Obama Grants Benefits To Same-Sex Partners Of Federal Employees!

Posted by Tim June 18th, 2009

Wow, this is awesome. I couldn’t be happier! A huge moment in the fight toward equal rights for all. I just feel all warm and bubbly inside.

What’s that? Not all benefits? No health or retirement benefits because DOMA prohibits it? Well, that’s ok, I guess. I mean he did say during his campaign that gay rights were very important to him so I suppose he’ll get around to the rest of it. But what benefits exactly are left? No, no, I’m not complaining really. I’m just disappointed is all.

I mean, fer crissake, It’s not like his Justice Department used an opposition to incestuous marriages as a basis for it’s support of DOMA in a statement released recently. It did? What did Obama have to say about that? Boy I bet he was pissed! Nothing? Hm. Doesn’t sound like he really thinks about gay rights much at all.

He better fucking repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and DOMA pretty fucking soon or I’m just about done with him. And none of this bullshit about due process and letting Congress work through it. Those acts are crap laws and violate human rights. You don’t have to wait for an act of Congress to right a wrong that you can fix with the stroke of a pen.  It’s what we fucking elected you to do!

I don’t really care if he fixes the economic crisis; I suspect that’s pretty much beyond the powers of his office. But if we all go down, we better fucking be going together.

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Neil Young and Devo. Don’t Lie, You Always Knew It Would Work.

Posted by Tim June 4th, 2009

Give it a minute. Seriously.

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What If You Had To Ask?

Posted by Tim June 4th, 2009

I guess this is at least a couple of years old, but I’ve not seen it before. Well done.

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Feist – My Moon, My Man / Sealion Woman

Posted by Tim June 1st, 2009

The groove, the playing, the style, the voice, the band, the look; Feist totally has it all. And this performance of the song “My Moon, My Man” is completely flawless. Go ahead, I dare you: find a flaw.

Sometimes one just isn’t enough:

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No Waffling On Women’s Access To Reproductive Health – Go Hillary!

Posted by Tim April 27th, 2009

I like Hillary. I’ve always like Hillary. I wasn’t happy with some of the concessions and allegiances she made during her campaign, but on the issue of a woman’s right to access to complete reproductive health information and services, I am a huge fan of how firm a stance she has consistently held. In response to a question on whether this administration will weaken any of the pro-life laws in place around the world, a very clear “hell yes we will!”

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Can “No Homo” Be Anything But Anti-Gay?

Posted by Tim April 10th, 2009

While it’s not really part of my kids’ playground world yet, I do know that it lies in wait just around the corner in Middle School.  And while I’m a big no-fan of telling people what they can and can’t say, I’m an even bigger fan of not being an idiot and knowing the impact of words.  I didn’t know the history of the phrase “No Homo” (didn’t even know it had been around for so long) and found this video informative, interesting, and more than a little clever and funny.

Jay Smooth on “No Homo” and reclaiming insults that are not used to insult you:

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First Step Toward Same-Sex Marriage in DC?

Posted by Tim April 7th, 2009

capitol-flagThere’s been a lot of good news on this front lately.

First it was Iowa (what a surprise), then more from Vermont (always reliable), and now the locals are getting into it was well!

From the Washington Post:

The D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, on the same day that Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex unions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040702200.html?hpid=topnews

Image courtesy of M.V. Jantzen

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The Pope Had a Busy Week

Posted by Tim March 23rd, 2009

Death was Punk.

Posted by Tim March 15th, 2009

death_500
Seeming to cement the notion that the claims that punk rock was the only modern western music that was not co-opted from Black America is a bunch of hooey, allow me to introduce you to Death:

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Listening Party

Posted by Tim March 14th, 2009

Boy howdy. Music is being teh good to me these days. I’ve added a music player to the blog so you can listen to songs by these folks right here and now! Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t it just the very most exciting thing that you’ve heard all week? Yes. Yes, it is.

The new Decemberists record is due out March 24th and I can’t wait to hear the whole thing. The pre-release single (which is available now from their site, or to listen to below) is great! Typically dark, moving, and adventurous.

I first heard K’naan on the NPR show All Song’s Considered, which seems to be where I hear about all the new music I end up loving. It’s the best radio show I know and the podcast comes out weekly.

Lily Allen doesn’t offer a whole lot for those who didn’t like her first record, and for my money that’s a good thing. Less ska and more pop and dance feels make it sound like a bit of a progression but the themes are still the same: herself, people she knows, people who know her, people she has screwed, people who have screwed her, drugs, and fame.

Santogold is strange. Dub, pop, rock, all sung with a really cool voice that reminds me of Karen O, of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

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I Finally Begin to Understand the Financial Crisis. Thank You NPR!

Posted by Tim March 6th, 2009

piggyLast week’s episode of This American Life was a very well done hour-long segment explaining what the current economic crisis is all about.  It was a co-production of TAL, NPR News, and the (excellent) Planet Money podcast folks.  Much of the info may be overly simplistic at the beginning, but for those of us for whom things like economics will forever exist in a half-lit otherworld populated with frightening old men with frowny faces and no love for humanity, it’s just the ticket.

So, if you’ve ever heard someone say that the banks are loathe to “market to market” and did not realize that they were actually hearing “mark it to market,” well boy do I have the radio show for you!

Check out the free downloadable episode available  on the This American Life site.

1 comment Recommendations , , , ,

How Long Until Dollhouse Is Cancelled?

Posted by Tim February 26th, 2009

dollhouseI’m a big fan of Joss Whedon, but I can’t for the life of me figure out two things:

  1. Why he is doing another show on Fox
  2. Why he is starring Eliza Dushku in that show

Honestly, does he want the show to fail?  It’s the only thing I can think of given that he is back with a network that totally screwed his last series (Firefly, which was actually great), to produce a new show (Dollhouse, which is not).  I know that his shows usually take a few episodes – even half a season – to find their legs, but Ms. Dushku is going to take much longer than that to learn how to act.  I didn’t like her in Buffy and I don’t like her here.

The thing was, Buffy was a great show in spite of the other wooden actor (Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role) because there was so much else to love about it:  The other cast members were interesting and fun, and carried the show in spite of SMG’s cruddy acting, and the writing was fresh, quick, and funny.  Dollhouse doesn’t seem to have either of those two things.

I’m betting it’s doomed.  Will it last the season?  Who cares?

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Buffy Season 6 Review by MikeJer

Posted by Tim January 23rd, 2009

I really like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I’ve now watched the entire series three or four times (the last time with the kids).  I’ve been known to expound on what I feel Buffy has to say about our world – probably even more than some (perhaps unfortunate) drinking partners would prefer.  But this guy MikeJer…now he really knows how to go on about Buffy.   Case in point: nearly 14,000 words analyzing the often derided Season 6.  Just, wow.

Buffy Season 6 Review by MikeJer – SuperJer.com.

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CNN Loves Tots, And It Creeps Me Out

Posted by Tim January 23rd, 2009

The word “tot” doesn’t give me the heebie-jeebies all by itself (not like, say, “linoleum,” or “panties”), but it seems like CNN has developed quite a fetish for the use of the word. I suppose it’s to save headline space and help make their lists of links look nicer by preventing lines from wrapping, but it just seems out of place in nearly every case. Used less frequently, and to slightly less consternation on my part is the word “kin.”

Neither of these words seem appropriate to the types of stories they are used to promote. They seem to convey a sense of informality, or even condescension, that is rarely appropriate to the content of the story.

Here are some examples that make my stomach turn in the way it used to every day working for a television station:

  • Tot who died on Disney ride had bad heart
  • Missing tot’s trail goes cold after three months
  • Tot had heart sticker on mouth
  • Tot mom meant to kill!
  • Twister kills two mothers protecting kin
  • Buffett: Tax my kin, please (not surprisingly, Buffet did not actually say “kin”)
  • Kidnapped soldier’s kin: Stop the killing

And a whole shitload more from google.

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Did The Mormon Church Go Too Far Fighting Proposition 8?

Posted by Tim January 15th, 2009

It sure seems like there’s plenty of reason for the IRS to investigate.

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