A Quote By:

Eliot Spitzer, gubernatorial candidate for the state of New York, at last week's Empire State Pride Agenda dinner:

"We will not ask whether this proposition of legalizing same-sex marriage is popular or unpopular; we will not ask if it's hard or easy; we will simply ask if it's right or wrong, [and] I think we know in this room what the answer to that question is."

How to keep it real

I read this today:

On October 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe.

How does that compare to Bush's message to keep doing what you're doing, the military will take care of the war?

No wonder people feel completely removed from the conflict in the Middle East. Our President told us to.

A voice of reason within the Anglican Church

Desmond Tutu's new biography is about to come out, and in it he declares that the Anglican Church's stand on homosexuality and gays in the church made him ashamed of being part of it:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in the first authorized biography of the Nobel peace laureate, said he was ashamed of his Anglican Church's conservative position that rejected gay priests.
[...]
The retired archbishop was critical of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams for bowing on the gay priest issue to conservative elements, particularly African bishops, in the 77-million member Anglican Church that includes Episcopalians in the United States.

In a 1998 letter to Williams predecessor, Archbishop George Carey, Tutu wrote that he was "ashamed to be Anglican." It came after the Lambeth Conference of Bishops rejected the ordination of practicing homosexuals saying their sexual relations were "incompatible with scripture."

Tutu also said he was deeply saddened at the furor caused by the appointment of openly gay V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. "He found it little short of outrageous that church leaders should be obsessed with issues of sexuality in the face of the challenges of AIDS and global poverty," wrote Allen.

It's so nice and refreshing to see that there are still voices of reason among the crazies.

And Tutu correctly points out that it is shameful on the part of any religious institution to cling to ideals of the past and close the doors to those who want to join them and help those in need when there is so much suffering and so much need in the world.

How far away is a challenge to the federal DOMA?

A judge has ruled that gay and lesbian residents of Rhode Island are allowed to marry in Massachusetts because the latter's law that such marriages can only take place when they are not considered illegal in the applicants' state of residence doesn't apply to the smallest state in the nation, since no such limitations exist:

A Boston judge has ruled that a Massachusetts law forbidding out-of-state residents from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would not be permitted in their home state does not apply to Rhode Island.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly said that Rhode Island does not specifically ban gay marriage.
[...]
"No evidence was introduced before this court of a constitutional amendment, statute, or controlling appellate decision from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage," he ruled.

And it looks like the ruling won't be appealed:

Attorney General Thomas Reilly said he would not appeal. Reilly, a Democrat, is running for governor.

And once a couple from Rhode Island has married, they can file federal taxes as married. After that, their filing would be rejected because of the DOMA, and they could sue the federal government because the Constitution states that whatever "contract" is recognized by one state, has to be recognized by all others.

And marriage is a contract.

Let's just hope Bush doesn't get a chance to appoint another right wingnut to the Supreme Court before such a challenge reaches it.

Dark Sky Parks

Someday I'd like to go to the Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania where apparently there's the best view of the Milky Way on the East Coast:

You can't, of course, but here at Cherry Springs State Park, you can get a better view of the heavens than probably any other place on the East Coast.
[...]
Pennsylvania's state park system designated Cherry Springs as a "dark sky" park, one of a small but growing number of parks around the country dedicated to preserving the night sky and offering stargazers a place to view the heavens with as little interference from man-made light pollution as possible.

At 50 miles northwest of Williamsport, the nearest city of any size, the Potter County park fits the bill. No streetlights illuminate the road. Visitors wrap flashlights in red plastic wrap to prevent blinding themselves and others. Drivers must turn off their headlights before turning into the viewing area. Most stargazers bring telescopes, and many are willing to let other visitors take a look if they don't have their own.

The good news is that parks like this are starting to sprout all over the country and the movement to reduce light pollution of the night skies is gaining ground:

To the Dark-Sky Association, light pollution is not just a problem for astronomers. Unnecessary light wastes energy and can interfere with wildlife, and "when you're not shining a bright light in your neighbor's window, you can basically sleep better," Gent said.
[...]
"What we're finding is, more and more communities are taking action with zoning standards. States are debating this," Gent said.
[...]
While no national park is currently designated a dark sky park, certification plans through the International Dark-Sky Association are in the works, he said.

I'd love to take the kids to see the Milky Way when they're a little older, so that they can understand what they're looking at and the beauty of it all.

I first saw the Milky Way during a vacation in Umbria, Italy, in 2003 with Ray. The view was breathtaking. It was a vision to behold. It's so sad that people nowadays can't see the stars anymore because of all the light that brightens the sky at night.

Where we live now, a couple times, I've actually been able to spot the Milky Way (once pretty well), but it has to be a particularly clear night sky, and that's rare.

I sure was spellbound when I saw it though.

Having fun and helping science

The new Playstation will analyze proteins' structure to advance the research for a cure for several illnesses whenever it's idle from playing games:

Sony worked with Stanford University's Folding@home project to harness the PS3's technology to help study how proteins are formed in the human body and how they sometimes form incorrectly.

Improperly formed proteins are linked to a number of diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gherig's disease, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad-cow disease.
[...]
Proteins start out in the body as long strings of amino acids and have to assemble themselves into complex shapes -- a process scientists call folding -- before they can do anything. The challenge for scientists is that folding is difficult to observe because proteins are so small and the process is so fast -- about 10 one-millionths of a second.

Scientists are using computer simulations instead, but that has its own limitations. It takes about a day for a computer to simulate a nanosecond (one-billionth of a second) so it would take about 30 years for that computer to complete one simulation.

Folding@home uses a network of about 200,000 personal computers to simulate how proteins assemble themselves. Dividing the complicated calculations into smaller packets enables the computers to do jobs that would strain the most powerful supercomputers.
[...]
"It turns two years into one month, and that's a huge thing for us," he said. "It's more than us just being impatient, there are calculations that we don't run right now because any calculation that would take more than two or three years, we don't even start it."

I like it when we can put everyday machines we use for entertainment to good use when they're not in use.

Tax polluters

Marching on in his fight to ward off global warming, Gore made this proposal, unlikely to ever be taken seriously by any American politician who hopes to receive a financial contribution from a company doing business in America:

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Monday suggested taxing carbon dioxide emissions instead of employees' pay in a bid to stem global warming.

"Penalizing pollution instead of penalizing employment will work to reduce that pollution," Gore said in a speech at New York University School of Law.

The pollution tax would replace all payroll taxes, including those for Social Security and unemployment compensation, Gore said. He said the overall level of taxation, would remain the same.

"Instead of discouraging businesses from hiring more employees it would discourage business from producing more pollution," Gore said.

He sure has guts. Will he ever run for President again?

A Quote By:

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who raised a rainbow flag given to him by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom over Taipei's City Hall on Sunday :

"Tolerance is a necessary virtue for any world-class city. Homosexuality is a natural phenomenon that cannot be suppressed away nor spread beyond its natural bounds. Gay rights are a part of human rights. We want Taipei to be a multifaceted city filled with love, peace and tolerance."

Uruguay stands up for gay's rights 2

This actually happened a while back, but I didn't know about it and I just found out.

Apparently, Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, is one of only five cities in the world to have a monument dedicated to gays and lesbians killed by the Nazis during WWII.

From CBSNews.com:

Uruguay has unveiled what gay activists say is the first monument in Latin America honoring sexual diversity.

The rose-colored block of granite shaped in the form of a triangle went up this week in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo.

Set atop a concrete column, the monument is inscribed with the words: "Honoring Diversity is Honoring Life."
[...]
"From our little country we are telling the world that sexual diversity is something very positive," said Fernando Fontan, the head of a local gay rights group.

More from Americas.org:

Uruguay - Montevideo became the first city in Latin America and the fifth in the world to commemorate the homosexual victims of Nazism and to acknowledge the right of sexual diversity with a special monument and plaza.

"Honoring diversity is honoring life. Montevideo for the respect of all genders, sexual identities and orientations," reads a triangular granite monument in the heart of the Old City, 200 meters (656 feet) from the first Catholic church erected by Spanish Conquistadors in 1726.
[...]
The monument's shape and material were selected for precise reasons. In the concentration camps in World War II, the Nazis forced gay males to wear a pink triangular badge, while lesbians and prostitutes were forced to wear a black triangle. "The black and pink streaked granite combines both symbols," explained communal legislator Gabriel Weiss.

This is something very important. The Holocaust represents one of the most horrible tragedies ever happened to humanity and we should honor and remember all the peoples that were persecuted by the Nazi regime.

By the way, the other cities were you can find monuments honoring diversity are Amsterdam and Berlin in Europe, and New York and San Francisco in the United States.

Uruguay stands up for gay's rights

Uruguay is on its way to become the next country to allow same-sex civil unions. The law has already cleared the Senate and its passage in the lower house of Parliament is almost certain:

URUGUAY'S Congress will pass a law to legalise gay and heterosexual civil unions, granting those couples the same rights as married ones, a ruling party Senator said today.

The Senate already passed the Bill, and Senator Margarita Percovich told Reuters the lower house is expected to approve it easily given the governing leftist coalition's majority.

The legislation will allow gay and straight couples to form civil unions after living together for at least five years.
[...]
"If there is recognition (of the partnership), it's as though it were a marriage," she said.

The law would ensure inheritance rights for couples in civil unions and offer other advantages such as shared parental rights and pension benefits. [...]
The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires legalised same-sex unions in 2002, in a move hailed as a first in Latin America.

Great news. Uruguay could become a beacon of hope for gays and lesbians in South America, and its example might be followed by other countries in the future.