The Simpson's Movie-MMMMMM-Simpsons

Here is a picture of my television showing the "Pie Man" episode. I somehow caught the show just as the Dalai Lama finished speaking and right before the Pie Man (aka Homer J) socks him with a big tasty pie. TV.com gets the link for episode information, yahoo gets the title link for the movie. Why does FOX have to own the rights?

Opens tomorrow.

Please post all comments on my life of nerdiness below. I can take it.

AIDS activists dissed at N.C. State, Homophobic comments fuel campus debate over tolerance

Posting Notes:

At the beginning of this month, I had the opportunity to work with the Youth Action Institute, a training for youth that are leading and advocating in the HIV Community. What an inspiring group of individuals they were! During my attendance at the conference, I seen many of the aspects of intolerance and flat out disgusting misunderstandings of HIV & AIDS that is mentioned in the article I have reposted below. Though I believe that many times, intolerance can be a two-way street, not one time did I see any participant take such an intolerant role with members of the NC State student body. I feel the article captured the situation well, and wanted to share it with our readers.

Article Repost:

Printed from the Independent Weekly website: www.indyweek.com

POSTED ON JULY 25, 2007:

AIDS activists dissed at N.C. State

Homophobic comments fuel campus debate over tolerance

By Mike Alberti

Twenty young people from around the nation gathered on the N.C. State University campus earlier this month for the Campaign to End AIDS Youth Action Institute.

They came to learn the ins and outs of AIDS advocacy, but in addition to lessons in attracting media attention and lobbying politicians, some NCSU students gave them an education in intolerance.

Institute participant Brett Calka was sitting outside the dorm where his group was staying for the week, smoking a cigarette with a friend and minding his own business on the third day of the conference.

"We began to hear someone yelling from another building in front of us," said Calka, a 23-year-old from Chicago. "At first, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but then I heard the words 'faggot' and 'sissy.'" Calka could not identify who was yelling because the blinds were drawn over the windows.

Some of the participants, ages 13-26, are openly gay. Others are not, but believe the abuse stemmed from an ongoing stigma that AIDS is just a "gay disease."

NCSU was chosen to host the third annual youth conference because the South has a rapidly growing number of new HIV infections and a general lack of support organizations, says organizer Charles Long.

Quintana Lane, a 20-year-old from Miami who has been infected with HIV since birth, ran into resistance trying to explain the group's presence and educate two students with whom she had a negative encounter.

"I wanted to let them know why we were there," said Lane. "After I told them, they said they didn't want us bringing HIV and AIDS into their community. Then one of them said, 'And I don't like gay people, either.'"

Lane told the young men that for at least 10 years, the infection rate has been dropping among gay men while rising among African Americans and Hispanics. Lane says as a colleague hailed her to rejoin the group, the men said, "I guess you have to go. Your faggot is calling you."

"I think they saw the AIDS posters we had up and just associated it with homosexuality," says Lane. "It shows how much work needs to be done."

Long said that he was not surprised to encounter homophobia while working on HIV/AIDS related issues.

"However, it was surprising to encounter so much of it on a college campus," Long says. "People are there to expand their minds, and you'd tend to believe that when they don't know about something they'd want to learn about it instead of just dealing with it in an ignorant way."

The participants say hateful remarks were directed at them in the dining hall and the gym as well as in the dorm.

"Almost everywhere we went, we were made to feel uncomfortable," said Calka. "I have never experienced so many people being so negative. It was shocking to see homophobia to that extent, especially from people who go to school and are educated enough to know that being gay is not a disease."

The incidents around the July 4-8 conference reflect N.C. State's struggle to establish a culture of tolerance regarding LGBT issues. The school recently ranked 17th in the Princeton Review in the category of "Alternative Lifestyles Not An Alternative." And although Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill both have campus LGBT centers, NCSU has been slow to establish one. Advocates working to do so last year confronted strong and hateful reactions from students and staff.

At a meeting of the LGBT subcommittee of the University Diversity Advisory Committee last year, the need for a center was identified, and a proposal was drafted for submission to the student and faculty senates, as well as campus officials.

The center would serve as both a haven for the LGBT community and an organizational headquarters for programming and events to educate the campus at large about LGBT issues.

The proposal was unanimously approved by the faculty senate, but the student senate was not as easily persuaded, though the plan was eventually approved over the objections of 14 dissenters. After a story about the vote ran in NCSU's newspaper, The Technician, there was such an outrage among the student body that the student senate held a town hall meeting to discuss the issue.

"The meeting was one of the most hateful events I've ever been to," says Celeste Richie, assistant director of diversity for the College of Natural Resources. "There were a lot of students there from the LGBT community, and other students were saying such hateful things. Some people quoted from the Bible. Some had prepared statements about why they were ashamed of the university."

Some of the dissenting students were so adamant that they started a Facebook group, "Students Against NCSU LGBT Center," which has more than 1,000 members. (An opposing Facebook group, "Students For NCSU LGBT Center," has 568 members.)

Members posted opinions online, and a heated debate continued throughout the school year. Much of the disagreement was about the center's funding, which could be taken in part from student fees.

Sophomore Justin Stewart posted: "I think I speak for a lot of people when I say it's pretty disgusting and sad that N.C. State wants to take money out of my pocket to fund something that I strongly oppose and am against both biblically and morally. If such a thing does happen, I'll be bound for another school that will not do such a thing. I mean, I haven't seen a straight center."

Other students also cited religious reasons. Junior Ishma Pinckney wrote: "We as Christians have a obligation to be soldiers for Christ and fight against anything ungodly.... If we stand by and say nothing just to get along instead of being evangelists for Christ our faith will be the same as all sinners not just the LGBT."

Some students didn't have a concrete reason. Sophomore Eric Dobbins wrote: "I think the real purpose of this fag house is to pass out anal lube. I'm mad that N.C. State was the 17th most unappealing to homos, I believe we should strive to be first."

In spite of this reaction, Vice Provost for Diversity and African-American Affairs Jose Picart says that the majority supports diversity.

"There are a lot of people, for religious and other reasons, who have negative feelings, but that is not the norm on our campus," Picart says.

Deb Luckadoo, activities director for Talley Student Center, where the LGBT center would be located, believes that the homophobia on campus mirrors a conservative society.

"This is the South," says Luckadoo. "This is the heart of Southern Baptist country. It's hard for students to disengage from their backgrounds. That's exactly why we need an LGBT center here. We need to change the overall climate of our university."

Vice Chancellor Tom Stafford agrees. "The center is very much needed," he says. "It's something I've personally been working on for 20 years." Stafford says that, although the center has been approved by the senate and the provost, funding has not been decided.

Although key members of the administration support the center and LGBT issues in general, Richie is still dissatisfied with the university's response to the blatant discrimination that surfaced during the debate.

"You can't just want to support a group," she says. "You have to take action. It's great that we're getting support from the university, but I'm still waiting to see results. We still don't have a center. NCSU is still a hateful climate for queer and transgender people."

Richie says the problem lies in the fact that many of the people who are making the decisions have never experienced the discrimination that LGBT students face at NCSU. Jeremy Hall, executive coordinator of Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Allies, says he regularly experiences homophobia.

"There's apathy everywhere at N.C. State," says Hall. "You walk around and you hear the traditional 'that's gay' or people calling other people fags. I feel much safer walking around downtown Raleigh than I do on campus."

For the Youth Action Institute participants, the conference brought lessons that were unexpected, but useful.

"It didn't detract from the Institute because it fueled a conversation," said Long. "It gave them more courage to go back into their communities and do something proactive."

More Alberto Links

Sorry for the cut and past post, but I am not a jounalist, nor do I want to pretend to be one, they have the gumption to put in diligent research and writing. I am more of a watch, listen, or read + process or react + cut and paste.


USA today = He can't even say how or who put the names of the attorneys that were fired together.


Angry Senators Question Gonzales's honesty by Lara Jakes Jordan Detroit Free Press

Daschle says Gonzales is trying to rewrite History. TPMMuckraker.com

Revelations Contradictions in Gonzales testimony. By Ari Shapiro--NPR

Ok, no more Alberto rants today, maybe next week though!

Alberto Gonzales: No Constitutional Right of Habeas Corpus

Ok, I am just posting this video so you all can go back and look at the other ones posted on you tube. For me it seems clear that Alberto Gonzales has no credibility as Attorney General. He was blasted yesterday by Dems. and Reps. from the Senate. In this one he is saying that not everyone has a right to habeas corpus. This is getting ridiculous and I am sure it is only going to get worse. He tries to reframe every question and does not really give straight forward answers. I do not even know where to begin with this travesty and no one really seems to care either, except the senate and the people I heard in the background during every intermission screaming "resign" and "this country is run by liars". If anyone had clips of that exchange it would get at least 10,000 hits on you tube (c) because it was hillarious.

New Website Offers Information about Health Care and the Presidential Campaign

FYI, just thought I would share:
With health care emerging as the top domestic issue in the 2008 presidential election, the Kaiser Family Foundation has launched a new website -
http://health08.org/
- that will provide analysis of health policy issues, regular public opinion surveys, and news and video coverage from the campaign trail.

Russ Feingold threatens Censure Papers this week.

Russ Feingold D- Wisc. said on Meet the Press Today with Tim Russert, that Democrats will be filing censure papers again on the current administration. It will cover two major points:

1.) The War in Iraq
2.) Lack of Adherence to the constitution

I searched for video, but obviously it was too soon.

This Iraq War...Its like no argument matters now because we are already there. No, Its too late to turn around. We risk more Iraqi casualties and could leave the country worse than before we invaded. The Administration did a great job in beating the drum for war, knowing that once we were in, getting out would be in the hands of others and not on them. Must be nice.

Well That was nice of them.

Usually, people give slack to France for not supporting us going into the Iraq War and our big drum up to the never ending and very difficult to define "War on Terror". However, it seems some old school Frenchmen remember the strong ties we had to France during WWII. 2500 citizens of France met on Omaha Beach in Normandy and inscribed these words in the sand:

"FRANCE WILL NEVER FORGET"

Commemorating the liberation of France by the Americans during WWII.

I thought that was a pretty cool find. You can click on the title link from the French Consulate in Atlanta, but I pretty much told the story.

Cheney's in Charge!! Go Nuts America

Vice President Dick Cheney will become "The Decider" this weekend, as Mister President has an invasive scoping procedure performed. The question is, who can have more fun?


"when the boss is away..."


Michael Duffy Time Article: "The Cheney Branch of Government"
"Cheney's dustup with the normally non-controversial National Archives and Records Administration is the latest reminder that Cheney believes he can play by his own rules. And it probably secures for Cheney a place alongside Richard Nixon in the Washington pantheon of secret-keepers."

Pagans displeased with painting of donut-wielding Homer Simpson

"Where was he planning on putting that donut anyways?" The main article is from Boing Boing. com. Hillarious article and picture.

read more | digg story

Al Jazeera English-- A clip from the "Americas" section.

I traveled to this site today on a link from this site Shimmy's Blog and found a link to Al Jazeera English. I immediately clicked on the "Americas" section to see what they had to report.

The Senate voted 87-1 to increase the bounty on Osama Bin Laden. They want any information leading to his death or capture and are offering 50 Million Dollars. I am just passing the information on to any Americans not in the military looking for sub contracting situations. Some military training preferred.

The article also mentions how in 2001 our president wanted to find Osama and bring him to justice and then in 2003 he was not that concerned.

My Digg this week--[National Update]-Kucinich angrily reacts to Clinton-Edwards exchange on limiting debate

“Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not,” Kucinich said in a statement released by his campaign.

A Digg post from an AP article by Beth Fouhy is awesome. It has a great exchange with two top presidential canidates, a clip about the Republican Party of Massachesuts and a reference to Mike Moore of "Sicko" fame and "Mike Huckabee" of almost no fame.

First off

Thank you for Kucinich. I appreciate someone with enough integrity to call out Hillary and John for their comments:

Edwards:
"Edwards was heard suggesting to Clinton that they try to exclude some of their rivals from future gatherings" AP
“We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group,”
Clinton:
"Clinton agreed, saying the forums were “trivialized” with too many candidates crowding the stage." AP

Really? Excluding rivals and feeling debates are trivialized? Or limiting media time so those ideas don't get attention? Hmmm. Either way good job Dennis to stand up to those two.

Also in the article:

The Massachusetts Republican party has made some changes to its primary delegations. Helping Rudy and potentially Hurting Mitt.

Mike Huckabee is all over Micheal Moore for his Sicko movie. Blaming Moore's weight for high health care costs. The article also states that Megan O'Hare, producer of Sicko had this to say about Huckabee's comments:

"Looks like Mike Huckabee is auditioning for some insurance company dough, since he's raised just about no money and sparked zero interest since jumping into the race" (I say, oh snap)

Go see Sicko, It is a good movie. It is worth a look and always unnervingly funny.



read more | digg story

SEIU Protests outside a local Toledo bank.

SEIU Local Three was holding a protest outside of 5/3rd bank today. Their current contract expires on July 14 2007 and they are fighting for a "living wage and benefits". This will cover over 600 janitors in the Toledo area.

Call 419-243-0447 for more info. That was the number on the brochure they gave me.

I happened to be walking back from Beaner's and they were protesting outside of the bank. I would estimate around 100-150 people, but my crowd measurement statistics are not in tune. Either way, they were picketing, singing songs and chanting phrases. They drew some curious faces and handed out flyers.

Dana Corp- Works with Investor Group- Tries to inch out of Chapter 11

This post is a National story with a local Toledo company.

The title link goes to an article I found online from CNN Money. It discusses the steps Dana Corp. has taken to get out of Chapter 11 banruptcy. In the article it mentions the deals it is goin to ink with the UAW (Auto) and USW (steel) unions to convert its helthcare system to a VEBA account which is eplained as:

"A VEBA is a special, tax-deductible trust that can be used to provide certain benefits, such as medical reimbursement, to participants and their beneficiaries"

Included in the deal is also a four year partnership with the two unions and Centerbridge Capital Partners. Centerbridge Capital will be investing money to help with the reorganization of Dana Corp.

I do not have an opinion on the deal, I just hope that the "reorganization efforts" proceed smoothly. I also like the transition of the current healthcare system into the VEBA accounts.

National Update-- 11 Congress Members now support Impeachment of Cheney and Bush

Wildman presidential canidate Dennis Kucinich now has 11 co-sponsors who have signed his bill filing articles of impeachment on Mr. President (aka. captain commute) and Mr. VP (aka. captain "Go F*^% Yourself").

The title link goes to Jim McDermott's site for his Congressional House seat. The link has an actual transcript and a video of the speech he gave on the House Floor.

Getting verey interesting...

National Update - Wolfowitz joins AEI

The title link has an article from the people's daily (China's most influential newspaper, they say) that former World Bank leader Paul Wolfowitz will join Washington D.C. Think Tank American Enterprise Institute or AEI for short.

Xinhua is the article's source and described Wolfowitz's duties will include:

"At AEI, Wolfowitz will work on entrepreneurship and development issues, Africa, and public-private partnerships"

He was let go from his world bank position on June 30th and already has a new job! If only most Americans were so lucky the world would be a better place.