A beautiful day

I usually am depressed around this time of year because winter is apon us. Today was a different story. It was quite mild out today and beautiful. I had to do the various errands of life, but I took pause to note how really nice the day was. I must try to look for more good days in the dark ones ahead. Usually I just want to sleep and eat all winter. If I could only get myself moving a little earlier in the day I would probably benefit from the limited sunshine that occurs this time of year. I wish I wasn’t such a nite owl. Oh well, enjoy your lives, but make sure you find some joy each and every day!

Here we go again

Senate panel OKs gay marriage ban
Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network
Thursday, November 10, 2005 / 04:53 PM
SUMMARY: A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage was approved by a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday.

A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is expected to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week and a likely vote in the Senate next year after a Senate panel approved it Wednesday.

The Marriage Protection Amendment reads: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.”

The amendment would also rescind the Massachusetts precedent that made same-sex marriage legal in that state.

“None of us takes amending the Constitution lightly,” said Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution. “The plain fact is this amendment has been exhaustively studied and it really is time to act,” he told the Associated Press (AP).

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., called the measure “an extreme and unnecessary reaction” that has little chance of passing. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said those behind the amendment have a political agenda.

Brownback, who is considering a presidential bid, insisted politics had nothing to do with the bill.

But Brad Luna, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said, “Basically what we saw yesterday was another version of cynical politics, when you see the poll numbers go down and Capitol Hill goes into disarray.”

“That’s when the radical right wing reaches into their playbook to write discrimination into the Constitution and threaten the security of millions of American families,” Luna said.

“The Constitution exists to protect rights, not undermine them,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Washington Legislative Office.

“Congress rightly rejected this measure last year and must reject it again,” Fredrickson said, referring to the Federal Marriage Amendment, which failed to get enough Senate votes in July.

Eric Stern, the executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, told the PlanetOut Network his organization was “extremely disappointed” with the panel’s decision. While praising all the Democrats on the committee who voted against the proposed amendment, Stern directed his strongest criticism against Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

Specter, who cast the deciding 5-4 vote, claimed he opposes the amendment but felt it should not “be bottled up” in committee.

Stern called Specter’s decision “hypocritical” and compared it to actions of other “supposedly pro-gay Republicans” such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage.

In order to become law the Marriage Protection Amendment would need to be approved by two-thirds of those voting in the House and Senate and then be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures.

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Support our Troops?

I am so sick of the president and other republicans saying that if you are against the war in Iraq then you don’t support our troops and are a traitor. It is the craziest spin I think to have ever come down the pike! People who are against the war in Iraq care so much about our troops, we want them home with their families! I also want them to have the best of everything while they are there, with the best armor money can buy. I also want them to have excellent benefits for themselves and their families. How in God’s name is that not supporting the troops! The president and republicans have been spinning this for so long they have many people who believe them. I am incredulous. Opinion is an important thing, and to try to squash others who disagree with you I believe is truly anti-american and traitorous.

Website

I am starting to like WordPress now. I have the page the way I like it and am learning a lot. It took forever to get Flickr to validate in the sidebar. I am not totally happy with the way it looks, but it is on it’s way! Now I am trying to find out how to add selected items from amazon.com. It will take me a while to figure that out!

Prius

Toyota Prius Well today I brought my new Toyota Prius in for it’s first checkup. I brought it in at 3000 miles but after I got there they told me I could have waited till 5000. I guess I should have read my manual before I made the appointment. I really like the car now. At first it was weird being low to the ground after having driven my Ford Escape. I am now used to it and think that it is great. It handles really well and has a lot of room…and of course gets wonderful gas mileage. I have been averaging about 45 miles to the gallon. It works so well I really think that all cars sold should be hybrids. The sooner we get off our dependance on foreign oil the better I think.