminate against her, which, might be the school's initial intention. If that's the case, these people don't qualify to be called educators, they are scumbags.

After hearing this controversy, Derrick Martin from Cochran, Georgia asked his school board whether he can bring his boyfriend to prom and perhaps having the lawsuits brought to the Mississippi school as an example, they said yes. Derrick is an honor student that tutor other at-risk students and basically a good kid. Since the story broke out he has been getting a lot of Facebook support from people offering to buy him and his date boutonnieres and donating funds for them to rent a limo. Apparently the story is so big that his parents felt they needed to kick him out of the house. He's now staying at a friend's. I keep thinking of reasons why his parents would sever their relationship with their do-gooder of a son, maybe he's better off.

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Remember that they called this commercial sexiest?



Turned out it's also untrue.

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction.

So read your labels, folks, unless you want to gain weight.

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The Empire Strikes Back

Promoting gay-bashing? What are you talking about?

The battle between the gays and the religious right is heating up. Congratulations to the gay folks in DC who are finally able to get married. On the Don't Ask Don't Tell front, there's also news of a repeal finally in the process. Things are looking up.

Of course, the religious right is flipping out. To avoid giving gay people equal treatment, Catholic charities in DC has ended all spousal benefits so they do not have to recognize gay marriage. They had also put an end to an adoption program, some they don't have to refer children to gay couples. I'm sure there is some "blame the gays for ruining things for everyone" factor into it, just don't tell me the Christians equate doing good because it doesn't.

Case and point:



These crazy people calling themselves Repent Amarillo is picketing a swing club, following swingers in vehicles and sticking video cameras into people’s faces, calling the employers, employees, and families of its patrons in order to wreck their jobs and home lives. These are consenting adults here, they are not harming anyone, why do these people feel like they have the rights to stick their nose in everything? Good thing there's always Craigslist, unless they false advertise and lure people to them for condemnation. Next, they plan to target gay bars, porn shops, strip clubs, and other sex-related businesses. In high school, I've learned that bullies won't stop until there's an authority righting the wrongs or you fight back. Just like dealing with this bitch here (who was accused for molesting children...)



If you need more proof, American Family Association's Bryan Fischer is quoting the bible saying that the Sea World staff should die because of their killer whales has killed more than one person. It's in the bible, folks. It's always the god fearing people, the fear mongers using the scare straight tactics, isn't it?

In Virginia, a woman was handing out leaflet to young girls quoting bible verses telling them that god will judge them for the way they dress. condemn the way they dress and says if they attract men and get raped, they are but willing participants. Ok batshit. But you have to kinda thank people like that for saying crazy shit so you know you're still sane by comparison, I just wish there weren't so many of them.

If it weren't for people like them, we would have missed out on how official Papal Gentleman in Vatican uses choir boys like a Senator uses a page. For sex. Gay homosexual dirty, dirty going-to-hell sex. Or the fact that yet another Republican Senator who voted against GLBT equality on every count got caught with a DUI after leaving a gay night club with a guy in tow.



Yeah, the hypocrite apologized saying "I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct." But is he apologizing for the drunk driving, going to a gay bar, or for opposing gay rights when he himself has the tendency? And why do people feel like they should apologize for being gay anyway? You can't apologize and brush it off as an impulse, just look at Ted Haggard, we all know it's not a choice. Though juicy as these scandals are, I rather sacrifice not enjoying them just to live in peace.

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Stroller Mom Rant

The main advantage of living in a city is that you can pretty much walk everywhere, the obstacles of this simple task, however, are other pedestrians and cars. The boyfriend and I have jokingly said that we should write an illustration book on identifying all the obstacles one can encounter on the street. A group of people who like to stand in the middle of the street waiting for friends or deciding what they want to do or just simply refusing to walk on the side while chitchatting. A group of family or friends that insist on walking slowly in front of you in a row or holding hands, slow walkers, old folks, tourists taking pictures of each other. The biggest menace of pedestrians would have to be stroller moms.

These creatures wield their strollers like a weapon because they have a kid, they think they achieve a social status and therefore entitled to special treatment. I guess I'm not the only one who's displeased by this norm, so when Marv Albert's daughter Denise Albert thought it was cute to express her mommy rage, she got the full impact of people like me.

Managing Mommy Rage

Move out of my way. Help me, please. Hold a door. Offer my kid your seat on the bus. Walk faster. Why so slow?

Out of my way, I’m a mom!

Yes, I have mommy rage. I don’t hide my feelings, and if you make me angry you will know it.

I’ve always been honest, vocal and very straightforward. But since becoming a mom all of those qualities have escalated to a heightened state.

If you see me trying to navigate a double stroller, why can’t you move out of my way? When my behind is scrunched up to the door, one foot behind me, one arm on a stroller handle, and another holding my other kid, would it kill you to just open the door and hold it? I mean, you are standing right there. What happened to common courtesy?

And if I get to a movie early to get a good seat, and you come strolling in as the previews are rolling, and you sit down, all 6 feet of you, in front of my kid, would you mind moving before I have to angrily ask you to?

If you work in a store, hurry up. I don’t always have time for small talk … especially when I’m with my kids. And I certainly don’t have time to wait while you are on your e-mail. I won’t be shy about letting you know.

I don’t want your animals touching or licking us, either. I don’t care if they are hypo-allergenic — someone did once try to calm me down with that rebuttal.

To some, this may seem aggressive or forceful but the bottom line is I know what I want, what I like, and how to get it done. So please, pay attention, be courteous, do your job correctly, and occasionally, lend a hand. Then us mommies with rage can use our useless anger for the good of others, too! Oh — and curb ramps are for things with wheels, so step aside.

I do so hate stroller moms for many reasons. I try to be a gentleman and open doors for them but often even standing there for a good half minute holding the door open obviously for their benefit, I will not heard a word of thanks back. The sense of entitlement is shocking, it makes me angry at time. The sidewalk is already slim in this old town and yet they insist on pushing their double wides in the middle of the sidewalk, there is no way you can avoid them and no space to move aside and yet they head on regardlessly ram ahead. If one more of these mom hit me on my shins or run over my leg, I will be forced to trip and fall on their kids. Their job as I understand is to protect their children and not use them with their weapons.

No, I will not move away if I find a seat in the theater and you should leave the theater if your kid start crying or talking loud, I might twist their legs off if they start kicking my seat. On the bus, I won't offer my seat to your kid either, put him on your lap. Courtesy goes both ways, you don't get special rights because you're a mom or a kid, you chose to have a child you should be prepared to take care of your child. I decided not to have kids, so leave me alone.



Here are some of the other responses to her post:

I take total exception to this article. I am a gay man and chose not to have biological children. There are states in this country where it is against the law for me to adopt children. YET, as a tax paying American citizen, 67% of my state tax dollars go to educating your children. I would be that at least 35% of my Federal taxes go to educating your children. Next time your stroller is on the way of the door when I am coming out of a building, perhaps you should hold the door for me, after all, I pay for your child's education. Perhaps you should move to the side of the pavement to let me pass, because I am in a rush to make money so I can pay the taxes I owe to educate your child. Remember, there are states in this Union where it is illegal for me to adopt a child...me! I have a master's degree, am an art historian with five books under my belt. I own two small businesses with sales over two million a year per business. Let's just say that I am smart enough NOT to choose to raise kids in New York City, and I am barred from adopting children in states across this country...yet I pay for your kids to attend crappy public schools.

You know what .......get out of my way baby!

Do me a favor and kindly disassociate your state as a mom from your rage. If who you are is pushy and impatient, fine, but I have a feeling you were that way before you gave birth. Many (most?) of us manage to be civil and pleasant while also being moms. And when we do encounter rudeness and bad service, we don't use motherhood as an excuse to be rude right back.

....and then these Moms with Entitlement Syndrome wonder why people are hostile toward them. I can't imagine why!

I've been around mothers like you, Denise. The ones who expect everyone to prostrate themselves on the ground in awe of their Mommyhood. The ones who expect "common courtesy" from others but can't be bothered to give it themselves. The ones who think it's just fine when their kid talks through the movie, runs around the grocery store and knocks things down, or behaves in a rude manner.

Guess what? It's not all about you. Get over yourself.

oh, and for what it's worth, I'm the mom of two beautiful girls. I don't hang out with mothers like you. Raising kids in the city isn't easy. Nobody said that it was. But that sort of entitled, rude attitude is inappropriate whether you're a parent or not. And especially when you're a parent, what kind of attitude sets a very bad example for your kids. What are you teaching them, that they have the right to be jerks?

If you have time read the comments, no doubt a self-centered person like the writer hadn't realized the amount of shit that was gonna fall on her head.

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Blatant Racism

A week ago, my professorial buddy lamented that his students talked about "[they] don't know why [they] have to study about racism when really, no one is racist anymore. At least not overtly..." Of course, on the same night that buddy had to be walking down the street as a drunk guy across the street yelled and asked whether he and his slanty eyes have a problem. The students of my buddy are all white and resented the implications that they could be racists themselves in any way, but I wonder if any of can detect oppression if they are not part of the group who are being oppressed? We do live in a system that takes race/ethnicity very much into account on decisions we make and whether we like it or not, racism do exist.



I'm not one who's actively looking for hints of racism/sexism/homophobia and make a big fuss over it, I even consider the use of some hilarious but Tom Tancredo's speech was way beyond the limit. I always thought racism is more of a southern thing and wasn't expecting a former congressman/presidential nominee from Colorado to openly display his bigotry. It is not that I've never experienced racism myself, one of my insane ex-boyfriend had told me dead-seriously that the reason the upscale mall around the area is an hour away is because they didn't want black people to be there, he told me that I would be nothing without him even though I pretty much paid for my way and his way every time we go out. I was convinced for a while that all rice queens were racist and they were comfortable dating members of other races because they think they are far more superior than them. I know that it takes some self-hatred to come to this realization but I'm terribly terrified to find that traits in people close to me.

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And Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Right before the end of 2009, One Mrs. Iris Robinson excused herself from the public life of being UK's parliament member. Mrs. Robinson is the wife of Peter Robinson, the first Northern Member Assembly. Mrs. Robinson is also a born again Christian and a major homophobe. Right after a gay-bashing incident took place, Mrs. Robinson offered to refer the victim to psychiatric counseling and after being called on being a homophobe she compared homosexuals as murderers that can be redeemed by being baptized. Like any other born again Christians, she claimed that homosexuality is an abomination and the thought makes her sick and nauseous. She's also quoted that "There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children" So guess why holier-than-thou Mrs. Robinson is leaving the political field in the UK?

Mrs. Robinson first claimed to have been in poor physical and mental health, but it turned out that the source of her poor mental health is because she has been buggering the 21 years old Kirk McCambley, which should prove that there's nothing really wrong with her physical health. Kirk McCambley has been helping out in his father's famous butcher shop since he was 9 and apparently his father was a close friend of Mrs. Robinson since that time and the boy had known the woman since then. (Sounds a little bit like The Memoirs of a Geisha if you asked me.)



After Kirk's father has passed away when the boy was 19, he has started seeing Mrs. Robinson then 59 which is more than 3 times the teenager's age, intimately. Mrs. Robinson in turn persuaded her friend to invest in a cafe for Kirk McCambley, approximately £50,000 was funneled into the business and Mrs. Robinson got 10% of it as kickbacks through a check made to a church that she attends. Aside from that the Robinson husband and wife also claim salary and expenses from the £572,000 a year. Four of their family members also receives £150,000 annually. (Sounds a bit like Sarah Palin.) The scandal cutely nicknamed Cougargate further grew and it turns out she has had been seeing the Kirk McCambley's father, the butcher, before he passed amongst a few other men. After the relationship has gone sour, Mrs. Robinson asked for the money back even though it wasn't hers to start with, there's also questionable dealings that involves a few councils that she sat on to get the kid his cafe.



She tried to kill herself after the husband found out about her affairs, which is sad, but don't worry, apparently she got a second chance from god. "I do not deserve a second chance, but I have been given one. I have been forgiven by god." That's just nice. I do like my hypocrites to commit to their storyline fully while condemning others. Though it's sure that her husband's and her own political careers are pretty much over.

Over at Slog, Dan Savage summarized the categories of anti-gay bigots to be either assholes who are externalizing their own internal struggles against their gay natures and desires (Haggard, Craig, Crist, Ratzinger, et al) and assholes who are attempting to compensate for and draw attention away from their own moral shortcomings by attacking gay people (Vitter, Sanford, Ensign, Gingrich, et al). So maybe when someone jumps up and feel free to spread bigotry, the focus should be what the person is hiding. Maggie Gallagher doesn't appear to be attractive enough to be hiding a teenager as a lover, can she be a secret dyke?



No doubt your Kirk McCambley deserves the young entrepreneur awards just as much as the next guy, he seems incredibly resourceful himself. Oh and apparently Kirk McCambley had signed with Playgirl, so we'll sure be seeing some Levi-esque pictures soon.


Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo!

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Creepy, Sinister Looking, Senile Religious Men

It's tragic over in Haiti's. It's hard to predict earthquake and even if you know it's coming, what can you do and how much time do you have to do anything about it? Haiti is already the poorest country in South America. The capital city Port-au-Prince is where it got hit, with a population of about 1 Million, it would mean 10% of the people living there are now dead. Very devastating.

Imagine my surprise when I see this:



Old kook Pat Robertson coming out to say Haiti sorta deserves it, so we shouldn't be too sad about. "They made a pact with the devil, true story!" Wow, how does it make you feel that your fellow countryman is the first one coming out to kick a country when it's down? Reverend, my ass. Truly, my ass might have more Christian values. The so-called Christian values in this country are so severely distort that people are proud to be god-fearing. Fred Phelps and him seems to be grumpy old folks that got a bit respect when they were younger and now has gone to the extreme.

When Strom Thurmond died, a lot of people were criticized for being cheery and for speaking ill of the dead. Personally I have no problems with that, Pat Robertson's comments were definitely speaking ill of the dead and by tens of thousands at a time. I think I'll cherish the day when Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps pass so I can have the opportunity to return the favor.



I wonder if these people are still alive in their old age because neither heaven nor hell want them.



Haitians are in fact 80% Catholics with only less than 1% of voodoo practitioners. So the making a pact with the devil thing is of course bullcrap. It's just a racist misguided observation. We all seek out information to add conviction on what we believe in, no matter how nonfactual the information may be, but to say it out loud on national TV is quite something else. Pat Robertson is senile and should really not be on TV to express his confused point of views anymore, maybe the television channel should not have him stir up controversy to make itself remain relevant. At the same time, maybe the fellow Christians should come out denouncing Pat's point of view to distance themselves from him. Though the Catholics are keeping busy hating gays and molesting kids.



Is it me or are these three men creepy and sinister looking to the max? The monstrous old lady in the Legion trailer has nothing on them.



Text the word "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 via your cell phone company to Red Cross to help Haiti. If I have learned anything from the last earthquake in China is that people are very resilient, we can pull through from any natural disasters, depressions, terrorist attack or anything else that get put on us. I just sorry for the loss and any emotional or physical harm that they have suffered and all these crazy nuts are not helping.

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On Joe Lieberman and Health Care

Politicians don't acquire power by saying 'Yes'. In a perfect system, each senator will consider the need of the people in which he/she represents and make a decision base on that fact alone, but sadly politics is a game. Very soon these representative realize that they are in a position of power and corporations are willing to pay to sway them one way or another. For maximizing profits, one such politicians will announce to the press that they are 'unsure' on an issue like an auctioneer announcing the bidding war has begun.

In politics, you can be loyal to your party and be a 'yes-man', in turns you are giving away your power to the party. While noble in a sense, your party will not value you as an individual become you're highly manipulatable. You can be uncompromising and be loyal to your people and make your decisions based on their needs. Though such actions will require certain independent thoughts, rendering the person to do his own stuff all the time, unpersuadable, then people will stop trying. Politicians who seeks power needs to be loyal to themselves, use their votes as bargaining chips even though it is wrong.

Case and point Joe Lieberman who has got the democrats to butcher the health care reform bill into something he had advocated for years during his vice presidential campaign with Gore and all through his political career and without reading the new incarnation, he's already saying no to it. It's infuriating of course, but why is everyone holding their breath on what Lieberman has to say? He's in no way the leader of the party, he is but one vote. Why is the whole party molding this health care reform bill to Joe Lieberman's liking? And after we get his approval on a bill that is so severely butchered, is it something that the people will still want/benefit from? John Avarosis at AmericaBlog has an idea on why this is happening.

It's not about the votes, people. It's about leadership. The current occupant of the White House doesn't like to fight, and the leadership in Congress has never been as good at their jobs, at marshaling their own party, as the Republicans were when they were in the majority. The President is supposed to rally the country, effectively putting pressure on opposition members of Congress to sit down and shut up. And the congressional leadership is supposed to rally its members to hold the line, and get the 51 votes necessary for passing legislation in a climate where the minority is too afraid to use the filibuster. When you have a President who is constitutionally, or intellectually, unable to stand for anything, and a congressional leadership that, rather than disciplining its own members and forging ahead with its own agenda, cedes legislative authority to a president who refuses to lead, you have a recipe for exactly what happened last night. Weakness, chaos, and failure.

We lost real health care reform not because we don't have a "real" filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. We lost health care reform because we don't have a real leader anywhere in our party.

No doubt what he wrote was part of the reason why the year of hope is ending on a such a dim note leaving everyone disappointed. Personally I would not rate Obama's first year as a B+, I think maybe a C at best.

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NY's Loss

I guess by now everyone has heard that the NY Marriage Equality vote has gone south. If the most progressive states rejects gay marriage, I doubt that the rest of the country would jump on the boat. Despite the good will from GLBT friends and equal right groups alike and their encourage words saying that it was a good effort and it's time to regroup and learn from it, what I've learned seems to be that you can't put the rights of a minority group up to a vote. If it's up to others to decide your rights, it will never go the way you want. The truth is we lost, in one of the most liberal state in the country, and bombarding those naysaying politicians is very unlikely to make them change their minds.

Excuse me for repeating myself but if one thing I've learned about US politicians and politics is that there is nothing to be gained by solving a problem. Most of it is turned into an extended argument, so both sides can use resources to sway the politicians to go either way. The problem will be dragged as long as possible so the investment on their decisions are maximized, and even an issue was voted on, the decision can still be reversed so another cycle of bidding and swaying can start again. When everything can be bought, it is capitalism in its worst. I'd like to stand up and fight with my peers, but I am most discouraged by the futility. Call me a cynic, but I don't think GLBT equality will be seen in my lifetime.

Maybe a nationwide commercial is needed to denounce all the rumors of homosexuality. We are not all child molesters, we are diverse and we contribute to the community as a whole. We are people who are looking for equal protection and rights. It's not even possible for heterosexual marriage to be destroyed by gay marriage, and if they start quoting Leviticus, be prepare to have their disobedient children and adulterer stoned, penises circumsized and pork chops eliminated. I think education is the key, too bad young liberals are not prone to become politicians while old conservatives are. It will be a few generations down before true equality will be achieved.

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Inner City Kids Hunting Asian For Sports

Asian students in South Philadelphia High School were reported to be attacked by gangs of African American students. These incidents usually occur with a number of African American students singling out an Asian student that doesn't speak much English. Emptying out their pockets and school bag, flushing the contents in the bathroom, name calling, verbal threats, petty robbery, punching, regular bully stuff. After a particular incident where a black student threw a carton of milk on a Chinese student, 30 kids jumped 5 Asian kids in the nearby subway station. Asian students are living in fear for their own safety. In a cry for help, they wrote letters, sign petitions, staging walkouts but the school had not done anything to help. Some students have to drop out and others are discouraged to go to school.

Another Asian student at Fels high School got attacked by 3 black student where they continuously beat him in the head which caused a concussion and his nose to break. He was left at the stairs with blood running down his face but no students or faculties offered to help. A safety officer offered to take him to the nurse after he leaves the building but no one called 911 and no arrest were made. in another incident, 15 African American students jumped 4 Asian students which results in hospitalizations of two.

I guess bullying is the norm and the majority of students in Philly are black and it is true that people will pick on the alone and unusual, so maybe it is not purely a racism issue but just because it might not be a racist issue doesn't mean it's not a big problem. Kids are beating other kids up like it's fun and no one is holding them accountable for their actions. Maybe they don't feel like they have a future, so they need to act out by picking on someone and I guess Asians are the new Jews. The school trying to cover those incidents up to protect their image. There's no easy way to deal with this, installing more security cameras is one but then you're really just sacrificing your privacy for safety.

I remember one of the few racist things happening to me was when a couple of black kids back in Providence drove by the school asking for directions and when I offered my help they screamed out "You!? How are you gonna help me? Are you gonna teach me how to drive to China!?!" and then they laughed and drive off. Stereotypically, black kids seems to be more rowdy and lack control of their decibels. But then in every race there are great folks and people that you'd rather not know. I just hope this targeted violence will end before someone bring a gun to school and shoot down his bullies.

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Town Hall Madness

I don't know what exactly is wrong with people, maybe if a white president is trying to do health care reform, he'd have a much better success rate. Instead we have people yelling at these town hall meeting saying "I'm scared of Obama!" and can someone tell me why it's such a bad thing to be a socialist? The very people yelling these things would really benefit if we lived in a socialist country. But Ooooh! He's a socialist!

Town hall meetings are turned into screaming match, you point your finger and let it rip, you're not really there for an answer or clarifications, you're there to yell. Republicans must be hella good at scare tactics, and the tacticians should really be making horror movies as a side job. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is that the news reporters do not feel the need to clarify it for the public but they focus on the outbursts. A guy brought a gun to the rally, town hall meetings might turn into major violence, yes, but if the news clarifies it for the people and put it in better perspective, there might not be any violence. Maybe no one ever read the bill to know enough and the experts are not making the rounds. On the other hand, I'm sure the insurance companies had hire a few people to rile up people in different places, you might even be able to find them if you closely examine the rally and town hall footage.

People like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Rush LimBlob are the worst indeed the worst. If I'm ever on their death panels, I would be gladly to see them fry. Some people are not worth living and I'm not talking about the terminally ill. Even if there is a death panel, how different it is from what the insurance companies are doing now?

Good move on the presidential counter act though, we should really point at evil and call it as it is. if only they can send some representative to each old folks home to counter the efforts by the insurance companies that I'm sure it's already taking.

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Why Health Care Reform Will Not Pass

Another gem from Keith Olbermann.

I don't understand the whole business of lobbying and campaign contributions. How is that even legal? While condemning other countries for corruption, how is this any different? Millions of dollars are spent each day to "buy" politicians into making decisions that would benefit industries. And by postponing votes or claimed to be undecided, you can squeeze a few hundred thousand dollars more from these industries. These so-called politicians are not working for the people, they are working for their own finances. Whoever has the money can buy them, only, the people can't compete with the big companies. We are not banding together to buy politicians, all we do is pay taxes which the government is taking it for granted already.

Most politicians are rich and maneuvers like this makes them richer, they have no use for a health care system that covers all, the poor is too busy to survive to fight for themselves, besides, they wouldn't have any hold. Money equals power, no? So that's why I think the health care reform will not pass, with all of their votes swayed and with them actively creating lies to confuse voters, how can it ever pass?

Another thing I don't understand is, with all the money pouring into buying politicians and hiring the people to lobby, couldn't they just use the money to provide better care? Millions of dollars are pouring it each day, can't they use the money to pay for claims instead?

I hate politics.

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Hoping For Audacity

We know how politicians would say anything to be elected. I think that's a pretty well known facts but we did have our hopes up for Obama. It is incredibly unfair for us to not have demanded anything from the previous administrations, being fully aware that the Bush administration will not get anything accomplished and secretly hoped that Bush will not put his fingers on anything more just to screw the country up further, but to demand Obama to come in and fix everything all at once. Lately though, I'm afraid that despite his fair and just appearance, Obama could be just a tiny bit homophobic. After all there weren't any signs to prove that he wasn't, he hasn't sung a duet with Elton John.

Understand that this post is not meant to be offensive, but with the long silence that the administration is taking on the boiling up gay issues, I'm beginning to have my doubts. When Obama was campaigning, he didn't exactly support the more progressive gay marriage but went for the public appealing civil unions. Given how the general Black Christian community do not support marriage equality in the example of prop 8 and Obama being the member of that community, I would say the chance of him being in opposition of gay marriage is somewhat in a high percentile. Also the lack of GLBT representation in his administration and the now irrelevant but once "spiritual leader" Jeremiah Wright. I can't help but worry, are they signs?



I find it disappointing that the DOMA/DOJ briefs coming out of his administration would still compare gay marriage to incestuous marriage and underage marriage. I don't understand what or who is the force in politics that is trying to ban gay marriage so vehemently and what exactly are the stakes. Is there a secret donor protecting gay marriage? Is the issue such a cash producing machine that they want to milk every last bit of it? Or if gay marriage has passed the American people would be bored enough to care about the real issues? The excuse right now is that the administration is still new and there are tons of problems to fix before gay marriage takes a priority but no one is yelling and screaming about health care reform or environment protection.

I'm sad that for a president who favors an open dialogue and likes to be on TV so much that he can't bring himself to commenting on gay issues. The gay community is desperately seeking a leader and answers but we're getting nothing. I'm especially dismayed when people are wishing him to be a little more George Bush and willing to make unpopular choices. We're tired of waiting. Even if there's any inkling of homophobia in Obama, I still wish that he can recognize the discrimination we're facing and put on his administrative hat to make the right decisions. Even if it's just a line saying things are at work will make us all feel so much better. If there are no special announcements in Pride month, I do hope they'd have done something by the upcoming March on Washington.

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If You Think Your Job Sucks...

The blue sign on the floor also says "Lets rush - if we don't then the company and world will perish."

Via the Stranger, Gizmodo and Danny Choo, if you think your job sucks...

The management at Canon Electronics in Japan had removed all the chairs from their employees office and installed hallway motion sensors so that if their employees move slower than 3.6 seconds per 6 meters, an alarm would go off. It's like a scene from a sci-fi movie about the future where everyone is brainwashed.

The reasoning behind it is that the employees will have closer relationships with each other when they are forced to stay on their feet and they will be more alert during meetings. Apparently, the Japanese don't believe in unions or any employee rights.

It seems like the management would do anything to make their employees behave more like robots. I'm sure people will boycott Canon products because of this kind of mistreatment and mind-fuck. No wonder the suicide rate in Japan is so high.

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Christian Bashing Vs. Gay Bashing

Worth a look.

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