Friday, November 07, 2008

Some Things May Change

Well, the moral minority has finagled yet another win for anti-sociological evolution by voting to amend the state constitution to disallow same-sex marriage. I'm sure the fight will continue, however, because I question whether it is constitutional to amend (or in this case, revise) the constitution by putting the decision to do so on a ballot - especially considering the gap between the yays and nays was so narrow.

With something that close - something that far to the middle - it is a crying shame to color it in black and white. With a decision so narrowly divided, it seems that it *must* remain open to give society a little bit more time along its evolutionary process to realize, hey, there ain't no threat here!

How many decisions have been based in fear? Decisions we all now have to live with because some vocal minority screamed louder than the rest of the world (who was just minding their own damn business, thank you very much).

The same people who voted to ban same-sex marriage must also be working for the oil companies, since both alternative energy propositions failed, too. Ah, and I thought this was supposed to be a progressive state. But I found it interesting that they voted down the alternative energy propositions, but passed the high speed train proposition. Yeah - that one - the one that was ill-conceived and fraught with unrealistic lofty goals. We'll see what kind of a mess that turns out to be. Hey, don't get me wrong - a high speed train would be cool - I just wish they did a little more homework before putting the thing up for a vote.

At least we have chosen someone new to lead this country. I can't WAIT until the current guy is out - he's not even funny anymore (even if he wasn't president. Show's over, dude, get the fuck out!). Nobody is perfect, so neither is the new guy, but I think he's just what the people need. If nothing else, he is motivational and I think he will inspire people to bring some sanity back to this country. I hope, at least, that he serves to remind us that the United States of America is a melting pot - that Americans have varied cultural backgrounds and are not all one color, one race, one religion or one mindset. But in order to be a productive country and a strong country, we need to all stand united - hence, the UNITED States of America.

I still can't figure out prejudiced people who live in America. If you don't like that this country has residents - i.e. fellow Americans - that come from all over the world, then what the fuck are you doing here? Take the KKK for instance - I think they need an island all their own. A place full of nothing but narrow-minded, fearful, bigoted white people, and that's it. That way, they can mind their own business (though they'll have to find something new to hate) and the rest of us can mind ours.

Anyway, my biggest fear is that some bigoted, scared little bunny rabbit of a man might try to put a bullet into our new president if given the chance, just because the guy happens to have darker skin. Let's hope the ugly side of Americans isn't THAT ugly (or that moronically stupid). This is probably the biggest, most hopeful historical event that has come down the pike in a long time. Let's hope some screw-up doesn't come along and screw it up. I'd like to think this country has hope, and that the people of this country have room to hope, and that we can actually rise above the uglies of the world and regain the admiration and prosperity (at least some of it) that this country once held - to once again become a beacon of hope and opportunity. I'd like to feel like I live in such a country, and I am tired of feeling the way I have felt for the past eight years!

Never before have I felt such despair, embarrassment and worry; never before have I seen such division between the people of this country; and never before have I felt such hope. I'm looking forward to the next four years (and, I predict, the next eight years, actually). Whatever it brings, right or wrong, good or bad, at least I'll feel good knowing (or at least feeling) that it's not all bad.

OK, I'll come down now. I think 2009 is going to be an interesting year. And on the more localized front, I now have a new web host (FINALLY!) for my web sites and my images, etc., and so now - as you may have noticed - my blog looks a little better, and some of the links (like the Questor Project) actually work again.

Perhaps I will actually complete the Questor project in 2009! I hope so - as of November 26, 2008, it will have been two years since I touched it, last. We're also getting close to wrapping up a couple major projects on the house, and in January of 2010, I'll actually be able to post pictures of that project again. Also, look for a new entry or two (coming soon) in my Computer Circus blog.

Here's to the next few years. >ching<

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election Day and Differing Opinions

Well, it's election day. I voted. I won't even say which way, because I'm not convinced that it matters. Politics is full of words and promises (mostly broken ones, as I presume presidential candidates really have no idea what they are getting into).

So, while everyone else is focusing on the inevitable outcome of who is going to be the next guy to run this country into the ground, I'm curious about how the propositions on the California ballot are going to fare.

Just because I happen to live there.

It seems the one with the most controversy is Proposition 8 to disallow gay marriage. It doesn't matter to me, personally, because I have no stake in the matter one way or the other, but if this is truly going to be a progressive state, and if the do-gooders are really serious when they say everyone should be treated equally, then gay marriage should be allowed.

I watched some of the videos on YouTube by groups and people who want us all to vote Yes on the proposition (to ban gay marriage), and if nothing else, they were hypocritical. So utterly, totally and completely hypocritical. And, not surprisingly, most of them had disabled comments (probably after being hammered by opposition) and they had obviously removed all comments that were contrary to their agenda.

What cowards.

My favorite was this one called Proposition 8 in Plain English (which they have since replaced it with a shorter version and renamed to Proposition 8 Made Simple). It was all happy-go-lucky about how Mr. and Mrs. X were friends with the gay couple that lived next door and how nicey-nice they all were to each other and how hetero couple X respected their neighbors' lifestyle choice (which I read as "tolerant of their decision to live a gay lifestyle with each other") and how they believed everyone should be treated equally, but they didn't want to offend their gay friends by voting YES on Prop 8.

Take a breath.

Then they went on to justify it (using their own faulty reasoning, packed with arguments that had absolutely nothing to do with Proposition 8) and closed with this - and I quote: "But Tom and Jan have come to an important realization. They can respect Dan and Michael's lifestyle choice, without affirming and embracing their lifestyle."

What an ignorant, hypocritical couple Tom and Jan are!

It is apparent that, first of all, they think it is somehow a choice to be gay (who the hell would CHOOSE that, and when did Tom and Jan choose to be straight?). Secondly, IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING GAY - IT'S ABOUT TWO PEOPLE WHO LOVE EACH OTHER WHO WOULD LIKE TO GET MARRIED! LEGALLY!

Oh, but Tom and Jan X are scared, too, because if Proposition 8 dies, that means their church could maybe might perform same-sex marriages (according to the video, that could happen, and they don't want THAT to happen - God forbid. Then again, who's going to force their church to perform same-sex marriages?). They also seem to think that a domestic partnership (a.k.a. Civil Union in a few other states) and marriage are the same thing.

I guess Tom and Jan X either don't have a computer, or don't know how to use Google. Oh, but wait, they said they found this information on the Internet! Perhaps they just didn't look past their church's web site, or beyond their Yes on 8 friends blogs.

Maybe we should just ban marriage all together.

I think the problem stems from morality. It is difficult to justify morals, as they really boil down to personally accepted modes of conduct, typically rooted in a strongly influential belief system, usually spawned by some ancient religious text that was created back when people didn't even believe that air existed (yet, immaculate conception was a totally acceptable idea).

Speaking of morality, my wife had a bit of an encounter in the parking lot of a hardware store a couple days ago, where a family of Yes on 8 promoters were encouraging passersby to think like them. My wife, while walking past them, said, "you're a biggot."

Oops.

Maybe that was too strong a word, but it really pissed them off. A woman (standing next to what I presumed was her son), shouted out, "come here and say that to my face!"

That is the WRONG thing to say to my wife. Oh, man, I saw it coming right then and there, and I knew there was no stopping it, so I observed for a bit...before they drew me in.

I loved a couple of the arguments the Yes on 8 family members proposed. One woman asked, "think of an outlet in your home. Can you plug a plug into a plug?" I just about lost it. I didn't know whether to laugh or to put them out of everyone's misery. I wanted to ask her if she could stick a hole in her hole, but, respectfully, I said, "what's that got to do with it?" instead. Pretty lame, I know, but I just didn't want to engage. We both had our opinions and neither side was going to change, so what's the point?

At one point, however, we were breaking away, and the woman turned around and mumbled something about "I'll kick your ass." This was after we endured a lecture about morality and how science tries to tell us about homosexuality, but that God really has the right answer, blah, blah, shut-the-fuck-up blah.

There was that word: morality. Almost in the same sentence as "God", and certainly in the same context. That's when my wife finally closed the door on the matter before we went into the hardware store to get what we needed (a plug of all things - actually, a receptacle for plugging in a 220V clothes dryer). Actually, we were exchanging one receptacle for another, because we had the wrong one, and so the plug wasn't right for it.

How fitting.

Anyway, I can't wait until this whole mess is over with (the voting results, anyway). There's a lot of ignorant and narrow-minded people out there - it's too bad so many of them are voting. I hope there's enough of the other variety of people out there to offset some of the bad decisions to make the good ones prevail.

Time will tell.