Scandal and Shame

How many more anti-gay advocates are going to be outed ?!

Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) - footsie with cops in airport bathrooms
Representative Mark Foley (R-Florida) - chasing underage boys
Representative Richard Curtis (R-Washington) - a transvestite hiring rent boys
Representative Bob Allen (R-Florida) - hungry for hot dogs in a public park's bathroom
Reverend Ted Haggard - substance abuse and paying for man sex

And oh so very many more...

These liars promote homophobia by championing anti-gay issues.

Are they trying to get themselves gay-bashed by the bigots they're helping?!

Too many kind, loving people with integrity have been harmed by intolerance already.

If it were up to me, "Thou shalt not commit hypocrisy" would be the first of the 11 commandments. These idiots need to be shamed and shunned... along with the rest of the offensive liars that refuse to live by the very laws they claim to hold dear.

Up in smoke

The winds died off, and while the fires continue to spread (more slowly) they're headed away not towards my home now. Of course, smoke from these fires has blown some 500 miles out to sea, and is now blowing back into San Diego. Rather than inhale all that secondhand smoke, I left for Vegas.

It didn't take long for the smoke to catch up though. As if Las Vegas weren't dry and smokey enough already!

Fire away...

Here we go again, with smoke, ash, wind, heat and fire.

The air is parched and acrid with the scent of scorch.
Flecks of ash flit like gnats and catch the sun like dusty snowflakes.
Through a veil of pale pink and blue haze far buildings seem dark.
As I drive by old familiar trees, my mind's eye sees them kindled blaze.

Workplaces close, the freeways are sparse but slow.
Down a dry canyon stretch, I see in front of me, a driver flicking
cigarette ash from her dangling hand, not once but repeatedly,
Should I honk? Should I yell? There aught to be a law.

Will this fire be worse than last time?
Will it race up the dry grass covered hillsides near my home?
Will any firefighters be nearby to react in time if it does?
or are they all struggling to contain the conflagrations north and east?

I've packed a bag, and check the local news.
Their web server is struggling with the load.
I don't know if I'm being too paranoid... or too complacent.
Little to do but wait.

"ex-gay"

The news I peruse tends to include equal rights issues.

Lately, there has been a frequent focus on self-professed 'ex-gays', those people that were 'naughty' but thanks to the grace of god and fervent therapy they have put their 'wicked ways' behind them.

I'm not just skeptical on this issue... I'm an all out cynic.

To me it seems obvious that gender identity and preference are established *very* early in life. Some day I'm sure that science will document that BOTH nature and nurture play a role in it.

Years of maturation is not undone quickly, or, I think, ever. The mind is a cumulative thing... we can't go back and erase formative moments in our life, only try (and fail) to write over them so many times that we forget.

But, people can pretend to be what they are not, even to the point of self-delusion.

But when that dishonesty is the foundation upon which one tries to build a permanent loving relationship... what can anyone expect but that the marriage will end in spectacular failure.

I'm sure there are many god-fearing Christians that utterly fail to comprehend why some people beligerently refuse to 'pretend to be straight' or stay hidden from "polite socieity".

To them I suggest:

Don't you want to keep your children safe from The Radical Islamic Jihadists? Why don't you pretend to be devout Muslim for the rest of your life, to your spouse, your children, your friends, the people you work with... You can worship Jesus in your heart, but don't let anyone ever know. It would end the threat of terrorism, peacefully, lovingly and without bloodshed. What could be more Christian than that?

Oh. You don't want to live a lie? Well, stop pretending like it's a solution for other people.

So... Ex-gay? Yeah, right.

Lies and deception are not tools that bring about salvation. Quite the opposite, according to your dogma.

And... He's off!

Two months and a day past the vow of chocolate abstinence.

To celebrate, I brought a bunch of Uncle Biff's California Killer Cookies in to work to share and enjoy. (I still have one next to my keyboard waiting for my previous sugar high to subside!) Biff's can't be beat, their texture, flavor and variety are absolutely top notch.

Anyway, back on the high road tomorrow. I'll ask the wagon to let me off sometime in late December. ;)