I wasn't surprised not to have won tickets to see the Live8 concert. As I mentioned, some 2 million had entered into the competition and only 75000 were "winners." I had noticed a small blurb on BBC.co.uk about 55000 more tickets, to a Live on Screen area, were being given away on a first-come-first-served basis yesterday afternoon at 3pm, distributed from a select number of locations around the UK including a theatre in Oxford that's on the way home from work. "Why not try?" I asked myself. By the time I arrived, I was able to walk up to the door and take my free tickets (2 per person) but I'd heard there'd been a queue that had started the night before.
Here's why you'll think I'm crazy: I may not go. Though it is the concert event of the decade, I'm really struggling with the idea of fighting crowds to get on a bus to fight more crowds to travel the tube to get into the gate to fight the heathen unwashed for (I'm assuming there won't be chairs) a patch of grass where I'll sit/stand for seven hours before fighting the masses to do it all in reverse.
Perhaps, at nearly 37, I'm just too old for this kind of thing.
Also, Saturday is London's gay pride march and festival. There may be a few more people in London as a result.
6/30/2005 07:24:00 PM
El Congreso aprueba el matrimonio entre homosexuales
I'd been following Tuesday's vote by Canada's House of Commons to legalize same-sex marriages; the Senate is expected to pass it next month, when it will become law.
I was astounded, however, to see a link on Yahoo.com today indicating Spain has beat them to the punch today, as the Spanish socialist-led Congress of Deputies* voted to pass a bill legalizing gay marriages nationwide. The bill also allows them to adopt children and inherit each others' property.
*this is the same government that came to power after Bush's allies in the Conservative party were thrown out after huge anti-war sentiment and the Madrid bombings last year.
The Netherlands and Belgium are the only other two countries that allow gay marriage nationwide. Canada's House of Commons passed legislation Tuesday that would legalize gay marriage; its Senate is expected to pass the bill into law by the end of July.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero noted this in debate before the vote.
"We were not the first, but I am sure we will not be the last. After us will come many other countries, driven, ladies and gentlemen, by two unstoppable forces: freedom and equality," he told the chamber.
Zapatero said the reform of Spanish legal code simply adds one dry paragraph of legalese but means much more.
He called it "a small change in wording that means an immense change in the lives of thousands of citizens. We are not legislating, ladies and gentlemen, for remote unknown people. We are expanding opportunities for the happiness of our neighbors, our work colleagues, our friends, our relatives."
The U.S. Armed Services' current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" policy is a failure.
Sorry this is so long. Most of this post is excerpted from the Service Members Legal Defense Network's 10th Annual Report, which you can read in full at your leisure.
�Great Britain lifted its ban on gays after our debate in 1993,
and over the past year, I did not see any of the critics of gays in
the military here in America asking the British to stay out of
Afghanistan or Iraq."
President Bill Clinton
"Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell" is the only law in America that authorizes firing someone for his or her sexual orientation. Many Americans believe that "Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell" represents a compromise in which gay people can serve in the military as long as they are discrete about their personal lives. Over ten years' experience has proven beyond a doubt that this is simply not the case.
The current policy:
Don�t Ask. Commanders or appointed inquiry officials shall not ask, and members shall not be required to reveal, their sexual orientation.
Don�t Tell. "A basis for discharge exists if ... [t]he member has said that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual, or made some other statement that indicates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts...."
Don�t Pursue. More than a dozen specific investigative limits laid out in DoD instructions and directives comprise "Don�t Pursue." It is the most complicated and least understood component of the policy. These investigative limits establish a minimum threshold to start an inquiry and restrict the scope of an inquiry when one is properly initiated. A service member may be investigated and administratively discharged if they: 1) make a statement that they are lesbian, gay or bisexual; 2) engage in physical contact with someone of the same sex for the purposes of sexual gratification; or 3) marry, or attempt to marry, someone of the same sex. Only a service member's commanding officer may initiate an inquiry into homosexual conduct. In order to begin an inquiry, the commanding officer must receive credible information from a reliable source that a service member has violated the policy. Actions that are associational behavior, such as having gay friends, going to a gay bar, attending gay pride events, and reading gay magazines or books, are never to be considered credible. In addition, a service member's report to his/her command regarding harassment or assault based on perceived sexuality is never to be considered credible evidence of their sexual orientation.
Don�t Harass. "The Armed Forces do not tolerate harassment or violence against any service member, for any reason."
Unfortunately, even after over ten years, the services continue to violate these basic rules.
"Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell" has led to the discharge of nearly 10,000 service members and the loss of countless others who have chosen to leave the military earlier in their careers rather than serve in silence. The price to the American taxpayer is estimated between one quarter of a billion to over $1.2 billion
American troops have been serving side by side with openly gay members of allied forces, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Thirteen coalition partners in Operation Enduring Freedom allow lesbians, gays and bisexuals to serve openly, as do eleven coalition members fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Service members have been working side by side in the war on terrorism with CIA, NSA, and FBI agents � all of whom cannot only be openly gay, but are protected from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.
In November 2003, three retired flag officers denounced "Don�t Ask Don�t Tell" and came out in a New York Times article, becoming the highest ranking gay military personnel ever to come out publicly. In December 2003, fifteen retired senior military leaders signed an open letter calling for an end to the ban. The public�s attitude has changed as well. A December 2003 Gallup Poll reported that 79% of Americans believe that openly gay people should serve in the U.S. military � a dramatic change from 1992 when only 57% of Americans believed homosexuals should be hired for the armed forces. Even the politically conservative Fox News Network�s polling in August 2003 indicated that 64% of the public supports allowing gay people to serve in the military.
I hope and suspect it's only a matter of time before the policy is overturned.
6/27/2005 08:07:00 PM
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Apple Pie, Baseball, and Queers
Sports Illustrated on April 18 published the results of a survey on Americans' views on homosexuality and sports. You can read the accompanying article, but here are some interesting statistics:
The first number is the percentage of those who agreed with the statement; the second number is the percentage who disagreed.
It is OK for gay athletes to participate in sports, even if they are open about their sexuality 78% 22%
It is OK for male athletes to participate in sports even if they are openly gay 86% 14%
It is OK for female athletes to participate in sports even if they are openly gay 78% 22%
It's OK for homosexuals to participate in sports provided they are not open about their sexuality 40% 61%
Having an openly gay player hurts the entire team 24% 76%
I would be less of fan of a particular athlete if I knew that he or she was openly gay 24% 76%
Having an openly gay athlete hurts the entire sport 23% 78%
I would enjoy the sport less if I knew a player was gay 21% 79%
Positive portrayals of gay athletes in the media may encourage children to become gay 19% 71%
Openly gay athletes should be excluded from playing team sports 14% 86%
Americans are more accepting of gays in sports today than they were twenty years ago 79% 22%
It would hurt an athlete's career to be openly gay 68% 21%
Gay athletes are unfairly treated in both their private and professional lives 66% 34%
Society is more accepting of gays playing sports like golf or tennis and less accepting of gays athletes participating in more contact sports like wrestling and boxing 65% 35%
Women's sports are typically more accepting of gay athletes 60% 40%
Openly gay athletes cannot receive the same endorsement deals as other athletes regardless of how they perform on the field 51% 49%
I admire an athlete who is openly gay 48% 52%
What America needs now is an open discussion about homosexuality and sports 47% 52%
Many women in professional sports are lesbians 20% 79%
Lesbians are better athletes than straight women 10% 89%
Whether they like it or not, professional athletes are role models for children 90% 11%
What athletes do in their private life is their own business 67% 34%
What an athlete does off the court does not affect my enjoyment of his/her performance on the court 54% 46%
It is a sin to engage in homosexual behavior 44% 46%
Homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted by society 61% 33%
Brands and products are unlikely to select athletes as endorsers if the athletes are gay or even have been accused of being gay 64% 11%
The reason there is so little coverage of gays in sports is because America is not ready to accept gay athletes 62% 13%
The reason there is so little coverage of gays in sports is because gays in sports are largely in the closet 57% 11%
If Sports Illustrated put more emphasis on gay athletes, a public buzz would develop and it would be largely negative 52% 15%
If ESPN created a television special on the accomplishments of gay athletes, viewers would be enraged 42% 22%
Americans would be less proud of an Olympics gold winning athlete is he/she were gay and "out" 41% 32%
If Sports Illustrated put more emphasis on gay athletes, in far-ranging editorial features, its readership and the general public would welcome this shift 19% 43%
The reason there is so little coverage of gays in sports is because so few gays play sports 15% 43%
Society should not put any restrictions on sex between consenting adults in the privacy of their own home 77% 18%
Gay and lesbian coupes can be as good parents as heterosexual couples 59% 35%
Gay marriage would go against my religious beliefs 55% 38%
[I]t comes as no great shock that while homosexuals are thought to compose anywhere from 4% to 10% of the general population, among the 3,500 or so men active in the four major professional sports not a single homosexual is "out." The few pro athletes who have divulged their homosexuality have, tellingly, done so in retirement, long after they depended on teammates to pass them the ball or execute a block and long after they depended on fans to, effectively, pay their salaries.
6/26/2005 06:03:00 PM
My many mainly morose music mixes
I have 6004 songs in my iTunes library today. They take up more than half the space on my hard drive.
According to iTunes, I've listened to one song - George Michael's cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" - 38 times.
There are 1170 songs in my library that I've never played.
There are another 1839 songs in my library that I've played only once.
I tend to stick to tried & true but am not averse to exploring a new artist every once in awhile. I used to listen to music much more often. I long ago stopped listening to radio, as I can't stand the commercials and don't drive, which I believe is when most people listen to it. I used to take my walkman & mix tapes with me every morning on my paper route & now some songs will bring back memories of trudging through the darkness with a heavy weight on my back.
6/26/2005 04:28:00 PM
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Not all coloured rainbows and pansies
Still examining the Pride corner of Terradyme, here are some interesting anecdotes and statistics about society's attitudes towards lgbt (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgendered) people.
Homophobia as prejudice
Anti-LGBT attitudes have been reflected in legislation and have had a profound impact on political debates over LGBT civil rights in general. They have also result in violence against LGBT people, sometimes by individuals, sometimes state-sanctioned or organized.
Some notable incidents of hate-related assaults include:
Tennessee Williams was the victim of a gay-bashing in January 1979 in Key West, being beaten by five teenage boys. The episode was part of a spate of anti-gay violence inspired by an anti-gay newspaper ad run by a local Baptist minister.
The fatal stabbing of James Zappalorti, a gay disabled Vietnam veteran on Staten Island in 1990.
The rape and murder of Brandon Teena, a transsexual man (portrayed in an Oscar winning performance by Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry.
The beating death of Matthew Shepard, a gay student, in Wyoming in 1998.
The bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub in London by David Copeland in 1999, which killed two and injured more than 80.
One notorious incident of gay-bashing occurred on September 22, 2000. Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet and injuring six others. Ronald said he was angry over what his name now meant, and deeply upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He claimed that he had been told by God to find and kill lesbians and gay men, describing himself as a "Christian Soldier working for my Lord".
The attack in November last year of David Morley, who had survived the Admiral Duncan bombing. He died from serious head injuries after being attacked by teenagers while walking home after an evening out. At least four other gay men were injured in separate related attacks along the South Bank. The beatings all took place within sight of the Royal Festival Hall.
Did you know?
In the UK, the age of consent for homosexuals is was lowered in 2000 to 16, to match the age of consent for heterosexuals.
In the UK, Parliament passed the Civil Partnership Act of 2004, which will in December allow same sex couples to legally register a civil partnership, granting them certain rights and obligations with respect to each other.
In the US, the President and Republicans are still pushing for a constitutional amendment which, for the first time in the country's 225+ year history, would mandate discrimination against a group of American citizens, by banning same-sex marriage
Suicide is the leading cause of death among gay and lesbian youth (at rates 2x to 6x higher than heterosexual teens).
50% of all gay and lesbian youth report that their parents reject them due to their sexual orientation.
Approximately 40% of homeless youth are identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Approximately one out of every three gay and lesbian youth drop out of high school because of discomfort (due to verbal and physical abuse) in the school environment.
Teenage students (gay AND straight) say the worst harassment in school is being called �gay�.
Gay students hear anti-gay slurs as often as 26 times each day; faculty intervention occurs in only about 3% of those cases.
Gays and lesbians are at least 7 times more likely to be crime victims than heterosexual people.
At least 75% of crimes against gays and lesbians are not reported to anyone.
Why would anyone choose to be gay?
6/23/2005 08:24:00 PM
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Exsqueeze me?
I've seen the movie often enough, and my mom bought the soundtrack when it came out and allowed us to listen to it as often as we liked, but I couldn't believe it this morning when, on the bus to work while listening to my iPod, these lyrics poured out of my earphones into my delicate, innocent ears. Did people really use this kind of language in the '50s??
Purple french tail lights and thirty inch fins
oh yeah
A Palomino dashboard and duel muffler twins
oh yeah
With new pistons, plugs, and shocks
I can get off my rocks
You know that I ain't bragging
she's a real pussy wagon
Grease lightning
Go grease lightning you're burning up the quarter mile
(Grease lightning go grease lightning)
Go grease lighting you're coasting through the heat lap trial
You are supreme
the chicks'll cream for grease lightning
6/22/2005 09:25:00 PM
Pride
June is Gay Pride month.
To celebrate, here's a list of a few people you may or may not know are (or were) queer:
Alexander the Great
Aristotle
Plato
Francis Bacon (artist)
John Maynard Keynes (economist)
Marcel Proust (author: A la rechereche du temps perdu)
Oscar Wilde (author and playwright: The Picture of Dorian Gray, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest)
Virginia Woolf (author: Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando a Biography)
Tennessee Williams (playwright: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
Cole Porter (composer: Anything Goes, Kiss me Kate)
Leonard Bernstein (composer: West Side Story)
Benjamin Britten (composer: A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra)
George Gershwin (composer: Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Porgy & Bess)
Petr Tchaikovsky (composer)
Edward II
James I
Joan Baez (singer)
James Dean (actor)
Clive Barker (author)
Sandra Bernhard (actress and comic)
Mark Bingham (rugby player who led the revolt on Flight 93 on 9/11)
Anthony Perkins (actor: Psycho)
Rupert Everett (actor: My Best Friend's Wedding, Shakespeare in Love, Shrek 2)
Stephen Fry (actor and writer: Jeeves and Wooster, Gosford Park)
David Geffen (producer)
Greg Louganis (diver)
Rufus Wainwright (singer and composer)
6/22/2005 07:30:00 PM
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
...to fry an Egg
The only thing I don't like about having a fully booked weekend is that it doesn't leave time for chores & other mundane weekend activities. I got home from work last night at 6 and didn't sit down to eat dinner until almost 8, as I had to put away the groceries, trim the lawn, pull weeds, water the back garden, take clothes out of the dryer (and fold and put them away) and sort & start another load of laundry. Not fun.
The weekend itself was much more interesting. The village of Islip had its Grand Fete, and CM invited CG and me as she was going to be judging the dog show. It was a hot, hot day, with full sun - nearly 91 I think - and we tried to take it slowly and rest in the shade when we could. There were booths from various charities selling jewelry, books, pastries & other baked goods, plants, etc. There was also a falconry show, and CG and I had a go at a game of Aunt Sally. By three we were ready to call it a day. After a nice cup of tea and a short walk with CM's deaf dog Spot, she drove us home.
Sunday I met up with CG again, as KC -- the other Personal Assistant who recently resigned from my unit -- had invited us to her house for a meal and to have me set up her new Dell PC & copy files over from her old one. It only took about four hours. If anything, Sunday was even hotter than Saturday had been, and we caught a bit of sun in the garden before eating a cold ham & salad meal. I'd heard later that Gran hadn't even gone to mass that morning, so you know it must have been hot.
I'd worn a hat but still got a bit burnt on my neck and arms. It's mostly darkened now but working in a cancer unit I'm usually extra careful to use sunscreen. About the darkest I've even been was soon after this photo, taken in '87. I'd saved up after my first full summer job and spent three weeks in Sacramento. JCW had to work during the days so I sat in his back yard, alternating between reading or snoozing and taking a dip in the pool. Every once in awhile his mom would come out for a chat, with a glass of lemonade or a sandwich. A very relaxing and memorable break.
6/21/2005 09:36:00 PM
Some 51% of teenagers think science lessons are boring, confusing or difficult, a survey suggests.
Figures from the OCR exam board, which interviewed 950 children aged 13 to 16 in England, showed 7% thought people working in the area are "cool".
According to the survey, some children thought singer Madonna and explorer Christopher Columbus were scientists.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Tiger, tiger burning bright
Both my Mac powerbook and the PC that the office has lent me went kaput over the weekend.
I'd installed a test image of the new Mac OS, version 10.4 (also known as Tiger) and had some directory damage. Not a problem, as I'd backed up all my data beforehand. It took about 20 minutes to return to full functionality by re-installing the operating system and restoring my files.
The PC was choking on drivers for a firewire card. I started re-installing Windows on Saturday.
It's still not ready.
6/14/2005 11:56:00 PM
I hadn't realised, until I bought a different, cheaper brand the other day, just how important it is that you like your toilet paper.
6/12/2005 02:02:00 PM
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
You'd think I'd never seen food
I've had a few culinary mishaps of late. A week or so ago I came home for lunch and opened up a packet of breaded chicken thumbs I'd bought from M&S the night before & left in the fridge (thinking they'd be great with some potato salad for dinner). I just wanted one of the six "thumbs" for lunch, cold, as I already had a sandwich and chips ready. It wasn't until later that night, after I'd eaten two more cold, when I had a look at the packet's label and realized they weren't cooked.
I lived.
Yesterday, I had a yogurt drink (strawberry flavoured) for the first time ever. It tasted like...yogurt.
Tonight I opened a walnut carrot cake I also bought from M&S. I put it out on a plate after taking it out of its box and then, rather than dirty another plate, decided to eat a piece of it off the serving plate. This cake was fully baked but the bottom seemed a bit tough. After two pieces I realized I'd been eating the paper "doily" base too.
I'm in the process of reducing the amount of meat I'm eating. I can't recall when I last had beef, lamb or pork, and I'll probably cut out chicken too soon.
6/08/2005 09:49:00 PM
Monday, June 06, 2005
What are my chances?
As part of Live8, there will be a free concert in Hyde Park on July 2. Among those appearing will be: Mariah Carey, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Scissor Sisters, Paul McCartney, Sting, Robbie Williams, U2, REM, and The Cure. This will be the concert event of the decade.
Starting this morning, 72,000 people have a chance to get two free tickets. As further evidence of the ubiquity of cell phones, the only way to enter the contest is by Texting the answer to a multiple choice question to a special number set up for the occasion. Each text costs �1.50 and you can enter as often as you like. Winners will be drawn at random by computer from all correct responses on June 12.
I've just entered. But 1,500,000 have apparently already entered before me.
6/06/2005 09:27:00 PM
How you like dem apples?
Apple Computer announced today that starting next year they will be producing Macintosh computers running processors made by Intel, whose CPUs currently run 80% of the world's PC computers.
Apple has, for the last five years, secretly been ensuring its unix-based operating system Mac OS X runs not only on current PowerPC processors made by IBM and Motorola, but also on Intel x86 processors.
This is a really, really big deal. You'll be able to buy a Mac from Apple and switch between either safe, secure OS X.... or buggy, spyware- and virus-infested Windoze.
6/06/2005 09:13:00 PM
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Mini G's
I can't believe there will be more of these running around soon.
6/05/2005 10:33:00 PM
I think I have some Deutsche Marks in a drawer.
The big news on this side of the pond has to do with last week's rejection by the French and Dutch of the new EU constitution, which needs to be ratified by all 25 member states by 2006 in order to come into force. Looks as if it's dead, now. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Blair has called off an English referendum on the subject, which had been due next Spring, but will have tremendous pressure to do something as England has the EU presidency starting next month.
I think it's a short term drawback, and the EU will continue to function as is for awhile, and they'll have another go in a few years. I think it doesn't bode well for those countries who were hoping to begin discussions for an invite to join the Union, such as Ukraine and Turkey, as the EU will have to focus on its internal business for now.
Does this news even make it to The New Zealand Tribune's front page?
6/05/2005 09:56:00 PM
