Insight on some of the issues that knock on our doors. Title of blog comes from hearing The Nightwatchman's song "One Man Revolution" performede live on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Opinions strictly those of the author, who does not claim authority over topics covered.
Tim Profitt, the Rand Paul supporter behind the white sneaker that notoriously stomped on a MoveOn activist's head in Kentucky, sought to play down the importance of the incident Tuesday, and went so far as to ask the victim for an apology.
"I don't think it's that big of a deal," Profitt told WKYT. "I would like for her to apologize to me to be honest with you."
While the victim, Lauren Valle, said Tuesday that she believed the campaign workers' violent reaction to her presence there was "premeditated," Profitt told WKYT that he thought Valle was following a strict protocol with the intent of creating controversy.
A local news report including footage of the incident is here...warning: the video contains violent content, viewer discretion is advised.
This is just so fucked up I'm tempted to write this parody of OneRepublic's "Apologize" to reflect Tim Profitt's mind (this link is the Timbaland remix; original version here): (lyrics here):
(VERSE 1) I just pulled off your wig And shoved you to the ground, Now I'm stomping on your head So hard you can't get out,
You tell me that you're hurting, Then you go and call me out, but wait, You tell me to say sorry But I'd rather turn around, and say
(CHORUS) I don't need to apologize, but you do! I said I don't need to apologize, but you do! I don't...
(VERSE 2) Democrats have no chance, they will fall, get shot and lose Lauren, you deserved what you got So don't try to sue
Americans are voting red, firing all the blues So please sa-ay... Sorry that you came here Tricking us into welcoming you I hate your face!
(CHORUS)
So fuck Tim Profitt and his idiotic irresponsible ways. James O'Keefe anyone? Stay classy, Mr. Profitt!
Finally, I'd just like to say that Rand Paul is a kook. What kind of respectable politician would say that businesses have the right not to follow the Civil Rights Act?
I've seen a lot of my friends using the blog site Tumblr. It's a less serious version of Blogspot, Wordpress, and other blog sites. Not only can authors publish rhetoric, they also are able to post visual media and quotations. Tumblr combines blogging and social networking: if a user sees an interesting item on another registered member's Tumblr, the user may "reblog" it (hence the "via ____" tags). Unlike on traditional blog sites where you can't instantly reblog every interesting thing you see on another blog, on blogspot you have to copy-and-paste and link everything manually.
There also seems to be much more decorative freedom on Tumblr, see Kathleen's for example. Compare that with my blog (and others hosted on the traditional hosts) and notice how more artsy and simple Tumblrs can be.
And celebrities seem to have taken on Tumblr too: for example, actress Dianna Agron, who plays Quinn Fabray on the TV show Glee. Responding to a rather risque photo shoot for GQ magazine that the Parents Television Council disliked, Agron apologised and elaborated on Tumblr.
What Tumblr can do is hardly new to the Internet: blogs have been around since the late '90s, and if you want to share videos or photos then Blogspot already has the hosting capability to do so. That's why I'll never use Tumblr. If I wanna share my thoughts or cool Web junk, I'll keep posting 'em here.
As a college student I'd like to get something out. This is some real talk regarding college students (not all my friends or others on my campus, but some) who use sex as a status symbol or method of control.
Ladies, you don't exist solely to be sex toys, maids, or eye candy. You're human. Stop taking your freedoms for granted and find something that defines you besides partying, Thirsty Thursday, or opening your legs and mouth for every frat hunk. If your man is hurting you, leave him and seek help. Did Susan B. Anthony march on the streets only for you to be a suckup to an oppressive patriarchy? Think about it. The women's rights activists of the 19th and 20th centuries roll in their graves for every woman who perceives herself as a mere slave to her boyfriend/husband. Just like how Martin Luther King, Jr. would be disgusted if he could listen to any modern rap musician (like Waka Flocka Flame).
Gentlemen, if you've slept with the entire cheerleading squad and have given blowjobs to every bleached blonde sorority chick with breast implants but have yet to find a working job or (if you're in college for 2 years or more) a meaningful internship, then you're just plain worthless. You ain't that strong if you can hook up with everyone yet have little real characteristics like intelligence or sociability. When you're in a relationship, be respectful and have basic human dignity: do not resort to violence to get your point across or to take out your anger. Your girlfriend is a human being just like you, not a punching bag or chattel.
I believe girls that tie themselves up in “drama” need to feel like their life is worth something. It’s just sad that they don’t realize that filling up their days gossiping about others doesn’t make THEIR lives any better. You just come off as a shitty person. Girls who spend their days gossiping and revolve their lives around petty bullshit are not worth knowing. Also, girls who center their lives around “Thirsty Thursdays” and partying are not worth knowing either.
That's right. If your life revolves around "scoring" every shallow one around you who looks cute or getting drunk and dancing in a club whose speakers are blasting out your eardrums, I don't desire to know you. F-word off.
Bottom line: while sex may be good, do not let it define who you are. Let your character define you. There's much much much much^(infinity) more to life than fooling around in bed and stimulating each other, so if your partner says "no", find something else to do.
Tomorrow, KOFY-TV 20 in the San Francisco Bay Area will broadcast the San Jose State vs. Boise State football game. Currently, SJSU is 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, while Boise State is undefeated 5-0 and 1-0 and is predicted to top Bowl Championship Series ratings. Although this is a home game, I'd like to stay home and just watch both the San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies opening game of the National League Championship Series in baseball on KTVU-TV and the SJSU game on KOFY. Given that the Boise State Broncos is the 4th ranked team that the lowly SJSU Spartans has played this season, and that SJSU fell to the national champions 48-3 and even lost to a Football Championship Subdivision (lower division than where SJSU is, the Football Bowl Subdivision) team UC Davis Aggies during the SJSU Homecoming game, 14-13 on 2 Oct., tomorrow night's score should be quite obvious.
I happened to catch the Boise State vs. Toledo football game last Saturday on KOFY, which is one of the Western Athletic Conference TV affiliates. While Boise State is undeniably a great football team, the broadcast format isn't. KOFY broadcast the match in 4:3 format as it does for all its programmes other than ABC7 News at 9. However, KOFY compressed a 16:9 picture into 4:3, thus making everything seem thinner than proportional. Thus, today I decided to ring up the KOFY switchboard over the phone, (415) 821-2020 pressing 4 for technical services, to ask the tech guy why. I left a message and promptly got a call back about 15 minutes later. The technical worker explained that Learfield distributed the football game in a widescreen standard definition picture format, and standard definition programmes must be broadcast in 4:3 format. In this case, as widescreen is the new normal format for television sets and broadcasting, the only realistic broadcasting choices that'd preserve the picture quality would either be: scrunching the picture (as I mentioned earlier) and leaving black pillars to the left and right of the screen, or letterboxing the picture within the 4:3 area and leaving the image proportional. The tech worker explained that "blowing up" the widescreen SD image just because KOFY does have widescreen capability would drastically reduce picture quality and defeat the purpose of high definition television.
So there you have it, if you're wondering why KOFY or any other WAC television affiliate is showing the football games in such a weird format. I'd suggest contacting Learfield Sports, which distributes TV/radio broadcasts of the WAC, and persuading them to start televising games in HD. I mean c'mon. If CBS could start broadcasting soap opera The Young and the Restless back in summer 2001, then why does Learfield have to broadcast football games in standard definition widescreen in 2010?
If anything: GO SPARTANS! GO GIANTS!
PS: At the SJSU student newspaper The Spartan Daily, one columnist opines that the Giants need a better offense to beat Philadelphia.
This afternoon in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger, Judge Vaughn Walker of the US District Court for the 9th circuit overturnedProposition 8, the California ballot initiative from 2008 that invalidated all same-sex marriages. Proposition 8 followed the California Supreme Court decision In re Marriage Cases from May 2008 that threw out Proposition 22, the 2000 state ballot initiative that restricted marriage to between a man and a woman. The state high court case from 2008 ruled that marriage is a fundamental right based on Article 1, Section 7 of the state constitution. In 1977, the state legislature (under Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who's running again for governorship this year!) amended Section 4100 of the California Civil Code to define marriage as a social contract strictly between a man and a woman; before then the law was not that specific. (Since 1992, marriage law has been in Section 300 of the state Family Code.) Originally, Proposition 22 argued that California would recognise other states' same-sex marriages given a loophole in Section 308 in the Family Code. In re Marriage Cases tossed both Proposition 22 and the 1977 amendment to the state marriage law.
After what would be a summer of joy for many Californian same-sex couples, many of whom had been waiting decades to marry, the autumn and eventually the Election Day of early November 2008 arrived. Television stations in California had been bombarded with commercials in favour of and against Proposition 8.
The first-ever ad promoting Proposition 8 excerpted a speech by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. This ad took Newsom's phrase "whether you like it or not" in Newsom's speech announcing the In re Marriage Cases case and promoted these typical anti-equality talking points: judges overruled the people's vote, everyone has to tolerate same-sex marriage, and churches might lose their freedoms.
One of the pro-8 ads was from the organization ProtectMarriage.com, which claimed that schoolchildren would have to read books that glorified same-sex relationships:
Another ad argued that public schools would begin teaching that homosexuality was OK:
Another ad regarding schools and marriage
now for some ads from the anti-8 side. This ad was from the Courage Campaign depicting Mormons as home invaders stealing a lesbian couple's wedding rings. I never saw it on TV, but I found it from a youtube search of proposition 8 ads:
Another one that I think I have seen on TV before is the ad that mocked the Apple Computer Mac vs. PC ads
This ad invoked 20th century racial discrimination
Dianne Feinstein, a US Senator of California, spoke in one advert opposing P8:
Countering the pro-8 ads about school curriculum and homosexuality, Education Superintendent Jack O'Connell starred in this ad
Then election day came. November 4, 2008. American voters elected the first-ever black president of the United States, Barack Obama. Locally, there were several other less-known propositions ranging from funding a high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco (Prop 1A), authorizing parental notification for minors getting abortions (Prop 4), and helping veterans buy property (Prop 12). But then the storm came for many gay couples who had yet to be married and those already married, while the Mormons who actively campaigned for Prop 8 began cheering and partying.
California voters passed Proposition 8 by a 52%-47% margin. Notably, protests against Proposition 8 took place on November 15. P8 began attracting attention outside California; several film and TV actors participated in the satirical Proposition 8: The Musical. Perez Hilton infamously asked Miss California USA Carrie Prejean about her opinion about P8. Legal actions included a May 2009 decision by the state supreme court Strauss v. Horton that recognised P8 as a legitimate amendment to the state constitution. However, pre-P8 same-sex marriages were still valid.
In comes 2010, and oral arguments began for the federal appeal of P8, Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Plantiff Kristin Perry had been denied a marriage license in 2009. Neither Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) or Attorney General Jerry Brown (D; Brown also was Governor from 1975-1983) would defend P8 for the state. AG Brown believed that P8 violated the 14th Amendment, while Gov. Schwarzenegger merely stated that the lawsuit brought up several constitutional questions.
Plantiff arguments: (against P8)
Marriage has never explicitly, universally been defined as strictly between one man and one woman.
There is no evidence that denying same-sex marriage encourages heterosexual marriage and subsequent family planning.
Professors George Chauncey (history, Yale), Gregory Herek (psychology, UC Davis), and Gary Segura (political science, Stanford) testified that LGBT people are among the biggest targets of demonization and persecution.
Studies overwhelmingly show that children of gay parents turn out just as well off as children of heterosexual parents.
Married couples help the economy and usually are healthier.
Defendant arguments: (for P8)
Traditionally, marriage has been between a man and a woman; that family structure has allowed for generations procreation and child raising.
Apparently things got so tough for the defendants that "[d]efendant witness David Blankenhorn, under cross-examination, concurred that the well-being of children raised by same-sex couples would improve should they be allowed to marry."
According to Professor Kenneth Miller from Claremont McKenna College, LGBTs in California had significant political power, as every major newspaper and numerous state politicians and celebrities opposed P8.
In today's ruling, among Judge Walker's conclusions: (taken from Wikipedia's article about Perry v. Schwarzenegger):
Individuals do not generally choose their sexual orientation.
No credible evidence supports a finding that an individual may, through conscious decision, therapeutic intervention or any other method, change his or her sexual orientation.
Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gay and lesbian individuals.
Domestic partnerships lack the social meaning associated with marriage.
Proposition 8 has had a negative fiscal impact on California and local governments.
Gays and lesbians have been victims of a long history of discrimination.
Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.
The judge ordered an injunction against enforcement of Prop. 8 but issued a temporary stay until he decides whether to suspend his ruling while it is being appealed. The stay means that same-sex couples are still prohibited from marrying.
and
Walker's ruling is certain to be appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The case could reach the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 or 2012.
In response to the ruling, the anti-SSM crowd came out with the tired old line of "the people approved of it, but that evil liberal judge overrode the people's vote!" I'm sorry but basic human rights can not be decided by a majority vote! It's particularly silly to argue that the government is over-reaching its allocated powers with court cases like this. The way the real world works is that sometimes you need government to grant you your rights. Where would we be without the Bill of Rights? Or the Civil Rights Act, Roe v. Wade, and numerous other laws passed by Congress and cases decided by the US Supreme Court that affirmed our civil rights and liberties that the Constitution grants us? Lemme invoke the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's speech "Robert Bork's America":
Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy.
Yep. Conservative jurists' obsession with "original intent" sometimes is self-defeating as some important liberties are taketh away in the name of 1776.
The Los Angeles Timespublished a Q&A of common questions regarding today's case and SSM overall in CA.
So what now if you're still annoyed and are unconvinced?
Well of course there are gonna be some fellow Americans who do not wish to co-habit a nation with those perverted AIDS-infested gay couples who do nothing in life but to lick each other in you know where! (of course i was being sarcastic about that description, of course there are gays in America who'd like to live just like you, me, and your heterosexual family.) Pending the possible appeals that the pro-P8 apologists will file in the coming months, there still remain states in the US that deny recognition of SSM. Currently 5 states--mostly in New England--recognise SSM: MA, CT, IA, VT, and NH. Several other states (including CA and WA) allow civil unions. (I'm only talking in state context; the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act bans the federal government from recognising SSM.) And then here are the states that do not grant same-sex couples any civil union or marriage rights (most of these states vote Republican in the Electoral College): AZ, UT, ID, MT, the big ol' central section from both Dakotas to Texas, both Virginias, both Carolinas, every former Confederate state, every Great Lakes state except WI and NY, NE, KS, and MO. I'd suggest to my pro-SSM rights liberal friends (maybe some conservatives and others too) to help the stubbornly anti-gay folk find a better sanctuary where they'll be free from the evil evil gay agenda. Raise some money to get 'em a one-way plane ticket and help your fellow good ol' American work out the moving plans and possibly citizenship procedures; there still exist places outside America that make it a crime to be gay. (That idea of moving out of the country in response to dumb liberal US government laws started when the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said he'd move to Costa Rica if the US passed health care reform, unaware that Costa Rica had universal healthcare! Limbaugh clarified his remarks later.)
Speaking of which, the majority of African nations make homosexual behaviour illegal. Including the English-speaking nations of Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. As these nations are all former British colonies, English is just one language there amongst several other native languages. And Uganda once proposed a bill that punished HIV positivity or homosexual acts with the death penalty.
¿Se habla español? Then every country in Central America doesn't recognize SSM yet! (but as I said Costa Rica has...oh the horrors socialised medicine!) Regarding Mexico, only Mexico City recognises SSM, and only the state of Coahuila (which borders Texas along the Rio Grande) allows same-sex civil unions. In South America, aim for Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, or that Hugo Chavez-led dictatorship Venezuela. Both Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations, the Communist state Cuba and democracy Dominican Republic, don't have SSM, although Cuba is proposing it. (I was about to mention the American territory of Puerto Rico, but I'm not sure if the US Supreme Court decision would extend to territories.)
But if you're down for some paradise and can't speak a word of Spanish, feel free to head on over to the Atlantic island nation of Bermuda just 1000 miles east of Florida (the English dialect of Bermuda has a foreign accent like in the Caribbean). Speaking of the Carribean, try the SSM-free lands of the Bahamas or Virgin Islands, or if you'd like a place where gays get sent to prison how about Antigua & Barbada, Barbados, Jamaica, or Trinidad & Tobago?
At this time, no Asian nation recognises any same-sex relationship legally. Israel does recognise foreign same-sex couples and "unregistered cohabitation" for domestic same-sex couples. Islamic nations (like Iran, Afghanistan, and Kuwait) put the book down so hard on those homos...I mean really, those nations use Sharia to legislate harsh punishments (such as flogging or death) for people suspected of being gay or convicted of gay acts.
Now on to Europe. Nowhere in Eastern Europe, y'know the ex-Soviet nations, will you find a legal same-sex union. In the South, to avoid seeing gay couples everywhere avoid Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. In the West (the origin of white people LOL) you're out of luck unless you can find a house in the Channel Islands off France.
Alright that'll be all my research for now. Think about it: do you find that any of the nations I mentioned have as much freedom as America (or other countries that have civil unions or SSM) has granted you? Think about it. But have fun if you want to. Thank you Judge Walker, and I shall follow any appeals of this decision as they come.
Shuffle #1 (11AM) 5 songs that pretty much reveal the diversity of my playlist. - Hall & Oates: "Kiss on My List" (Voices, 1980) *1980s, pop, East Coast (Philadelphia) - Fleetwood Mac: "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac, 1975) *1970s, acoustic, rock, UK - The Notorious B.I.G.: "Me & My Bitch" (Ready to Die, 1994) *1990s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC) - Alice in Chains: "No Excuses" (Jar of Flies, 1994) *1990s, alt/indie, grunge, West Coast (Seattle) - The Black Dahlia Murder: "When the Last Grave Has Emptied" (Unhallowed, 2005) *2000s, death metal, Midwest (Waterford/Detroit, MI)
Shuffle #2 (1PM) organized by genre and (!) ethnicity (3 straight songs from African-American artists; then 3 straight rock songs). Two British songs. - Pink Floyd: "Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 6-11" (Wish You Were Here, 1975) *1970s, progressive rock, UK - Ray Charles: "What'd I Say" (What'd I Say, 1959) *1950s, jazz, soul, rock, African-American, South (Leesburg, GA) - Jimi Hendrix: "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (Electric Ladyland, 1968) *1960s, rock, psychadelic, African-American, UK - Lil Wayne: "A Milli" (Tha Carter III, 2008) *2000s, hip hop, South (New Orleans), African-American - She & Him: "I Was Made for You" (Volume One, 2008) *2000s, alt/indie, West Coast (Portland, OR) - Staind: "Just Go" (Dysfunction, 1999) *1990s, post-grunge, alt metal, East Coast (Springfield, MA) - Maroon 5: "Makes Me Wonder" (It Won't Be Soon Before Long, 2007) *2000s, rock, West Coast (Los Angeles)
Shuffle #3 (4PM) all but 1 were hip hop, and mostly from the 90s - Public Enemy: "911 Is a Joke" (Fear of a Black Planet, 1990) *1990s, hip hop, political, East Coast (Philadelphia) - Steve Miller Band: "Baby's House" (Your Saving Grace, 1969) *1960s, rock, West Coast (San Francisco) - Public Enemy: "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" (Fear of a Black Planet, 1990) *1990s, hip hop, political, East Coast (Philadelphia) - Kid Cudi featuring Kanye West and Common: "Make Her Say" (Man in the Moon: The End of Day, 2009) *2000s, hip hop, Midwest (Cleveland; Chicago) - Nas featuring Dr. Dre: "Nas Is Coming" (It Was Written, 1996) *1990s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC), West Coast (LA)
Shuffle #4 (5PM) Now all but 1 were metal (from outside US) - Lacuna Coil: "Our Truth" (Karmacode, 2006) *2000s, goth metal, Italy - Soulfly: "Back to the Primitive" (Primitive, 2000) *2000s, alt metal, Brazil - A Tribe Called Quest: "Buggin' Out" (The Low End Theory, 1991) *1990s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC) - Kataklysm: "Cripped & Broken" (In the Arms of Devestation, 2006) *2000s, death metal, Canada
Shuffle #1 (around 11AM): bounced between the '90s and '00s and all from the Eastern or Southern US - Death: "Symbolic" (Symbolic, 1995) *1990s, death metal, South (Orlando) - Anti-Flag: "The Project for a New American Century" (For Blood and Empire, 2006) *2000s, punk, East Coast (Pittsburgh) - The Notorious B.I.G.: "Unbelievable" (Ready to Die, 1994) *1990s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC) - Shadows Fall: "Destroyer of Senses" (The Art of Balance, 2002) *2000s, thrash metal, East Coast (Springfield, MA) - Eminem featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent: "Encore" (Encore, 2004) *2000s, hip hop, Midwest (Detroit), East Coast (NYC), West Coast (LA) - Wale featuring Weensey and Gucci Mane: "Pretty Girls" (Attention Deficit, 2009) *2000s, hip hop, East Coast (DC), South (Atlanta)
Shuffle #2 (lunchtime): majority being 2000s; bounced between rock and hip hop for a while; all from West Coast/East Coast/Midwest - Game featuring Bilal: "Cali Sunshine" (LAX, 2008) *2000s, hip hop, West Coast (Los Angeles) - Bruce Springsteen: "Devils and Dust" (Devils and Dust, 2005) *2000s, rock, acoustic, East Coast (New Jersey near NYC) - Jay-Z featuring Drake and Timbaland: "Off That" (The Blueprint 3, 2009) *2000s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC), Canada - System of a Down: "Prison Song" (Toxicity, 2001) *2000s, alt metal, West Coast (LA), political - Alice in Chains: "Rooster" (Dirt, 1992) *1990s, grunge, West Coast (Seattle), political - Nas: "Sly Fox" (Untitled, 2008) *2000s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC), political - Nine Inch Nails: "Survivalism" (Year Zero, 2007) *2000s, alt metal, Midwest (Cleveland), political - Santana: "Black Magic Woman" (Abraxas, 1970) *1970s, rock, psychadelic, West Coast (San Francisco) - Smashing Pumpkins: "Cherub Rock" (Siamese Dream, 1993) *1990s, alt/indie, grunge, Midwest (Chicago)
Shuffle #3 (afternoon ride home): - Jay-Z featuring UGK: "Big Pimpin'" (Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter, 1999) *1990s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC), South (Houston) - Chops featuring Raekwon: "What's Fuckin' Wit' Us" (Virtuosity, 2004): *2000s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC) - Snoop Dogg featuring B-Real: "Vato" (Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, 2006): *2000s, hip hop, West Coast (LA) - The Beatles: "Yesterday" (Help!, 1965): 1960s, rock, acoustic, UK - The Black Dahlia Murder: "A Vulgar Picture" (Miasma, 2005): 2000s, death metal, Midwest (Waterford/Detroit, MI) - Foxy Brown featuring Jay-Z: "I'll Be" (Ill Na Na, 1996): 1990s, hip hop, East Coast (NYC) - Hall & Oates: "Kiss on My List" (Voices, 1980): 1980s, pop, East Coast (Philadelphia)
