• Only for heterosexuals

    Amazing. It’s the top story on CNN right now.

    I’m not a big fan of the institution of marriage. I would rather live in a society where we think people are valuable and should be able to have healthcare or be taken care of in their old age or able to leave their estates to someone of their choosing without regard to their marriage status.

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    Bush said it is “important for society to welcome each individual,” but administration lawyers are looking for some way to legally limit marriage to heterosexuals.

    “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or another,” Bush told reporters at a White House news conference. “And we’ve got lawyers looking at the best way to do that.”

    Regarding Mr. Bush’s so-called tolerance, fuck that!

    Even as he made it clear that he did not support the idea of gay marriage, Bush appeared to issue a call for tolerance.

    “Yes, I am mindful that we’re all sinners,” the president said Wednesday when asked for his views on homosexuality. “And I caution those who may try to take the speck out of the neighbor’s eye when they’ve got a log in their own.”

    “I think it’s very important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts, to be a welcoming country,” Bush added. “On the other hand, that does not mean that somebody like me needs to compromise on an issue such as marriage.”

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  • Counter Convention

    The folks at complacent.org have set up a web site for people organizing against the evil GOP’s use of NYC and 9/11 for its own purposes: Counter Convention.

    From August 30th through September 4th, the Republicans will be invading New York City to nominate George W. Bush as their candidate for President. Never has a convention been hosted so late in the year and this is the first time a Republican Convention has been in New York City. Why host a convention in September? Why New York? By exploiting our grief and trauma from September 11th, the right wing intends to further their regressive political agenda.

    [via Ask Her]

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  • The Borders Mess

    Go read a more balanced version of the story of a Borders banning a singer for making fun of Bush’s “chicken legs”: a clever sheep: The Borders mess

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  • Ruslan Sharipov

    IMPORTANT!

    Glenn has a post about Ruslan Sharipov, an openly gay journalist and critic of the regime in Uzbekistan. He is now on trial for homesexuality.

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  • My alma mater can’t afford a journalism school

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    The administration at Texas A&M (a university with 45,000 students) is proposing to close the School of Journalism because they can’t afford it.

    Now we wouldn’t want anyone to learn to be a journalist at Texas A&M University would we? That might send the wrong message at the home of the George Bush Presidential Library — lovely web page.

    The image above is the editorial page of the student paper, The Battalion, protesting the decision.

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  • Israel’s army killing children

    My friend Anees has an article up about the recent report that Israel’s Defence Force has killed just over 400 Palestinian children in the last 3 years.

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  • In the original German

    Pacific Views: Bill Maher on Davis Recall: “Arnold can explain the administration’s social policies in the original German.”

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  • How may out cops does NYC have?

    London’s Pride parade was led off Saturday by the Metropolitan Police’s Commander Brian Paddick, the highest ranking gay officer in a major force. Behind him were 85 other LGBT officers.

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  • We’re kidnapping women in Iraq

    Via Eschaton I see there is a Washington Post article that says we are now taking hostages in Iraq as part of our “tactics”. I think the headline is a bit weak given the item about taking families of Iraqi officials hostage that’s buried deep in the article.


    U.S. Adopts Aggressive Tactics on Iraqi Fighters

    Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: “If you want your family released, turn yourself in.” Such tactics are justified, he said, because, “It’s an intelligence operation with detainees, and these people have info.” They would have been released in due course, he added later.

    The tactic worked. On Friday, Hogg said, the lieutenant general appeared at the front gate of the U.S. base and surrendered.

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  • Art + Chunkathalon

    Yesterday we went to Williamsburg to see a couple of galleries, but we spent most of the time at the Chunkathalon, organized by C.H.U.N.K 666. Don’t miss the photos from the 2002 one.

    I’ll talk about the gallery stuff first. Jack the Pelican has a group show called New Lawn that was my favorite show I’ve seen there since the opening solo show of Jesse Bercowitz. The best items in the show: the two videos by Susan Ingraham titled “Iguana” and “GOescarGO”, both with awesome costume and makeup design by the artist and soundtracks inspired by/lifted from French new-wave films.

    The other item of note is the Innerviews project by Karen Schoellkopf in the group show at Momenta.

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    Back to the Chunkathalon — an event best described as Knightriders meets that short-lived TV show “Double Rush”, plus a bit of Society for Creative Anachronism. I have to say though, that the SCA people at my university where never in this kind of shape. My full gallery of photos is here.

    James spent more time on his write-up, photos, and captions, so go check out his entry.

    Also, see Tom Moody‘s report. We finally met each other after he recognized me in the crowd. I was even wearing sunglasses at the time.

      

    The Master of Ceremonies, who started out in a wrestling mask, was dressed very glam. I have one more (adult) story about something I overheard a young man named Zach tell his friends. Those who don’t wish to read it should stop reading NOW.

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    Zach seemed to be from the West Coast group of bikers — Portland/Seattle. He was telling a story about the competition between the bike messengers and the car drivers at one of the companies where he worked, which would occasionally evolve into actual brawls. One of the “humiliations” of a car messenger he bragged about was teabagging someone, plus some “serious cock and mouth action”.

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