Facebook kills Arab LBTG group to appease mideast govs

Boing Boing has the story.
UPDATE: Turns out this may have been a hoax – the administrator of the Arab LBGT group was contacted by someone representing themselves as being from Facebook in order to close the group. Facebook actually supports the existence of the group on their site.

Continue ReadingFacebook kills Arab LBTG group to appease mideast govs

Cardiac Catheterization

The other day, I wrote about my recent stress test, commenting at the conclusion: “It was all very interesting. I should know my results in a few days, but I’m optimistic.” Well, I spoke a bit too soon on that one. The results of the stress test were rather perplexing to my cardiologist. It seems as though some areas of my heart aren’t getting enough circulation, which doesn’t make any sense to him; I’m not a candidate for narrowed arteries at this stage of the game. My blood pressure isn’t high; my cholesterol isn’t high; I’m way too young. So I’m going to have an outpatient procedure to see what’s going on, and potentially fix any problems – Cardiac Catheterization. I go in to do this on Friday and will be in the hospital most of the day. I’ll have the weekend for the 2 day recovery period.

I found all this out last week, but I had to tell my parents before I blogged about it, so they wouldn’t read about it here first and get pissed at me. I was pretty freaked out about it, but I’m calmer now; there’s not a whole lot I can do other than what I’ve already been doing – eating tons of vegetables and healthy stuff, and exercising my ass off.

The absolute worst-case scenario is that I would have to go back in and have another open-heart procedure. I survived that already; it doesn’t scare me now.

Continue ReadingCardiac Catheterization

Two Girls Kissing in School Videotaped, leads to school transfer

From a local Washington state news report:

GIG HARBOR, Wash. — Restrictions on the use of school security videotape have been tightened after images of two high school students kissing were shown to the parents of one of the girls, officials say.

Keith Nelson, dean of students at Gig Harbor High School, said he saw the students kissing and holding hands in the school’s busy commons, checked a surveillance camera and showed the parents the tape because they had asked him a few weeks earlier to alert them to any conduct by their daughter that was out of the ordinary.

They then transferred their daughter to a school outside the Peninsula School District, which lies northwest of Tacoma.

Both girls said their privacy was invaded and denied doing anything wrong. Neither was identified by name in an article published Thursday by The News Tribune of Tacoma.

The kiss amounted to a quick “peck,” said the girl who remains at the school, a 17-year-old senior described as the daughter of a News Tribune employee.

“We weren’t doing anything inappropriate, nothing anyone else wouldn’t do,” she said.

Nelson said students could not have any expectation of privacy in a crowded place and maintained that he would have taken the same action had the students kissing been a boy and a girl.

An internal investigation into a complaint from a student — it was unclear whether the complaint came from one of the girls — established that Nelson had not violated district policy, Assistant School Superintendent Shannon Wiggs said.

Even so, Principal Greg Schellenberg said, school surveillance videotape may now be used only for security monitoring and discipline for actions such as trespassing, vandalism and fighting.

Kissing and other public displays of affection were at the time and remain violations of school rules, but violators will first be given warnings and will be disciplined only for a second offense, Schellenberg said. In addition, school employees are barred from sharing surveillance video in response to an open-ended parental request.

“It’s not our normal practice,” Schellenberg said. “It’s not going to happen again.”

In the case of the kiss, he added, “the same information could have been portrayed to the family without the video.”

Nelson said he respected the change in policy but added that he believes his first obligation is to parents.

“They’re paying good money for us to make their kids good citizens,” he said. “Whatever that means to the parents, I’ll do it.”

Aside from the girls saying there wasn’t anything to it – what if there was? Who the hell are the school officials to report this to parents? This is a punishable offense? I’m thinking back to the girl I made out with in the bathroom in drama club in high school… holy crap.

That’s the problem with surveillance culture – there’s so much that can be misinterpreted from a video.

Continue ReadingTwo Girls Kissing in School Videotaped, leads to school transfer

Melamine has been added to pet food for years

According to the New York Times. My first cat Idgie died of renal failure. Now I’m upset that maybe it didn’t have to happen.
UPDATE: Scientists are figuring out how the melamine contaminate reacts with other ingredients to kill pets.

Dr. Perry Martos and colleagues from the Agriculture and Food Laboratory at Guelph’s Laboratory Services announced Friday they have discovered a dangerous reaction when melamine and cyanuric acid – the two contaminants found in the imported wheat gluten used in the pet food — are combined.
The two chemicals react to form crystals that could block kidney function.
The crystal-like substances found in the urine and kidneys of affected animals matched the crystals produced when the chemicals were combined at the University’s Animal Health Laboratory.
Researchers believe this is a possible link between the compounds and the deaths of animals exposed to the contaminated pet food.

That’s exactly why Idgie died – she had crystal-like stones in her kidneys.
And, now that we’re figuring all this out – The Chicago Tribune reports:

About 45 [California] state residents ate pork from hogs that consumed animal feed laced with melamine from China.
What last month was a limited recall of canned pet food is on the verge of becoming a full-fledged public health scare.
The FDA’s real detective work may be just beginning. Having found many sources of contamination, investigators must now determine exactly how widespread the problem is and how it began.

So over the years, how many people have eaten this stuff?

Continue ReadingMelamine has been added to pet food for years

links for 2007-04-30

Continue Readinglinks for 2007-04-30

Clerks II

“Well then, you must be as blind as Anne Frank, ’cause what’s the point in having an internet connection if you’re not using it to look at weird, fucked-up pictures of dirty sex you’ll never have yourself?” – Clerks II

Continue ReadingClerks II

Crothersville Hate Crime Murderers May Get Off Easy

Advance Indiana continues to follow up on the story I noted earlier of the brutal hate crime beating murder of Aaron Hall in Crothersville, Indiana. Gary Welsh reports the criminals are being charged lightly given the bias and brutality of the crime, and may even get off with an outrageous manslaughter conviction. Read the details.

Gary also notes that no major Indiana media outlets are picking up what should be a national news story, and that no GLBT organizations have made public statements about the crime.

In another post, Welsh has uncovered more details about the connection between one of the killers, Garrett Gray, and his father – Terry Gray, the county deputy coroner. He also notes that Hall’s body was discovered in Terry Gray’s garage 10 days after his death.

Continue ReadingCrothersville Hate Crime Murderers May Get Off Easy

links for 2007-04-29

Continue Readinglinks for 2007-04-29

Thoughts on the Jesus MCC Bilboard Campaign

Awhile back, I wrote about the second part of Jesus MCC’s anti-discrimination campaign here in Indianapolis, involving six provocative billboards. At the time, I said “I like it!” without putting a whole lot of thought into the matter.

Soon after that, I caught sight of one of the billboards, at 38th and College. I have to admit, it’s pretty impressive live.

billboard at 38th and college

Then Scott posted a more thoughtful response on his blog (in part):

However, the Bible IS open to interpretation, so I guess if the straight fundies are going to use it to diminish the gays, then the gay fundies have every right to use the same tool. And on the heels of solid activism that led to the stalling of SJR-7, our state’s anti-gay marriage amendment, I’m glad to see that this gay community is finally waking up and getting a little bit loud, even if some of it is being done through a church. At least there’s movement here.

Still, I can’t imagine that there’s going to be a winner in this argument, MCC isn’t going to change the minds of the likes of Miller, Bosma, Hershman, [insert name of favorite republican fundie here]. Instead, they’re either going to be even more pissed off at us or just dismiss it right from the start. And that makes me ask: What’s the point?

And after considering his thoughts, I commented there with this:

You gave this much more thought than I did – I saw the billboards and thought “Ha! That’s such a strange interpretation. That’ll piss off the fundies!”

I think there’s some value in it because it re-frames some of the debate in radically different ways, and puts the Miller crowd in the position of defending their interpretation of the bible rather than constantly using it as a weapon.

For people who think the bible is set in stone and their interpretation is the only one that exists, the idea that someone can read something different in the bible is a big problem. It’s easy for them to bash atheists – we’re just sinners. But forcing examination of scripture is something else.

Similar to what happened with SJR-7 – we were able to shift the debate about the amendment from “gays are immoral” to “that second paragraph is deeply flawed” and the fundies suddenly had to play defense – something they clearly aren’t used to and don’t know how to do.

Then for those of us who are non-believers in Christianity, we have a role to play also – in pointing out that we don’t believe in their imaginary bearded friend in the sky, and no one can make us.

Not long after that, the two of the six billboards around town were vandalized – as Bilerico and numerous sites have reported.

Defaced Jesus MCC Billboard

Indyness recently posted her thoughts on the Jesus MCC billboards – she’s very critical of the project, and it made me consider the whole matter more closely, which I’m very grateful for.

First, this campaign goes way beyond sparking debate. The minister has written a book on this subject and clearly has an agenda to push and a book to sell. He’s using the church as his platform. I hope the church signed up for this. I bet his publisher is ecstatic.

Second, there are many people in this church who are desperately seeking approval. For them, that’s what this campaign is about. Not debate. It’s about “Please, please, please accept me”. I think that the church and the community needs to address this psychological state that some members of the community find themselves in. Personally, I’m not begging for acceptance from anyone. I’m a productive member of society. That should be enough.

Third, I’m concerned about the safety of the members of this church. This church has made itself a target by doing this campaign. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take risks. I just hope that everybody realizes what they signed up for…

Indyness’ point about the minister writing a book is a new to me, and something I didn’t realize, although I don’t know that it would especially bother me – the potential market for his book is pretty limited, frankly. I’m not going to run out and get a copy because of this campaign, and I doubt Eric Miller will, either. Even if the whole campaign is just a cynical ploy to sell books, it advances my agenda, so I can’t complain.

I’m not interested in getting anyone’s acceptance. My concern is this house. Despite our careful financial and legal arrangements, if something happened to me, Stephanie would be forced to sell this house to pay off the taxes on my estate, and she would lose much of my assets that are left to her, and possibly part of her own – all because we aren’t able to get legally married. That PISSES ME OFF. It’s just not fair. My hard work should count as much as any heterosexual person’s – I worked to get this money, and my wife should be able to keep it, the same as any heterosexual person.

(Even when I explain this to my understanding, pro-gay heterosexual friends, they don’t understand it. I have to go over it again and again – when the light bulb finally goes on and they understand, the realization is amazing to them. I’m astonished that even the most liberal, pro-gay people don’t really get this point. They think the whole gay marriage drive is just about doing the right thing – they really have no idea there are tangible benefits to getting married that they enjoy and we don’t.)

The reason all of this could occur is because some asshats with their arbitrary religious rules have control of the statehouse, and they’re able to use their Bible as a weapon. I’m interested in taking that weapon away from them. Anything that challenges the lock that religion has on our legal system in this state is okay by me, even if it’s coming from the direction of challenging their belief system itself.

I know that just being a productive member of society should be enough, but if logic came into it, homophobia and religious nutiness would have disappeared long ago.

I know a few Jesus MCC members, but not as close friends, so I can’t say what their motivations are; I don’t know if they’re desperately seeking acceptance or not. I also can’t say whether they know what they’re in for with this campaign. The two members I know best are Zach and Chris – and Zach was an IYG member many years ago when I was a volunteer for that organization. From some general statements Zach has made, I have a good idea that he’s seen his fair share of homophobia, and isn’t exactly a babe in the woods.

I’m very glad that Scott and Indyness thought about this more carefully and thoroughly than I did, even though I might disagree with them on some points. I glossed over the whole thing in a pretty flip way, which was pretty cavalier of me.

Continue ReadingThoughts on the Jesus MCC Bilboard Campaign

How many people will die because of this false headline?

How many people will die because of this false headline?

It’s one thing when they have bat boys and aliens in the tabloids, but this false headline is going to get people killed. The guy WAS NOT gay – there’s just no evidence of it. But now every retarded redneck in the country will read this in line at Wal-Mart (because that’s the only thing they can read) buy a gun and start killing my people. This makes me want to sue the Globe for inciting violence.

Continue ReadingHow many people will die because of this false headline?