California

I didn’t realize it was still 1960

yllwdaisies amnesty, California, change, comics, complaints/hating, important info, lgbt, loopholes/sneaky, marriage, my thoughts, politics, sad/scary stuff, same-sex marriage, terrorism + 9/11, the law

So, I already mentioned I’m pretty upset about stupid Prop 8 in Cali going through. I’d love to see someone put up a proposition to ban hetero marriage. No… that’d be preposterous, right?

Seriously, who’s to say that one union is legit simply b/c of the party’s pieces/parts?

“But what about the children?”

Really? So, it’s totally cool if Alex gets a sex change oppo, becomes Alexis, & marries a dude? Trust ppl, you’ll have a much harder time explaining that to your 5-yr old. & the kids don’t care. Every kid I’ve ever met totally understands, if 2 ppl love each other, they get married. They’re so idealistic, they don’t even know about the probs/conflicts a couple face.

It more acceptable to marry you cousin than for a same-sex marriage to take place. Uh…. that’s right ppl, I said marry your cousin. Seriously, though, it’s legal to marry your cousin in 26 states. There’s even a loophole in Vermont’s state government that allows DOGS to marry!

You know how we look back 100 or 200 years & say that it seems unreal that certain civil liberties didn’t exist then (like voting for some ppl)? I can’t help but be embarrassed for what our descendants are going to think of us deny civil liberties in 2008!

On June 2nd, 1958, Richard Loving & Mildred Jeter were married. 5 weeks later, they were arrested & then sentenced to a year in jail. Wanna know why? B/c interracial marriages were prohibited. Of course they appealed it. This idocity went on for 9 years before the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned it.

“… The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival … Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

– Chief Justice Earl Warren, June 12, 1967

gay-interrcl-marriage

How is Prop 8 in Cali (or 102 in Arizona, or 2 in Florida) even really an issue that we are debating today? Hello, 2008, it’s 1960 on the phone for you.

In Arkansas, an LGBT person can’t even adopt a child. I’ve counted 17 states (you can double-check it, I got a headache counting) that don’t even recognize same-sex civil unions!!!

I’m not going to go on any further. B/c I’ll just blow a gasket. (Does anyone say that anymore? No? Just me? Whatev.)

So, I’ll leave y’all w/ a comment I once left to someone else’s comment saying that why can’t “they” just be happy w/ “civil unions”. You know why?

Cause there was never a top-ten hit that went,

“♪♫♪♪ Goin to the Chapel, & we’re gonna get Civil-Unioned ♫♪♪”….

It’s still not the same thing. It would be the equivalent of telling “certain ppl” that they can ride on the same bus to the same destination, but they have to sit at the back of the bus.

You might argue: Why would they care? They still get to the same place.

B/c it’s saying that they’re different/lesser, & don’t deserve the idealism that “regular ppl” do.

The reason “regular” is in quotes is b/c I don’t believe that being straight is a “regular” trait. Maybe it’s a dominant trait (like having brown eyes, versus the recessive having blue eyes.). But that 2nd link shows that homosexuality has been around for eons, & they’ve even proven it exists naturally in animals.

Want to do something about it? Try:

PhotoFriday: Self-Portrait

yllwdaisies art/arch, beauty, California, funny, holiday, my life, PhotoFriday, travel

A friend of mine & I were IM-ing last Friday, & she mentioned that maybe I should get stilts.

And Friday’s Photo Friday challenge was Self-Portrait. That made me think of my visit to the Getty a couple years back, where I took this pic:

Funny lookin, no?

For more funny-lookin (& normal-lookin) PhotoFriday Self-Portrait submissions, go here & click on the names in the left margin.

the sunshine state?

yllwdaisies California, change, complaints/hating, my thoughts, politics, storms, travel

More like the clouded-over state.

Don’t mean to be a negative & stuff, but I’ve mentioned before how Florida gets more days of thunderstorms every year than not.

And we know the ppl there aren’t exactly the brightest in the country. They’re the only state w/ that whole hanging chad problem. Plus, they decided as state that a guy called Jeb would be their best bet as Gov. Yes, folks, they elected this guy fair & square.

And y’all prob don’t know too much about their education system, but lemme tell you, it SU-CKS. First, school starts the 1st week of August. This messes up everyone’s vaca plans, b/c that’s when most of the fam across the nation is able to get together.

Anyway, so this past Monday morn, I was getting ready for work in the morn, & I was thinking of what a pain this whole having FL around is. And I came up w/ the GREATEST IDEA EVER! Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s def up there as one of my best ideas.

You know how ppl are always talking about how CA’s gonna fall off into the Pacific? Well, ppl have mentioned it before.

So, I was thinking about how CA gets a bad rap sometimes b/c of the air-heads/ditzes in LA. But it’s really not bad. I enjoy San Fran, the food, the shopping, the strolling, the weather, the food. And LA’s fun too, you get to go there & act all pretentious & uppity. So FUN! And the Roosevelt Hotel’s fun to stay at, & the the Getty museum‘s fun to visit. So, I was thinking how I like CA & about the San Andreas Fault & everything. And that’s when I came up w/ the GREAT IDEA!

What if there was some way to get FL to fall off into the ocean instead?

No, wait… hear me out on this one.

FL sucks, remember? We just discussed a couple of the ways in which it sucks; & I didn’t even mention jellyfish once. Oh, & the ppl there are old, so it’s just a matter of time before they’ll be gone anyway.

So, anyway, I’ve decided to come up w/ my own fake scientific proof on a major benefit to back my “let’s saw off FL” cause. Here’s a pic that NASA had put out during Hurricane Katrina (8/29/2005):NOW- by my own theories (w/ no scientific training whatsoever)*, I’ve come up w/ a modified version of this same pic:Do you see how w/out FL to contain the storm, it could very easily branch out into the Atlantic & dissipate? Ah HA! We wouldn’t have had all the destruction, we would still be living w/ a false sense of security that FEMA had our backs, & we wouldn’t have to live w/ the knowledge that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black ppl”.

The only possible dilemma I see, if we saw off FL, is the bug infestation. See, I’ve thought this out completely. Now, this is just a possibility, ppl. No need to get your panties in a bunch until we know for sure what’ll happen w/ all the Floridian bugs. We all know that there’s nothing but bugs, insects, locusts, blech all over FL. If we saw the state off, then there’s a few possibilities:
– they may just go off into the ocean.
– they may relocate to Cuba. We’re still at odds w/ the Castro regime, right?**
– OR- they may just die off since they used to live off of the FL environment, & it no longer exists.

*dude, I know what you’re thinking… If I can come up w/ these great plans w/ no scientific knowledge/training whatsoever, imagine if I actually knew anything about science at all! I’d totally be more genius-er than I am now!!

**seriously, I’m going to do a post tomorrow (I think) going into this a little. Bush can just be so ridiculous sometimes.

PhotoFriday: Texture

yllwdaisies art/arch, beauty, California, commercialism, my life, PhotoFriday

Ok, remember when I went to Cali last October? Well, I did. And I said I’d post about it all, & of course never followed through. I will though. I said I would, & I will. I never said when I’d do it, so there!

Anyway, this past PhotoFriday challenge is ‘texture’. I was instantly reminded of my visit to the Getty Center in LA. Here’s a pic I took just after dusk, outside the main entrance to the museum. It’s right in front of the tram stop. If y’all have never been to the Getty Center/Museum, you MUST go. I kid you not. I loved it (more than the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, & that one relates to the Mixed of Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler). I could seriously live at the Getty Center. For reals. The place is so chills.

So, here’s my texture pic from the Getty:As usual, you can click on the pic to see it enlarged at my flickr site. And to see other’s contributions to PhotoFriday, click on this.

where is the line?

yllwdaisies California, complaints/hating, cops, news, sad/scary stuff, the law

Ok, so the police are there to protect us, I understand that. But who decides what’s considered an abuse of power. How far can they go to “protect” our society?

Like, is it cool for them to fire 41 shots at an unarmed dude who’s just walking home? Apparently, cause those 4 cops were acquitted of wrongdoing. [related article: transcript of CNN interview w/ Amadou Diallo’s mother].

Have you guys seen this story? A kid at UCLA (who, mind you, was likely a punk, but in my experienced opinion most 15-24 year old guys are punks) was tasered repeatedly by the cops while practicing civil disobedience. He shoulda been arrested; I mean, rules are rules. He was at the library, & he knew that anyone there after 11 pm could at any point be told to show their id, & was required to do so or leave. He wouldn’t, so it was totally right for them to try to haul his punk-ass away. However, it wasn’t ok for them to repeatedly taser him, even after he said he would leave, & that he wasn’t fighting them. Especially not after they already had handcuffs on him.

It also wasn’t ok for them to offer to also shoot their taser guns at others in the crowd who were disturbed by the level of violence inflicted upon him though. According to Peter Eliasberg, an attorney for the ACLU of Southern Cali, “it’s illegal to threaten anyone who asks for a badge … that’s assault”. But that’s exactly what they did. There were bystanders all around who asked for the officers’ names & badge numbers, but the officers threated to taser them too.

Related Videos (via youtube, of course):
UCLA’s Daily Bruin tv newscast (2:17)
camera phone footage of incident (6:53)

That 2nd video is longer, but totally worth watching. The only word I can use to describe it is harrowing. It’s hard to watch, but I’d highly recommend watching it. I don’t mean to put down a “race-card” or whatev on this, but I’d especially recommend sending that 2nd video to anyone you know w/ a lil color to their skin. If ya know what I mean. It’s scary.

Kudos to that guy in the white t-shirt at the end of that footage. I know the cops were this close to arresting him too. Too many times, ppl see wrong happening, but don’t say anything. I applaud him for getting in there, & acknowledging that what was happening wasn’t right. Also, the fact remains that the cops kept telling him to “STAND UP!”, but it’s not that easy to stand up after having been tasered that many times.

I know these cops won’t have anything happen to them. Maybe a slap on the wrist. I know how these things work. It’s nice to dream though. Maybe one day, a police officer will actually be made responsible for something that involves police brutality, & isn’t money-related.

just checking in

yllwdaisies art/arch, busy, California, travel, tv

Hey guys,
Sorry I haven’t been posting. Have been really busy, plus there’s just stuff going on in my life that I can’t talk about. I know, why even mention it, right?

Here’s what I can tell you. I just got back from the Getty Center/Museum, & it is A-MAZE-ZING!!! I can’t even tell you. Well, ok, maybe I can (& I will), but not now. I just got back to my room, & I’m just across the street from the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre & the Kodak Theatre (yes, where the Academy Awards are).

But I have to go. I’ll have more to write later. Just wanted to check in, & let you guys know I’m still alive. I didn’t die in the 5 hour plane ride on the way here. Wait, should I not have said that until I complete the 5 hour plane ride back home? Well, whatev happens, happens.

I’ll send out a post on Tues just to let y’all know I didn’t just jinx myself. (I hope).

the military, the gays, San Fran, & Milk

yllwdaisies art/arch, beauty, California, celebs, change, important info, military, my thoughts, news, person of the week, politics, sad/scary stuff, terrorism + 9/11

You know how when ppl think of San Fran, they think of the gays? The city’s got the highest concentration of homosexuals in the country (maybe the world, mu-hahahaha). Sorry, that just came out. It’s also got the highest concentration of Chinese folks outside the mother-land (being China, duh!); but that’s a story for another day. Or not, we’ll see.

So, San Fran holds the whatever-title in terms of number of gay ppls. Mama must be so proud. Well, ever wonder why? I did & I found out! So whether you wanted to know or not, I’m gonna tell you. If you didn’t want to know, you don’t have to keep reading the rest of this. But I’ll leave you w/ one thought – the military.

Intrigued? Ah, then you’re my kinda person. So, here’s how it all went down. The time was World War II. The US gov’t was discoverin all the gays in the military. The military decided they would seek out & dishonorably discharge all the gays. The San Francisco base is where most of the dismissed men were processed. So, most of them just ended up staying there & settlin; instead of returning to their homes.

I mean, have you eva been to San Fran!?! Well, have you?! It’s amazing, I’d highly recommend it. If you haven’t seen my pics from there, go into my Nov 2005 archive. I’ll put up a link to it later. Maybe. I’m pretty lazy though, remember? So, we’ll see what happens.

Wanna see more? This site has a timeline of the history of the movement in San Fran. If you want to explore gay San Fran, you’ll wanna hit up the Castro. And go here to go on a photo-tour of the Castro Neighborhood. It’s just amazing how much we share online, isn’t it? I’ve learned so much about a neighborhood so far away from me just online!

The one thing I really think you should all read about is Harvey Milk. I don’t know if you know who he is or not, but he most certainly led an interesting life. They made a documentary about him. I haven’t seen it yet so I can’t say if it’s good or not, but it’s on my “to see” list. Anyway, he settled in the Fran after being (honorably) discharged from the military, & became a city supervisor. Another city supervisor, Dan White, who was against Milk’s gay rights bill, stepped down, & returned to City Hall w/ a gun & 10 extra rounds of ammo. He went to see Mayor Moscone, & went to town on him. He reloaded, walked clear to the other side of the building to where Milk was, shot him in the chest, then point-blank in the head for good measure. White got less than 8 years in prison for these two murders.

Anyway, Harvey Milk is on Time Magazine’s top 100 ppl of the century list & they have a great write-up on him. You can also find more info on him at wikipedia, of course.

I hated history when I was in school, but now I find myself fascinated w/ the ppl & events & places of times past. So, I have decided that every time I stumble across something like this, I’ll post it here. To share w/ y’all, & so I have a ref point where I can come back to. It’ll be just like the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler!

Aside: Photo of Goldengate Bridge was taken by bmdoty. I decided that I think it’s amazing how many absolutely incredible shots that we as an internet community take & are willing to share. I’m thinking of joining too; cause I do love to take pics & I like the idea of sharing them as long as you give the pic-taker the credit. I also ‘hotlinked’ the pic itself so that if you click on it above, you can see his/her stuff & even leave comments for him/her if you want. Just sharin the love!