18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth.
23% of voters approve of the way Bush is running the country.
where does that extra 5% come from??
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Gay Marriage
As of 5:01pm yesterday, gay people in California can get married. Today in the news I'm seeing mostly cute articles about different couples tying the knot, but in the days leading up to this event, people were re-hashing the arguments for and against gay marriage ad nauseam.
When people argue about the issue, inevitably someone liberal but not very invested in the cause comes up with what he's sure is the most novel idea anyone's ever heard. If only everyone would listen to this brilliant piece of insight, we could all stop fighting and put the issue to rest. the argument is: "Abolish government marriage. Let the government perform civil unions for gays AND straights, but leave marriage to the churches. After all, this gives gay people the legal rights of married people without the separate but equal problem, and since we're not using the word marriage, conservatives can't claim we're going against their religious beliefs!"
this argument is bullcrap.
history lesson:
In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court found that having separate schools for black and white children, even if they were of equal quality, was unconstitutional. In response, at least one rural school system in southern Virginia literally shut down their schools. "Fine, if we have to give black kids the same thing we're giving to whites, we just won't give anything to anyone. problem solved."
If you think this was an unjust action, how can you support taking away marriage rather than give it to gays? Even if you don't find the situations perfectly analogous, you've got to admit there's a resemblance, and that means making the government grant "civil union licenses" instead of marriage licenses is not going to satisfy gay people.
beyond that, right now marriage means more than just "civil union plus religious ceremony." the meaning's kind of amorphous and changing, but don't mistake "hard to define" with "without definition."
for example: My mother is an atheist. But she's married to my dad. They didn't go to a synagogue or church to have some religious ceremony, but she still rather likes being married to him. Despite the fact their union is not consecrated by any religious power, I'm pretty damn sure she'd think calling their relationship a civil union instead of a marriage would be a downgrade.
This solution would please no one who thinks civil marriage is more than hospital visitation rights and the ability to file a joint tax return.
And you know what? Even if some Evangelicals think civil marriage means exactly that, they would not be okay with calling it anything but marriage.
it's not like they're exactly huge separation of church and state proponents. Have you not paid attention to the idiotic crusades against liberals and the evil ACLU who are wiping out G-d from public life. These people boycott big box stores who say "Happy Holidays" in their December ads. They talk endlessly about displaying the 10 commandments in courtrooms and encouraging prayer in public schools. They very firmly believe that "America is a Christian nation," and to them, instituting Civil Unions is going to be taking the God out of marriage.
Basically, this "solution" would satisfy no one at all. Come up with some new ideas.
When people argue about the issue, inevitably someone liberal but not very invested in the cause comes up with what he's sure is the most novel idea anyone's ever heard. If only everyone would listen to this brilliant piece of insight, we could all stop fighting and put the issue to rest. the argument is: "Abolish government marriage. Let the government perform civil unions for gays AND straights, but leave marriage to the churches. After all, this gives gay people the legal rights of married people without the separate but equal problem, and since we're not using the word marriage, conservatives can't claim we're going against their religious beliefs!"
this argument is bullcrap.
history lesson:
In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court found that having separate schools for black and white children, even if they were of equal quality, was unconstitutional. In response, at least one rural school system in southern Virginia literally shut down their schools. "Fine, if we have to give black kids the same thing we're giving to whites, we just won't give anything to anyone. problem solved."
If you think this was an unjust action, how can you support taking away marriage rather than give it to gays? Even if you don't find the situations perfectly analogous, you've got to admit there's a resemblance, and that means making the government grant "civil union licenses" instead of marriage licenses is not going to satisfy gay people.
beyond that, right now marriage means more than just "civil union plus religious ceremony." the meaning's kind of amorphous and changing, but don't mistake "hard to define" with "without definition."
for example: My mother is an atheist. But she's married to my dad. They didn't go to a synagogue or church to have some religious ceremony, but she still rather likes being married to him. Despite the fact their union is not consecrated by any religious power, I'm pretty damn sure she'd think calling their relationship a civil union instead of a marriage would be a downgrade.
This solution would please no one who thinks civil marriage is more than hospital visitation rights and the ability to file a joint tax return.
And you know what? Even if some Evangelicals think civil marriage means exactly that, they would not be okay with calling it anything but marriage.
it's not like they're exactly huge separation of church and state proponents. Have you not paid attention to the idiotic crusades against liberals and the evil ACLU who are wiping out G-d from public life. These people boycott big box stores who say "Happy Holidays" in their December ads. They talk endlessly about displaying the 10 commandments in courtrooms and encouraging prayer in public schools. They very firmly believe that "America is a Christian nation," and to them, instituting Civil Unions is going to be taking the God out of marriage.
Basically, this "solution" would satisfy no one at all. Come up with some new ideas.
Monday, June 9, 2008
it's been a while
Once upon a time there was a prince named Hamlet who lived in Denmark.
And every day he moped around the castle because his father was dead and his mother (Gertrude) had married his uncle (Claudius).
Until one day the ghost of his dead father appeared to him and told him that the Claudius had murdered him.
And because of that, Hamlet vowed to avenge his father, and started acting like a lunatic while he worried over a plan.
And because of that, Polonius started spying on him to prove Hamlet was crazy over Ophelia, but he ended up getting himself stabbed.
Until finally, Laertes returned from France to avenge Polonius's death, and he killed Hamlet with a poison-tipped sword, but not before Gertrude had drunk poison, and Hamlet had killed Laertes with the same sword and both stabbed Claudius and made him drink that same poison. (woohoo run-on sentences!)
And ever since then, Fortinbras (a totally ancillary character from Norway who has been mentioned maybe twice in the past 3 hours) became the new king of Denmark.
I saw the free Hamlet in the park a few weeks ago. It was good. Long (my butt fell asleep) but good. That's my goal for this summer: at least 1 free thing a week. That week I did Hamlet plus a Regina Spektor performance on the mall. Yesterday, I went to the Phillips Collection because they were having free admission. Three guesses what the main show up there was... That's right: Jacob Lawrence. Pretty much every time I go to the Phillips Collection, there is a Jacob Lawrence show up. In fact, this time, they had the exact same Jacob Lawrence show I'd gone to in 1993. Admittedly, my average attendance rate at the Phillips is about once every five years. look, in a city full of great free museums, is it a surprise that I never feel like paying the $12? but still. they REALLY like the guy.
next weekend, I'm thinking...Capital Pride? I want to at least make the parade, I think.
Oh, in other news, here's how the rest of my life is going to go:
Friday: give my notice at my job
A month from Friday: stop working
About a week after that: go on an "adventure tour" to costa rica.
10 Days after that: try to find a place to live next year.
Sept 2: start Smith post-bacc program in math
Sometime in January: do a free birthright trip to israel
May, 2009: graduate from the post-bacc program
June, 2009: who the fuck knows?
And every day he moped around the castle because his father was dead and his mother (Gertrude) had married his uncle (Claudius).
Until one day the ghost of his dead father appeared to him and told him that the Claudius had murdered him.
And because of that, Hamlet vowed to avenge his father, and started acting like a lunatic while he worried over a plan.
And because of that, Polonius started spying on him to prove Hamlet was crazy over Ophelia, but he ended up getting himself stabbed.
Until finally, Laertes returned from France to avenge Polonius's death, and he killed Hamlet with a poison-tipped sword, but not before Gertrude had drunk poison, and Hamlet had killed Laertes with the same sword and both stabbed Claudius and made him drink that same poison. (woohoo run-on sentences!)
And ever since then, Fortinbras (a totally ancillary character from Norway who has been mentioned maybe twice in the past 3 hours) became the new king of Denmark.
I saw the free Hamlet in the park a few weeks ago. It was good. Long (my butt fell asleep) but good. That's my goal for this summer: at least 1 free thing a week. That week I did Hamlet plus a Regina Spektor performance on the mall. Yesterday, I went to the Phillips Collection because they were having free admission. Three guesses what the main show up there was... That's right: Jacob Lawrence. Pretty much every time I go to the Phillips Collection, there is a Jacob Lawrence show up. In fact, this time, they had the exact same Jacob Lawrence show I'd gone to in 1993. Admittedly, my average attendance rate at the Phillips is about once every five years. look, in a city full of great free museums, is it a surprise that I never feel like paying the $12? but still. they REALLY like the guy.
next weekend, I'm thinking...Capital Pride? I want to at least make the parade, I think.
Oh, in other news, here's how the rest of my life is going to go:
Friday: give my notice at my job
A month from Friday: stop working
About a week after that: go on an "adventure tour" to costa rica.
10 Days after that: try to find a place to live next year.
Sept 2: start Smith post-bacc program in math
Sometime in January: do a free birthright trip to israel
May, 2009: graduate from the post-bacc program
June, 2009: who the fuck knows?
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