CHUCK IN A BOX

When certain household members with the last name McAllister process a Change of Address at the Post Office and they (Post Office) apparently ‘ass-u-me’ that this means anyone with the last name McAllister is moving and mail and packages don’t get delivered to where they should!  I want my two eBay packages NAO PLOX!

I guess it’s a good thing I checked on the delivery status of something that was supposed to be delivered on Monday and that Keith noticed his name was crossed out on the Pottery Barn catalog and pondered at not receiving any mail recently addressed to him….no telling how long this woulda gone on.

Way to Go!  USPS, I applaud you and you inability to read/process things correctly…..and you want what kind of rate increase next for your outstanding customer service?

You’re only useful, fun, nice or worth something if you’re doing something for someone.  The minute you criticize (even if it is constructive) or don’t do something they want ya to….you’re persona non grata.  I’d like to think that I don’t subscribe to that philosophy but ya never know.  I find it extremely interesting that people close to me seem to be like that.  I guess it’s just time to play the same game.

I still don’t get that people think separate but equal is okay.  Saw a story on the local news that ‘Same-Sex Parters are to get Federal Benefits‘ but in reading the story, you see that they still do not get the same benefits that their heterosexual co-workers, colleagues, etc. get.  Why is that?  Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a WONDERFUL step forward for LGBT Rights but, what would/could be the logic behind:

the partners would still not have access to primary health insurance or to pensions.

Soooo after you bust your ass for them for 30 plus years, make it to retirement, enjoy that for a while and pass on, your surviving spouse – That’s right…SPOUSE – is not eligible to benefit from your pension.  Fine then take away that benefit for married, heterosexual Federal employees if it is not such a big deal.  Betcha that ain’t gonna happen.

I do agree with the Obama administration in that the LGBT community needs to chill the f%^$ out a little bit and give the man a chance to do what he can.  We’re sounding no better than those pesky neo-cons who are giving him a raft of shit for not being able to fix in 6 months what Dubya screwed up in 8 YEARS.

Oh yeah and the “poll” on the WTVR site saying 60% thing same-sex benefits for federal employees is a bad idea and only 30% think it is okay…why am I not surprised?  I DO live in the state Commonwealth of Bubbas.

Or….Adventures in House/Pet Sitting.

So I’m house sitting for my best friend Ben and his husband Tim while they are in Phoenix visiting Tim’s parents, not a bad gig at all.  The house is great, tons of movies, the dogs are easy, takes less time to get to work than driving from P’Burg, etc. but, this morning the house alarm starts beeping at 3:30. 

Now, maybe … just maybe, watching the extended uncut version of  The Strangers was not my best idea last night.  When the beeping starts all I can think is “OMG WTF do I do now there might be someone in the house!”   I cannot explain just how weird it felt to have the fight or flight thing kick in and the adrenaline rush.  Let’s quietly open the bedroom door and see if we hear anything downstairs in the totally dark 3000+ sq. foot house.  Out onto the landing I creep and turn on the foyer light still listening – what if they are in the shadows?  I summon my inner ‘butch’ and yell out “Hey, is someone down there?!” (Yes, like the criminale’s are gonna answer me?)  No answer.  I start realizing that if the alarm had actually been set off, surly the alarm company would have called by now asking if everything was okay, right?  Next I decide I shall pull a Montgomery Burns and order Smithers to ‘Release the Hounds!’ (Said hounds being a teacup Chihuahua and 2 small Cockapoos).  They don’t exactly go charging downstairs either….nice.

NOT what I wanted to see.

I decided to butch it up even more and try to find something to bash possible intruders with – now Ben and Tim have lots of nice things, a collection of ruby glass, various pottery pieces (yeah I’ll throw a piece of Roseville pottery…NOT), and other decorative objet d’art but nothing really usable as a weapon.  I finally settle on a metal finial/obelisk that I could use as a club…I guess and start downstairs with telephone, alarm fob (panic button FTW!), dogs (even remembered that I had to carry Lucy – the Chihuahua – downstairs).  Wow if a burglar had been there, imagine the site…..white guy in t-shirt and sweat shorts with pockets bulging from stuff; a chihuahua in one hand and an artful club in the other – I could disable the intruder with fits of laughter maybe?

Walking around turning on EVERY single light in the house and checking all doors and such didn’t take much time and I started to calm down.  Maybe it was a power surge/outage – nope, the clocks on the stove, microwave, dishwasher, etc. were not doing that flashy thing.  I did, however, draw the line at creeping around outside to see if anyone was out there but, surely a brightly lit house would deter them if they were still lurking.  Certainly the alarm company would have called if someone had set off the motion detectors or one of the window/door sensors.

Now I was wide awake sooooooooo let’s get the girls breakfast and make coffee … since we’re already up (I doubt I can convey the sarcasm strongly enough).  I guess this means that I will get an early start to head to the ‘burg to visit with Keith, my pups, and my bed today.  Tomorrow, he’s going to come up to Richmond and spend the day with me here. 

So yeah, that’s my day so far and it’s only *looks at clock* 5:41 AM now.  YAY the coffee is ready!

Wow - I look kinda blue in this....

Well, really only my right eye and I’m getting DAMNED tired of it.  Somehow I’ve managed pick up an eye infection that I’ve had since .. oh about this time last year .. called Blepharitis and it’s not fun.  I went to Doc in a Box (aka Patient First) before my trip to Halifax last year and got an antibiotic goo (not the technical term for it) to put in my eye.  That in itself was a pain in the arse and seemed to clear it up.

Several weeks ago I went back to Patient First for the same problem – only this time it was on the inside of my eye as opposed to the outer eye and I got a bit stronger antibiotic in the form of eye drops.  Now, this is mostly my own fault but I did not administer said eye drops as prescribed by the doctor and then a few days into the treatment, Keith and I came home to find that Ollie had managed to get a hold of the bottle and ate/chewed it up.  To date, Ollie has not had any problems other than his normal weirdness due to ingesting antibiotic eye drops.

NOW – I have it again and well, I guess I’ll be going back to the doctor again.  I think it feels worse than it looks….I would say the feeling is akin to having a really potent shampoo in the eye burn and not being able to do anything about it.  It’s also fun when it “weeps” – yeah it waters and then gets all crusty….sounds pretty huh?  Dontcha wish yer girlfriend was hot like me? Dontcha?

Looks like the causes of this are either scalp dandruff (hey I wash my hair every day dammit), acne rosacea, or a bacterial (Staph) infection.  I don’t have acne rosacea (that I know of) so I guess it could only be one of the other two – gah and I’m sorta anal about my personal hygeine – what with being a ‘mo and everything so this is totally bumming me out – well, that and feeling like everyone is staring at my Quasimodo eye.

Dunno her position on Prop 8, just happened to find this and thought it was funny.

Like some tired old Klansman of days gone by, Prop 8 supporters were trying to hide their faces behind the white sheets/hoods of anonymity.  But a Federal judge has denied Prop 8 supporters request to withhold disclosure of the names and address of Prop 8 supporters (you know the ones who wanted to ban same-sex marriage in CA) – as noted in the LA Times.  If they are so proud of their cause/support, why would they be ashamed of their support of said support being made public.  

I, personally, prefer to know who the bigots are – yes, I understand that people are entitled to their opinions but, IMHO voting to TAKE AWAY rights of others makes you a bigot….YES so, I really like this handy database I found that lets me see who donated what and who they work for.  Wow, imagine my surprise when I found people in Virginia that work for huge companies that have impressive diversity policies that donated to take away rights of their fellow citizens.  Even a few people in Richmond donated to Yes on 8 – luckily, the majority of the donors (local) donated to fight against the proposition.

This is Pepsico’s latest slogan and I think the company is doing a great job putting its money where its mouth is.  Pepsi donated $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and also gave $500,000 to Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).  

Needless to say this has already ruffled the feathers of various ‘Pro-Family’/'Pro-American’ groups like the AFA into one of their many temper tantrum ‘we must boycott this company until they bend to our will’ campaigns – NOT like that’s anything new for them (see my Hypocrites are Hilarious post).  I got an alert from this first from Christwire which linked to something called The Truth Manifesto – it’s funny these people are neither ‘Christlike’ or ‘Truthful’ but they have actually set up an official ‘Boycott Pepsico‘ website.  Give me a break – Pepsi donates to many, many organizations and causes; these folks need to get their collective panties out of a wad and grow up.

I would urge everyone to counter the negative effects of the AFA boycott by SUPPORTING Pepsico if you agree with their national program designed for workplace environments.  From a letter from Paul Boykas, Director, Public Policy at Pepsico to Donald  E. Wildmon, American Family Association

The initiative seeks to promote further understanding and equality in the places where people spend much of their time at work.

Among the values promoted by the PepsiCo Foundation is ensuring a work environment that is respectful and where associates are valued for their contributions.  I hope this helps  clarify this grant by the PepsiCo Foundation.

So go out and buy lots of Pepsico Brand Products and make sure to contact Pepsico to tell them that you appreciate Pepsi’s commitment to being ‘Something for Everyone‘.

So what’s good for the goose is apparently not always good for the gander.  There is a story in today’s Las Vegas Sun that refers to a Vegas version of the now famous Anti-Gay Blacklist over donors to the Prop 8 issue in California.  The part of the article that jumped out to me was this little section:

“I think it’s too bad, isn’t it? They’re accusing us of a hate crime and they are being hateful. I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman,” she said. “I am a very loving, kind person.”

Her counter argument neatly sums up the response a number of people on the list had: Blacklisting someone for being intolerant is intolerant in and of itself. Take Richard Ziser, chairman of Nevada Concerned Citizens, an advocacy group very vocal in its stance against gay marriage.

“This shows how intolerant the gay community is when they don’t get their way,” Ziser said

So couple this with some of the information that I’ve found in the conversations with folks at Beetle Blogger over a boycott/letter writing campaign of Campbell’s Soup proposed by the American Family Association for advertising in The Advocate makes it very, VERY clear to me that a good number of these people are hypocrites – yes, yes, I know that shouldn’t be a shocker at this point but lets take a look at some of the boycotts against companies because of their support for the LGBT community shall we?

• 1996 American Family Association launched a boycott against Walt Disney Company when the company began giving benefits to same-sex employees in domestic partnerships because Michael Eisner “was involved in a media group that actively promoted the homosexual agenda” and was pushing the “gay agenda”
• 2004 American Family Association and Focus on the Family propose boycott of Proctor & Gamble because ‘Proctor & Gamble…has publicly thrown their support and money behind the homosexual political agenda’ and the group also claimed the company was showing its ‘support for homosexual marriage’
• 2005 AFA boycotted the company American Girl, seller of dolls and accessories, because the company supported the charity Girls, Inc. which the AFA called a “pro-abortion, pro-lesbian advocacy group”
• 2005 AFA launched boycott of Ford for advertising in gay magazines, donating to gay-rights organizations, and sponsoring gay pride celebrations.
• 2005 Focus on the Family boycotts Wells Fargo because of the banks ‘ongoing efforts to advance the radical homosexual agenda’ because of a contribution Wells Fargo made to GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
• 2006 AFA calls for protest/boycott of Kraft Foods for their support of the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago, IL.
• 2006 AFA urged members to condemn Sears for running commercials on LOGO an LGBT cable channel.
• 2007 Walmart decided to curb its support of LGBT organizations after conservative Christian groups threatened a boycott
• 2007 AFA spoke out against IKEA for featuring homosexual families in their television ads.
• 2008 American Family Association ended the half-year boycott against McDonald’s after the company agreed to ‘remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage.  In May the AFA launched a website against McDonald’s for its support of the LGBT community – this because of their involvement in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
• 2008 AFA announced their boycott of Hallmark Cards for their decision to start selling same-sex wedding cards.
• 2008 AFA protested Heinz television advertisement (shown ONLY in the United Kingdom), which showed two men kissing.
• 2008 AFA wants members to protest Campbell’s Soup for advertising in The Advocate magazine – which they consider “helping homosexual activists push their agenda. Not only did the ads cost Campbell’s a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support. They also gave their approval to the entire homosexual agend.”
• 2008 AFA wants members to protest PepsiCo for their $500,000 donation to PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) for again, as they call it “pushing the homosexual agenda in the workplace.”

So, let me get this straight, it is perfectly okay for them to boycott companies, organizations, etc. for their support of LGBT causes, events, or organizations but, when the shoe is on the other foot we are being “hateful” and “intolerant” – is that the general gist of it?  Well boo-frickin’-hoo I strongly suggest they build a bridge…and get over it.  I keep getting the impression that we (gays and lesbians) are just supposed to ‘sit down, shut up, and take what we get’ – Yes suh, massa Eyes sho glad you ’round to tell me what mah rights are. No suh, massa I’s not back talkin’ ya.  I mean these people probably think Rosa Parks was hateful and intolerant to that white man for refusing to give up her seat to him simply because that was the way things were.  Doesn’t mean they were right and doesn’t mean they did not need to change.

I think to counter the negative effects of some of these boycotts or protests that the LGBT community needs to come out equally, if not more-so, as strong in support of those companies that support us and stand up to the bullies and the conservative Christians (yes, that in itself is laughable) who would seek to keep us in the ‘back of the bus’.  Write those letters, make those calls, and buy those products to support them.  Let’s face it, if the LGBT community makes up about 10% of the population and AFA – just based on the circulation of their monthly newsletter – only has 180,000 – heck, lets assume that half of them do not subscribe to the journal and say 360,000 – then you tell me – Who has more clout and buying power?

I would absolutely LOVE to see a Blacklist for every state or major city to tell you the truth – I prefer bigots to be bigots to my face but, they lack the courage of their convictions in most cases – similar to the KKK and their hoods….you know…too ashamed to show their faces in public.  Anyway a local blacklist would allow me to put my money where my mouth is – just like these groups do only they don’t see it as “hateful” or “intolerant” at all.  They wrap themselves in the blanket of ‘we’re doing it for the children’ – which sounds remarkably like the slogan that has-been Anita Bryant and her Florida campaign from the 70′s.

Don’t get me wrong – I totally believe these people are entitled to their own opinions and thoughts (no matter how misguided they are) otherwise I would be just as guilty of trying to exclude people as they are.  What I do not believe is they have the right to push THEIR beliefs on others or promote hatred any more than some white supremacist or anti-Semitic group does – which is EXACTLY how I equate them.

So yeah, I totally agree with this.  Let’s put THIS to a vote and see how well it goes.  I mean putting a law in place to prohibit divorce would go A LOT further to protecting marriage than denying it to same sex couples.  I mean hey! It’s in the Bible – ‘What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder’ – right?  Didn’t they stone people for getting divorced in those days too – but then again, isn’t that contradictory to the whole…’Thou Shalt Not Kill’ commandment?  Oh well, let’s just settle for making heterosexual divorce illegal.

…like ripping apart about 18,000 legally married couples, now does it?  It’s not enough that Prop 8 put people’s (read as United States Citizens) rights up for popular vote – which should NEVER be the case but, now they want to nullify the 18K marriages that were performed while same-sex marriage was legal in CA.  I never thought about it until Keith mentioned something to me about it but, human CIVIL and EQUAL rights should never be put to majority vote.  I mean would Nazi era Germans have voted to give Jews equal rights?  How about antebellum Southerners voting to give African slaves equal rights?  Hell up until the mid to late 60′s most Southerns would not have voted to give interracial couples the right to marry.  I think it was Gandhi who said that quality of democracy should be judged from the way minorities are treated.  Then again, he’s also responsible for one of my FAVORITE quotes, “I like your Christ.  I do not like your Christians, for they are so unlike your Christ.”

And all this hoopla from Warren about ‘for 5000 years, marriage has always been between 1 man and 1 woman’ – I’m sorry….what planet is he from or does he just not know ANYTHING about history or his very own Bible?  Just look at Abraham, he slept with his servant when he found out that his beloved wife Sarah was not capable of bearing children. Or how about Jacob, who fathered children with four different women (two sisters and their servants)? Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon as well as the kings of Judah and Israel—all these were polygamists – so it really is hard to swallow that marriage has ALWAYS been 1 man, 1 woman….don’tcha think?

Even Jesus was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments—especially family. His apostle Paul, who was also single, saw marriage as an act of last resort for those unable to control their animal lust. “It is better to marry than to burn with passion,” says Paul, which has to be one of, if not THE, most lukewarm endorsements of marriage ever uttered.

So, while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. And second, as the examples above illustrate, no intelligent, modern person wants marriage, theirs or anyone’s, to look anything like what the Bible describes.