Hi Friends;
This is a coming out I think I'd like to see more of... enjoy. (Click Me)
Friday, June 22, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Double Standard
Hello Friends;
I noticed this article in the Yahoo front page when checking my email. It struck me, why is it that when a politician lies to us, it's excused. But, should one of us lie to a politician, specifically congress, suddenly it's a problem. And why should it be? Don't they work for us? Aren't they our employees?
Ok, when it gets right down to it, neither is acceptable. But, you get my point. A lie is a lie, and putting a "political spin" on it makes it no less the lie. I am frankly so tired of outright fakery and lies from our "leaders" that I could spit. I couldn't imagine lying to my boss. So, tell me, if they are lying to us... who do they really work for? ~r
After eight weeks, 46 witnesses, two dozing jurors and an estimated $2 million-$3 million spent in taxpayer money, the Roger Clemens trial has finally come to a close.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/roger-clemens-verdict-not-guilty-six-counts-204828190--mlb.html
The verdict: Not guilty on three counts of making false statements, not guilty on two counts of perjury and not guilty on one count of obstruction. The charges stemmed from testimony that Clemens made in February 2008, telling a Congressional committee that he had never taken steroids or HGH. Prosecutors also alleged that Clemens intentionally made false statements that misled investigators.
Clemens faced a maximum sentence of 30 years and a $1.5 million fine if he had been convicted on all six counts, but he instead made out better than Barry Bonds. The all-time career home runs leader was hit with one charge of obstruction — but sentenced to no jail time — in his own perjury case.
Both Clemens and Bonds will hit the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this winter and it's likely that neither will walk away happy with the results. Whether you agree with their stance or not, Cooperstown's voters carry a much lower burden of proof when it comes to the evidence that both used performance-enhancing drugs during their careers.
But like Bonds, Clemens benefited from the reasonable-doubt standard that's applied in a federal courtroom. Despite staging an exhaustive trial, federal prosecutors were unable to build a convincing case. Nor were they able to defeat the doubts that the defense raised about the motives and integrity of former Clemens trainer Brian McNamee.
So that's that. While we'll argue forever about the merits of the nation's lawmakers getting involved with baseball's steroid era, Clemens has escaped the legal process with no major damage except for a sizable lawyer bill. He'll face much more public scrutiny going forward, of course, but this trial was really never going to have any impact on the court of public opinion. Your view of Clemens before this verdict is probably the same as your view now.
Ok, when it gets right down to it, neither is acceptable. But, you get my point. A lie is a lie, and putting a "political spin" on it makes it no less the lie. I am frankly so tired of outright fakery and lies from our "leaders" that I could spit. I couldn't imagine lying to my boss. So, tell me, if they are lying to us... who do they really work for? ~r
After eight weeks, 46 witnesses, two dozing jurors and an estimated $2 million-$3 million spent in taxpayer money, the Roger Clemens trial has finally come to a close.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/roger-clemens-verdict-not-guilty-six-counts-204828190--mlb.html
The verdict: Not guilty on three counts of making false statements, not guilty on two counts of perjury and not guilty on one count of obstruction. The charges stemmed from testimony that Clemens made in February 2008, telling a Congressional committee that he had never taken steroids or HGH. Prosecutors also alleged that Clemens intentionally made false statements that misled investigators.
Clemens faced a maximum sentence of 30 years and a $1.5 million fine if he had been convicted on all six counts, but he instead made out better than Barry Bonds. The all-time career home runs leader was hit with one charge of obstruction — but sentenced to no jail time — in his own perjury case.
Both Clemens and Bonds will hit the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this winter and it's likely that neither will walk away happy with the results. Whether you agree with their stance or not, Cooperstown's voters carry a much lower burden of proof when it comes to the evidence that both used performance-enhancing drugs during their careers.
But like Bonds, Clemens benefited from the reasonable-doubt standard that's applied in a federal courtroom. Despite staging an exhaustive trial, federal prosecutors were unable to build a convincing case. Nor were they able to defeat the doubts that the defense raised about the motives and integrity of former Clemens trainer Brian McNamee.
So that's that. While we'll argue forever about the merits of the nation's lawmakers getting involved with baseball's steroid era, Clemens has escaped the legal process with no major damage except for a sizable lawyer bill. He'll face much more public scrutiny going forward, of course, but this trial was really never going to have any impact on the court of public opinion. Your view of Clemens before this verdict is probably the same as your view now.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
To Life, Hope and Change!
Some look upon a scarred body as one that has received so much pain, agony, hurt... I think on the scars I've seen in some of my family who went through surgery. Older heart surgeries were huge for scars.
Yet, there is an odd thing about a scar.... it is a place where an injury occurred, yet it has healed. At least on the outside.
Now, I think upon the concept of the sore; of the phrase "opening a sore wound". Unhealed, barely scabbed over, aching, bleeding, frustrating and hobbling. So many of us have wounds that do not heal, that do not even give us the merit of showing scars, only weeping wounds that will just not leave us be. The tragedy upon all of that, it seems like scars are so evident where the seemingly more evident wounds would be easily seen yet are not. They hide, behind small corners, shadows, little small smiles and ineffective laughs, yet the persist. Staying closed until odd moments seem to bring them to the surface to be all but intolerably painful.
I am fortunate to have certain things scarred over and, if ugly, at least acceptable. They are memories of pain, yet no longer painful in themselves. And, like all of us, I have my wounds. I try to keep those covered. Every now and again, I peek, but mere acknowledgement comes with its own trauma.
I tell you this to speak about my choices of living alone. I choose that rather than let people close to me. I know it. I even have a good feel for why. Such is my life. And yet, every now and again a phrase hits me, and I realize that it still hurts.
I mentioned in a response to an earlier comment that I had seen a great show on PBS. http://www.anyoneandeveryone.com In that show, there were a few stories that had me empathizing and feeling their pain, even their hope and joy. And, in some, I felt the words strike deep to my soul. One of those phrases went sort of like this: 'Everyone needs someone to love - Someone to share the popcorn while watching a movie; Someone to wait with them as they see the doctor; Someone to pick them up at the airport, greeting them with a smile and a 'welcome home'.'
I don't honestly know what my future will bring. I like living alone, and I understand that in part it is to avoid opening those sores that seem to weep and bleed upon investigation but otherwise seem quite healed and scarred over nicely. I like that I come home and my dog is so happy to see me, loves to cuddle with me, be part of my family. Will I ever have anyone else? I don't know. For that matter, I don't even know if the dog will allow anyone else on the bed - there are times she barely allows me!
Now, I think upon the concept of the sore; of the phrase "opening a sore wound". Unhealed, barely scabbed over, aching, bleeding, frustrating and hobbling. So many of us have wounds that do not heal, that do not even give us the merit of showing scars, only weeping wounds that will just not leave us be. The tragedy upon all of that, it seems like scars are so evident where the seemingly more evident wounds would be easily seen yet are not. They hide, behind small corners, shadows, little small smiles and ineffective laughs, yet the persist. Staying closed until odd moments seem to bring them to the surface to be all but intolerably painful.
I am fortunate to have certain things scarred over and, if ugly, at least acceptable. They are memories of pain, yet no longer painful in themselves. And, like all of us, I have my wounds. I try to keep those covered. Every now and again, I peek, but mere acknowledgement comes with its own trauma.
I mentioned in a response to an earlier comment that I had seen a great show on PBS. http://www.anyoneandeveryone.com In that show, there were a few stories that had me empathizing and feeling their pain, even their hope and joy. And, in some, I felt the words strike deep to my soul. One of those phrases went sort of like this: 'Everyone needs someone to love - Someone to share the popcorn while watching a movie; Someone to wait with them as they see the doctor; Someone to pick them up at the airport, greeting them with a smile and a 'welcome home'.'
I don't honestly know what my future will bring. I like living alone, and I understand that in part it is to avoid opening those sores that seem to weep and bleed upon investigation but otherwise seem quite healed and scarred over nicely. I like that I come home and my dog is so happy to see me, loves to cuddle with me, be part of my family. Will I ever have anyone else? I don't know. For that matter, I don't even know if the dog will allow anyone else on the bed - there are times she barely allows me! Past injuries ought to be in the past. Passed. Gone. Yet, hobbled and frustrated, pains come back to all of us, I guess. Still, there is hope, still there is life. Here's to life, hope and change.
ACLU vs. DOMA news
Another DOMA Win!
http://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/another-doma-win
By James Esseks, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 7:44pm
When it rains, it pours! Late this afternoon, another federal judge ruled that the so-called federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the federal constitution. The ruling came in an ACLU case brought by Edie Windsor after the death of her spouse and partner of 44 years, Thea Spyer.
Edie and Thea became a couple way back in 1965. By 1967, long before marriage for same-sex couples was anything more than a pipe dream, Thea proposed marriage to Edie – that’s just what their relationship meant to them. Thea couldn’t give her an engagement ring, because Edie wouldn’t have been able to explain it to her colleagues at IBM, so she gave her a diamond pin instead. They were inseparable for the next four decades.
In 1977, Thea was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and they both worked, over the next 30 years, to accommodate Thea’s progressive paralysis. She first used a cane, then crutches, then a manual wheelchair, and finally a motorized one that she could operate with her one good hand.
In 2007, with Thea’s health failing, they got married in Canada. In Edie’s words, “If you live together for 42 years, and you love each other for all those years, how could marriage be different? It turns out it’s different, and you don’t know why.” Edie and Thea enjoyed married life for the next two years, until Thea died.
In New York, Edie and Thea were a lawfully married couple, but because of DOMA, they weren’t in the eyes of the federal government. So when Thea left their apartment and the rest of her possessions to Edie, the IRS taxed that inheritance as though they were strangers. Where a straight widow would have owed nothing at all, Edie had to pay over $363,000 in federal taxes.
Never a timid soul, Edie challenged that tax bill – and the insult to her marriage – in federal court, in a case brought by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, the ACLU, and the New York Civil Liberties Union. And today, the federal trial court in Manhattan ruled that DOMA violates the equality provisions of the federal Constitution.
Edie’s is the fifth case in which courts have struck down DOMA, and the fourth ruling to come just in 2012 – a veritable avalanche of judicial wisdom on our side, and a sure sign of an idea whose time has come. Now Edie is off to the federal appeals court for this part of the country, and the DOMA issue is very likely to be before the Supreme Court this coming term. Let the avalanche continue!
http://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/another-doma-win
By James Esseks, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 7:44pm
Edie and Thea became a couple way back in 1965. By 1967, long before marriage for same-sex couples was anything more than a pipe dream, Thea proposed marriage to Edie – that’s just what their relationship meant to them. Thea couldn’t give her an engagement ring, because Edie wouldn’t have been able to explain it to her colleagues at IBM, so she gave her a diamond pin instead. They were inseparable for the next four decades.
In 1977, Thea was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and they both worked, over the next 30 years, to accommodate Thea’s progressive paralysis. She first used a cane, then crutches, then a manual wheelchair, and finally a motorized one that she could operate with her one good hand.
In 2007, with Thea’s health failing, they got married in Canada. In Edie’s words, “If you live together for 42 years, and you love each other for all those years, how could marriage be different? It turns out it’s different, and you don’t know why.” Edie and Thea enjoyed married life for the next two years, until Thea died.
In New York, Edie and Thea were a lawfully married couple, but because of DOMA, they weren’t in the eyes of the federal government. So when Thea left their apartment and the rest of her possessions to Edie, the IRS taxed that inheritance as though they were strangers. Where a straight widow would have owed nothing at all, Edie had to pay over $363,000 in federal taxes.
Never a timid soul, Edie challenged that tax bill – and the insult to her marriage – in federal court, in a case brought by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, the ACLU, and the New York Civil Liberties Union. And today, the federal trial court in Manhattan ruled that DOMA violates the equality provisions of the federal Constitution.
Edie’s is the fifth case in which courts have struck down DOMA, and the fourth ruling to come just in 2012 – a veritable avalanche of judicial wisdom on our side, and a sure sign of an idea whose time has come. Now Edie is off to the federal appeals court for this part of the country, and the DOMA issue is very likely to be before the Supreme Court this coming term. Let the avalanche continue!
Friday, June 8, 2012
Words will never hurt me....?
Reading a recent posting on Milkboys has me a bit concerned and, frankly, pissed. To be true, I want the best for myself - I think we all do. Do I have the courage to go out and risk certain things to achieve it? No, but that is a conversation for another time. I surely want the best for our youth.
Here is the article portion that caught my eye: 92% say they (the 'they' refers to lgbt youth) hear negative messages about being LGBT – 60% say those messages come from politicians. http://milkboys.org/article/americas-queer-youth-isnt-happy/
In what may or not be fair, I guess I look to Scottie as a certain role model in that he is who he is - deal with it. But many aren't that strong. Inevitably, I look towards young people a bit protectively and as a result this statistic brings about my anger and protective ire.
Here we have all these politicians and preachers pounding their particular pulpits and podiums, mostly their puds, while railing against the very folk for whom they should be protecting. You politicians say you are "for the children" and yet look at this statistic! I am assuming that at least some of the other negative comments heard come from pulpit pounders, but I may be wrong in that assumption. Still, STILL! Look to your words! Is it a wonder that our young men and women are choosing to die rather than live as they are - or in some horrible circumstances, as they are perceived - in this world?!
I see the most hideous and heinous actions when our politicians willingly stomp on the rights, needs, and the very hearts! of our young people to garner a vote from the frumpy and rumply set. You assholes should be ashamed!
In what may or not be fair, I guess I look to Scottie as a certain role model in that he is who he is - deal with it. But many aren't that strong. Inevitably, I look towards young people a bit protectively and as a result this statistic brings about my anger and protective ire.
Here we have all these politicians and preachers pounding their particular pulpits and podiums, mostly their puds, while railing against the very folk for whom they should be protecting. You politicians say you are "for the children" and yet look at this statistic! I am assuming that at least some of the other negative comments heard come from pulpit pounders, but I may be wrong in that assumption. Still, STILL! Look to your words! Is it a wonder that our young men and women are choosing to die rather than live as they are - or in some horrible circumstances, as they are perceived - in this world?!
I see the most hideous and heinous actions when our politicians willingly stomp on the rights, needs, and the very hearts! of our young people to garner a vote from the frumpy and rumply set. You assholes should be ashamed!
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