August 2, 2012

Fantastic short essay about Chick-fil-a

From the Owldolatrous Productions blog:

http://www.owldolatrous.com/?p=288

A sample:

Now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty of things. Please read carefully. These things have been said before, but not by me, and not all in one place. Please read with an open mind. If you can’t read with an open mind, please leave, take a minute, come back, and try again. If you can’t do that, then please don’t bother. Please read all of the words here, rather than just reading half of the argument and assuming you know what I’m saying. Read these words as they are written. Again, if you don’t want to read my words, then don’t continue.

So here goes:

1. This isn’t simply about marriage. Shocker, right? It’s extremely frustrating that same-sex marriage is the great continental divide. People are judged according to how they stand on this issue, as if no other issue matters. Did you know that a person can be for same-sex marriage and still be homophobic? Did you know that a person can be against same-sex marriage and be gay? We all get categorized very quickly based on the marriage issue and maybe that’s not fair. But here’s what you should know:

- In 29 states in America today, my partner of 18 years, Cody, or I could be fired for being gay. Period. No questions asked. One of those states is Louisiana, our home state. We live in self-imposed exile from beloved homeland, family, and friends, in part, because of this legal restriction on our ability to live our lives together.

- In 75 countries in the world, being gay is illegal. In many, the penalty is life in prison. These are countries we can’t openly visit. In 9 countries, being gay is punishable by death. In many others, violence against gays is tacitly accepted by the authorities. These are countries where we would be killed. Killed.

- Two organizations that work very hard to maintain this status quo and roll back any protections that we may have are the Family Research Council and the Marriage & Family Foundation. For example, the Family Research council leadership has officially stated that same-gender-loving behavior should be criminalized in this country. They draw their pay, in part, from the donations of companies like Chick-Fil-A. Both groups have also done “missionary” work abroad that served to strengthen and promote criminalization of same-sex relations.

- Chick-Fil-A has given roughly $5M to these organizations to support their work.

- Chick-Fil-A’s money comes from the profits they make when you purchase their products.

He goes on for a few more excellent points. By and large the comments are very supportive, but even as clearly as he's put it, there are still some who -just don't get it!!-

This is also making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter.

June 19, 2012

Can we please stop calling it bullying?

And call it what it really is? Assault and violence.

As WillParkinson posted a little earlier, a 14 year old child was blinded in one eye when students from the grade below held him down and beat him around the head and face until his glasses broke and damaged his cornea. He now needs a transplant. The family is now suing the school:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-family-sue-city-son-blinded-bullies-brutal-assault-roy-h-mann-junior-high-school-article-1.1098129

But they bandy the word "bullying" around again and again. Listen, I was bullied in high school. Kids can be cruel and mean little shits, but this is not bullying. We keep hearing that kids will be kids and that children need to stand up to bullies... I agree. But these kids that beat this 14 year old up are not bullies. They are dangerous, violent people. This is a separate problem from bullying, this is children that have gone completely wild, and are out of control.

How bad have things gotten when we can see something like this and call it bullying? Or shake our heads and say that kids will be kids? Kids are -dying- out there. Kids are being maimed, injured, blinded. Bullying is losing your lunch money, not your eye.

May 28, 2012

Why Lady Gaga's Cancellation in Indonesia is bad

From Alan Cross, a Canadian "professional music geek," longtime radio broadcaster, and blogger.

He was just in Singapore for the Music Matters conference there, and the cancellation was big news there!

From his article:

The status of her Jakarta show was big news in Singapore--and not merely celebrity news, either. It was a hearts and minds issue and one with serious political and social overtones. (Rather than rehash everything here, please go back and read the original post.)

In the end, though the hardline Islamic groups have won the day in Indonesia, a country of 240 million that's officially a secular state. By cancelling the concert--to which 52,000 people bought tickets--authorities have caved to the demands of a religious minority.

Here are the two relevant posts:

http://alancross.squarespace.com/a-journal-of-musical-things/2012/5/22/brace-yourself-im-on-lady-gagas-side-for-this-one.html

http://www.alancross.ca/a-journal-of-musical-things/2012/5/28/why-the-cancellation-of-lady-gagas-indonesian-concert-should.html

I think the big take-away from this one is "Authorities have caved to the demands of a religious minority."