As soon as I finish this post, I’ll head downtown to begin volunteering at Outfest, LA’s gay and lesbian film festival.  This will be my tenth consecutive year working for the organization.

I have been such a regular volunteer for this festival for a great variety of reasons — even if I sometimes question some of the choices of the programming department — including an overall support of the organization’s mission (I believe film can be an important vehicle to promote a greater understanding of gay men and lesbians) and an appreciation for their attitude toward volunteers.

This may sound like hyperbole, but it’s true:  I have never volunteered for a gay organization that has shown greater respect for its volunteers.  I can no longer count the times I have been thanked for my efforts.  Having supervised volunteers for nine years, I strive to express the same gratitude.  Outfest allows volunteers to see films for free (on a space available basis) and holds annual cookouts, both before and after the festival, to thank returning volunteers and the current year’s volunteers, respectively.

Recently discussing the way Outfest treats its volunteers with a friend on the left, also enthusiastic about the festival, he too contrasted the organization with other gay groups and suggested that some have this kind of expectation of activism, that they believe gay individuals “owe” it to the community to give of their time.  Thus, they take our efforts for granted, with an acquaintance reporting that when he recently volunteered at the LA banquet of a national gay organization, his supervisor wouldn’t allow him a bathroom break.

It’s as if they feel we should be honored to be able to volunteer our time.

So, once again, kudos to Outfest for the gratitude it shows to its volunteers.  May other gay organizations follow its example.

Among the many constants in my posts on gay marriage ever since we were at blogspot has been a plea for civil discourse on the issue.  I have faulted gay marriage advocates for being more ready to trash the opponents of state recognition of same-sex marriage than to defend the merits of the institution.  Simply put, they would rather whine on how miserable we are because the state deprives us of a right that they already have and lament how the failure of the state to call our unions marriage has caused incredible damage to our self-esteem.

If you feel a victim because the state doesn’t call your union what you want to call it, well, then you have really politicized your psyche.

I have long dwelled on the distinction between the right to marriage (which we have) and the benefits accruing from state-sanctioned unions (which, by and large, we lack) because I believe w need, as I expressed in a recent comment, highlight “difference between ‘freedom to’ and ‘state recognition of.’”  The state has long privileged monogamous unions between individual of different sexes–and for good reason.  Such relationships benefit society and protect women.

Unfortunately, with states liberalizing divorce laws, they reduced the benefits of the unions.  If you don’t penalize a spouse for straying, then you don’t discourage behavior which threatens the stability of the marriage (and which particularly hurts children).  Serious advocates of marriage would call for laws which make divorce more difficult and offer severe penalties to an unfaithful spouse.

Unfortunately, the trend seems to be in the opposite direction, with New York set to become the “last state” to “adopt no-fault divorce”.  Now, I’m sure some social conservatives are opposing such legislation.  Those who don’t while continuing to oppose state recognition of same-sex marriage, are just plain not sincere about their support for the institution and the ideals which undergird it.  Indeed, no-fault divorce laws are far more damaging to the institution of marriage than would be state recognition of same-sex marriages. (more…)

And you might know that if you were paying any attention to the jurisdiction you ostensibly represent in Washington.

As California’s Central Valley bears the brunt of Boxer’s environmental policies, with unemployment nearing 40% in some regions, Mrs. Boxer “challenged” her soon-to-be successor “to come with her to Fresno“.  This from an piece defending the three-term incumbent for her record on jobs–as if the only way to create jobs is for the government to do it.

Well, when Mrs. Boxer airdropped into the state’s fifth largest city as part of a 9-city swing (perhaps her first visit of the year?), Carly had already been there nine times this year alone–not to mention her previous visits.  In short, Carly Fiorina has long since met Barbara Boxer’s challenge.

And while Mrs. Boxer’s apologists assume that opponents of government spending schemes are the only way to create jobs (Ma’am, if they’re so successful, how come unemployment has increased since the one such scheme, the “so-called stimulus,” passed?), the president, to whom she serves as a constant apologist “understands deeply that governments don’t create jobs, businesses create jobs.”  At least according to his own Treasury Secretary.

Barbara Boxer and her apologists might be more aware of her opponent’s record on jobs and her travel schedule if only they were paying attention to the campaign.  But, they seem stuck in liberal think, assuming that only those favoring big government programs have plans to get the economy going.

If those big government spending schemes worked, we’d be having boom times –and not record unemployment — here in the (once and future) Golden State.

This Cycle’s Most Vulnerable Longtime House Democrat: John Spratt?

When Jim Geraghty asked a

Republican who’s watching the House races closely . . . whether there were any signs of old-guard House Democrats from deeply conservative, deeply Republican districts getting knocked off this cycle . . . , the one that jumped out most to him was 14-term incumbent John Spratt of South Carolina, who represents an R+7district and who faces a strong challenge from Mick Mulvaney. The GOP challenger released an internal poll showing him trailing by only two percentage points.

Read the whole thing.

Last fall, when Levi Johnston was telling stories which confirmed the prejudices of MSM reporters and editors about Sarah Palin, they ate up his stories, featuring him on cable news programs, inviting him to swank Hollywood parties.  Heck, one left-wing TV hostess even dubbed him a gay icon.

As I wrote back then:

For certain figures in the media clearly delighting in promoting him so as they could better destroy their favorite villain in the post-George W. Bush era, the grandmother of his child.  He took their interest in destroying Palin as a real interest in him and giving a kid from rural Alaska a chance in the big city.

Well, now they don’t seem as interested as they once did. You see, he made it all up:

After surfing the wave of celebrity that was primarily fueled by a willingness to lie about almost everything about Sarah, Todd and Bristol Palin, Levi has finally come clean in the pages of People, admitting; “”I publicly said things about the Palins that were not completely true.”

As the MSM lost interest in him, he surely had an epiphany, realizing that the media were just taking him for a ride to promote their preferred prejudice, you know about Sarah Palin being a rube from the sticks.

I didn’t catch the major news sources devoting as much time to his apology as they did to his fabrications.  Wonder if any of them will engage in soul-searching about their readiness to believe his tales and their rush to give him lots of air time.  Seems they’re only interested in the salacious details of the lives of Republican candidates for Vice President, given that this young man was given far more air time than a certain masseuse from Oregon.

Even before Carly Fiorina has taken to the airwaves to take on the state’s junior Senator, a 28-year veteran of Washington politics, that partisan Democrat has seen her numbers drop in a state Obama carried with 61% of the vote:

California voters are giving U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer some of the lowest approval ratings of her career, as the three-term Democrat is in a statistical dead heat against first-time GOP office-seeker Carly Fiorina, according to a new Field Poll released today. . . .

Boxer’s slight numerical lead masks potentially serious problems for the senator, starting with how 52 percent of the respondents hold an unfavorable view of her.

At the same time, her job approval rating is among the lowest that Field has measured for her since she was first elected to the Senate in 1992: 43 percent of registered voters disapprove of her performance while 42 percent approve. Among likely voters, 48 percent disapprove and 42 percent approve.

Emphasis added.

That’s right, her approval is a full 18 points below Obama’s tally less than two years ago.  And she’s going to have a hard time changing minds.  Having been a fixture in the state’s politics since the dawn of the Clinton era, Mrs. Boxer is a known quantity:  ”the new poll shows that whether voters love or hate her, 93 percent hold an opinion about Boxer.”

And when the campaign heats up and people learn of her record and arrogance in office, expect her unfavorables to increase.

The long and short of it is this:  if the race is about the incumbent, Barbara Boxer loses.

NB:  Edited and expanded.

They accost you when you’re leaving the grocery store when you’re really not in the mood to deal with politics and have, I’m told, accosted citizens minding their own business in other public spaces.  Most seem to be kids in (or just out of) college.  And despite their education, they remain clueless about the meaning of the word, “legal.”

I do believe they mean well, but somehow in coming out of the closet, they join the gay organization on their college campus where they are often taught that activism is part of being gay.  Unless they engage in some kind of political activity (almost always for a left-wing organization like the folks in California laboring for the state Democratic Party front group, “Equality California” (EqCA)), they’re deemed selfish or self-hating.  (Hopefully, more on this expectation of activism in a subsequent post.)

I’m not entirely sure why EqCA has engaged these young folks to press for the legalization of something that is already legal — gay marriage –but they do seem to frequent grocery stores (and shopping malls) frequented by our Angeleno readers.

Now, you may say, as do many of our critics, that, well, didn’t the citizens of California vote to ban gay marriage when they passed Proposition 8?

And I will tell you that in fact they didn’t.  Prop 8 had nothing to do with making gay marriage illegal.  It had everything to do with what type of unions the state recognizes as “marriage.”

Let me build on my answer with a question:   in the 19 months since Prop 8 passed, can you name one person who has been arrested or otherwise punished by authorities from the State of California for getting married? (more…)

Michael Moore has been “elected to the board of governors that oversees the Oscars.”

(H/t: Imdb.)

Guess making a deceptive documentary qualifies one for honors in Hollywood.

Almost up until the day in 2002 (nearly exactly 8 years ago) I signed up for my first cell phone, I had vowed I would never get one.  I didn’t like the idea of being constantly reachable.  Yet, after a wonderful day at Disney with two nieces and a nephew, don’t know how I could have managed many family gatherings without one.  Simply put, because both my brother and I had cell phones, I could take my 14-year-old niece on rides her (much) younger siblings were too young (or too small) to enjoy.

Not long ago, I vowed I’d never upgrade to a Smartphone, not wanting to have the temptation of internet access wherever I go.

Today, after much consideration, I went out and bought a smart phone, in large measure due to recent nudging for my sister-in-law.  To be sure, had been wrestling with getting one, but kept putting off the decision because I’m a Mac guy and the iPhone is not available to Verizon users (& I have long been very happy with that service).  But, well, I got a great deal on an LG phone via a Verizon mailer (about $50 with rebate).  (Yes, I’m aware that Verizon users may soon be able to keep their carrier on iPhones.)

All that said, today, when I returned home from Disney and got said circular in the mail (seeing this as a sign to followup on my sister-in-law’s concern), I figured I should check the phone out at the local Verizon store.  Anyway, when I googled Verizon, I came up with only two stores near me.  Eight years ago, when I had bought my first cell phone, I recall there being about seven.  Indeed, the store where I bought my first cell phone (as well as the one where I bought my second) has long since closed down.

So, I was wondering that, as cell phone usage becomes commonplace, there is less need for such outlets, fewer people going in to set up (their initial) cell phone service, with more stores selling cell phones and helping you transfer your (already existing) service to the new gadget. (more…)

In the thread to another post, a reader asks a fair question, though inappropriately placed and expressed, “why isn’t GayPatriot discussing Republican Governor Lingle’s decision to veto the Civil Union bill in Hawaii, therefore effectively preventing civil unions?“*  First, if this fellow read the blog, he’d know why I’ve been blogging slower than usual.  I’m just now returning from a family vacation, including a detour to Disneyland, with two nieces and a nephew on their way back to Ohio after spending some time with Goofy as well as meeting the Disney characters.

Now, while I have read about Governor Lingle’s veto of the bill in Hawai’i, I haven’t had time to review the reasons she gave (nor consider the actual text of the legislation itself).  On the surface, this looks bad.  From what (little) I know about the legislation, I would rather she had signed the bill.

That said, let me offer three reasons why she may have vetoed it–and they relate to the paucity of Republicans backing repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell (DADT).  Indeed, these reasons first occurred to me in the wake of the House vote for repeal:

1.  Gay organizations tend to ignore Republicans when lobbying legislators and other elected officials.  And in those cases, when they do approach them, the “speak the wrong language,” talking in terms more appropriate for a college campus and pushing notions (i.e., abstraction of state-regulated equality) at odds with Republican ideas.

2.  There is no gay Republican or conservative organization currently lobbying on these issues, with Log Cabin in a state of transition and GOProud just getting off the ground.

3.  Related to 1. above.  Given the liberal bias of gay organizations, with many all but serving as front groups for the Democratic Party (and its state and local affiliates), many Republican elected officials believe they have little to gain by votes on issues of concern to the gay community.  They also see votes against such issues as “freebies,” chances to score points with social conservatives (more inclined to support Republicans) without risking losing support among independents.

Obviously, each of these points, particularly the last needs fleshing out.  But, they do get at the problem and point to areas where gay Republicans and conservatives need to direct their efforts.

* (more…)

Long before Barack Obama took office last January, critics (and haters) of the GOP have acted as if the party of Lincoln and Reagan had no new ideas.   And to be sure, given the record of the immediate past Republican president, on domestic issues, one could forgive their ignorance.

But, outside the Bush Administration, in many Republican congressional offices, think tanks and other right-of-center “policy shops,” a great variety of conservatives, including many who dubbed themselves Republicans, were busy crafting reform packages that relied on reducing regulation and cutting government in order to keep our economy humming and improve our health care system.

Yet, with Democrats putting forward far more sweeping reforms, further increasing federal involvement in our lives, our businesses and our health care decisions, they behave as if those plans for cutting government aren’t plans at all–as if to favor doing something, you have to favor the government doing acting more aggressively.  

The latest to join his voice to this cacophonous chorus is a 36-year veteran of the United States Senate, Vice President Joe Biden:

I know what the Republicans are against. I have no notion of what they’re for. Now, I’m not being facetious now. I don’t know what their answer is, when they talk about taking down health care. Well, what are they for? I’ve gone into almost 70 races so far to campaign for Democrats — governor, Senate, Congress etc.

Via Washington Examiner.  Now, I mention Biden’s thirty-six years in the Senate for a reason.  For roughly half of his tenure, he was part of the minority with Republicans in charge and using their majority to push ideas for reform, many of which Biden’s caucus worked double-time (and often successfully) to obstruct.

As to health care, if the Vice President paid any attention to legislation introduced in both houses, ideas discussed on conservative editorial pages and blogs as well as the work of the various think tanks in Washington, he would be aware of the great variety of answers (to borrow his term) Republicans (and conservatives) have been proposing to reform health care.

His response indicates either his ignorance of or indifference to ideas not increasing the government role in health care.  Or his just plain obliviousness to the reforms his political opponents have been proposing.

* (more…)

Dow Repeats Great Depression Pattern – CNBC

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is repeating a pattern that appeared just before markets fell during the Great Depression, Daryl Guppy, CEO at Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Monday.

“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it…there was a head and shoulders pattern that developed before the Depression in 1929, then with the recovery in 1930 we had another head and shoulders pattern that preceded a fall in the market, and in the current Dow situation we see an exact repeat of that environment,” Guppy said.

The Dow retreated 457.33 points, or 4.5 percent last week, to close at 9,686 Friday. Guppy said a Dow fall below 9,800 confirmed the head and shoulders pattern

With the US trapped in depression, this really is starting to feel like 1932 – Telegraph (UK)

The US workforce shrank by 652,000 in June, one of the sharpest contractions ever. The rate of hourly earnings fell 0.1pc. Wages are flirting with deflation.

“The economy is still in the gravitational pull of the Great Recession,” said Robert Reich, former US labour secretary. “All the booster rockets for getting us beyond it are failing.”

Roughly a million Americans have dropped out of the jobs market altogether over the past two months. That is the only reason why the headline unemployment rate is not exploding to a post-war high.

Let us be honest. The US is still trapped in depression a full 18 months into zero interest rates, quantitative easing (QE), and fiscal stimulus that has pushed the budget deficit above 10% of GDP.

The share of the US working-age population with jobs in June actually fell from 58.7% to 58.5%. This is the real stress indicator. The ratio was 63% three years ago. Eight million jobs have been lost.

The average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks. Nothing like this has been seen before in the post-war era. Jeff Weniger, of Harris Private Bank, said this compares with a peak of 21.2 weeks in the Volcker recession of the early 1980s.

Barack Obama: The great jobs killer – Las Vegas Review-Journal

It’s time to call Obama what he is: The Great Jobs Killer. With his massive spending and tax hikes — rewarding big government and big unions, while punishing taxpayers and business owners — Obama has killed jobs, he has killed motivation to create new jobs, he has killed the motivation to invest in new businesses, or expand old ones. With all this killing, Obama should be given the top spot on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

You won’t find proof of the damage Obama is doing on Wall Street, but rather on Main Street. My friends are all part of the economic engine of America: Small business. Small business creates 75 percent of new jobs (and a majority of all jobs). I called one friend who was a wealthy restaurant owner. He says business is off by 60 percent. He’s drowning in debt. He won’t last much longer. His wealth is gone.

I called another friend in the business of home improvement. He says business is off 90 percent from two years ago. My contractor just filed personal bankruptcy. She won’t be building any more homes. The hair salon where I’ve had my hair cut for years closed earlier this year. Bankrupt. But here’s the clincher — ESPN Zone just closed all their restaurants across the country. If they can’t make it selling cheap food and overpriced beer with 100 big screens blaring every sporting event on the planet to a sports-crazed society, we are all in deep, deep trouble.

I’ve polled all my friends who own small businesses — many of them in the Internet and high-tech fields. They all agree that in this new Obama world of high business taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, and workers compensation taxes, the key to success is to avoid employees. The only way to survive as a business owner today is by keeping the payroll very low and by hiring only independent contractors or part-time employees provided by temp agencies.

Human respond to stimuli – negative or positive.  And that is what is going on.

Let’s just say this:  10 days ago I moved my 401K out of all stocks & bonds and into a fixed-interest fund.  I just paid off my credit cards today for the first time in several years.  I have a stockpile of food, water & ammo.  I’m ready, baby.  You should be too.

Facts are facts.  Ignore them at your peril.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I am just now returning from the second gathering of my immediate family, immediate to me at least, my siblings and their offspring (as well as at least one of our parents) in seven weeks.  In May, we gathered in New York for my third eldest niece’s Bat Mitzvah.   This past weekend, we celebrated my Mom’s 75th birthday in San Diego.

What distinguished these two weekends from past such gatherings was the near absence of political (for lack of better word) confrontations.  In our family, the partisan divide falls neatly along gender lines, with the men Republicans, the women Democrats (but the sisters-in-law tend to vote Republican while the brothers-in-law lean left, but not dogmatically so).

(The absence of political disagreements made these weekends more enjoyable, far more enjoyable, than the typical family get-together.)

Anyway, it reminded me how well we can all get along if we refrain from discussing politics.  I love my Mom and both my sisters and share much in common with all three.  My Mom and I both love art and had a wonderful day on Saturday with my third eldest nephew (her grandson) at the San Diego Museum of Art where we saw an amazing exhibit, Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. (I could see it again, even found material for the current chapter of my dissertation in the depictions on the various vases.)

My more liberal (and politically active) sister shares my passion; she is a first-rate mother.  And then there’s my San Francisco sister to whom I’ve become particularly close since I joined her in the Golden State.  She has become a good listener (and a good friend), sympathetic to my “plight” as a single man.  And her first-born is helping her learn the maternal skills her elder sister enjoys.

I say all this because I wonder if some of our critics, who often show the same passion for politics as does the elder (of my) sister(s), also have some of the qualities my liberal siblings possess, that they too are good brothers, sisters, devoted children or loving parents or like yours truly a doting uncle (or aunt).  I try sometimes to see through their harsh commentary to imagine the person beneath and hope sometimes that through posts like this one they can see the humanity behind my on-line political persona. (more…)

Sounds like the title of a great movie!  Heh, heh.  Well, I’m still in a nostalgic mood for what our Founding Fathers did on July 4, 1776.  And I caught this item on today’s Heritage Foundation blog.  I hope you find it as inspiring and motivating as I did when I read it this morning.

Happy Birthday America! America is 234 years old. She was born on July 4, 1776, with the passage of the Declaration of Independence.  Since then, America has grown from thirteen colonies on the east coast to fill a vast continent. Her economic and military power is envied around the world. And the American people are hardworking, churchgoing, affluent, and generous.

Independence Day is an opportunity each year to remember the root of our success—our founding principles as set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence serves as a philosophical statement of America’s first principles. As Matthew Spalding describes, the Declaration affirms that all men are created equal. By nature, men have a right to liberty that is inalienable, meaning it cannot be given up or taken away. And because individuals equally possess such inalienable rights, governments derive their just powers from the consent of those governed. The purpose of government is to secure these fundamental rights, and the people retain the right to alter or abolish a government that fails to do so.

These principles have made America the great nation it is today. But, since the early 20^th century, these principles have been under attack in the academy, the media, and popular culture. So-called progressives have rejected the existence of self-evident truths—in the Declaration of Independence and elsewhere. Instead, they embrace the notion of “Progress” that is constant change towards an unspecified end. From these faulty principles, it follows that, all men are not created equal; some people are further along in the historical process than others. There are not permanent rights with which man is endowed. Government creates rights, and these rights evolve according to the demands of the time. There is no need for consent of the governed, just experts who will tell us how to live and how to progress.

This is a serious attack on our principles, but not an insurmountable one.

We, The People are in charge.  Our government’s power comes from our consent.  And our rights come from our Creator. Never forget that!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I can’t speak for Dan, but I happen to agree.  The only way the Republicans don’t gain control of Congress this year is through collective stupidity.  This would take one problem out of the collective, at least.

For Immediate Release                                           July 3, 2010
GOProud Calls on RNC Chairman Michael Steele to Resign  

Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the Board – “Michael Steele’s comments regarding the war in Afghanistan are inexcusable.  These comments are not just another gaffe that can be explained away, they represent a fundamental failure to understand the importance of winning the war on global extremism.”  

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, GOProud, the only national organization of gay conservatives and their allies, called on Michael Steele to resign as Chairman of the Republican National Committee after he made comments critical of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.   Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the Board:    “Michael Steele’s comments regarding the war in Afghanistan are inexcusable.  These comments are not just another gaffe that can be explained away, they represent a fundamental failure to understand the importance of winning the war on global extremism.   “Chairman Steele shouldn’t need to be reminded that the war in Afghanistan was not a ‘war of Obama’s choosing.’  The Chairman of the RNC shouldn’t need to be reminded that it was terrorists operating from bases in Afghanistan who started this war on September 11, 2001.  

“Michael Steele is dead wrong; the war in Afghanistan is not lost.  What is lost, however, is any shred of confidence that conservatives can have in his leadership at the RNC.  This election cycle is simply too important to the future of the conservative movement and to the future of this country to be trusted to someone like Michael Steele.”

GOProud is a non-partisan registered 527.  GOProud represents gay conservatives and their allies.  GOProud is committed to a traditional conservative agenda that emphasizes limited government, individual liberty, free markets and a confident foreign policy.  GOProud promotes our traditional conservative agenda by influencing politics and policy at the federal level.  PO Box 15861, Washington, DC 20003.  For more information visit our website www.goproud.org

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Today, as we celebrate Independence Day, we would do ourselves well to recall Calvin Coolidge, the only president born on the Fourth of July as did my friend Rick Sincere in his wonderful essay for the Richmond Times Dispatch:

In his 2008 book, The Cult of the Presidency, the Cato Institute’s Gene Healy wrote that Coolidge is remembered “mostly for his reticence and for fiscal policies that combined Yankee parsimony with generous tax cuts.”

That “Yankee parsimony” is on display in a short film that is thought to be the first time a U.S. president appeared in a “talkie” — a movie with sound.

In this four-minute clip. . . , Coolidge says that he wants to “cut down public expense. I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. This is the chief meaning of freedom. Until we can re-establish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very severe and distinct curtailment of our liberty.”

Read the whole thing (and this too).

On this Fourth of July, it is particularly important that we recall that president born on the Fourth of July.  He truly got the meaning of Independence and understood the ideals to which our Founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.

Tea Party protestors use language and symbols (e.g. “Don’t Tread on Me” flags) of our founders should be pleased to note that the ideas we express are nearly identical to those expressed by Coolidge in, what is believed to be, “the first presidential film with sound recording“:

So, on this Independence, let us recall the ideals of our Founders and listen to them so well expressed by the one president quite literally (and also figuratively) born on the Fourth of July.

My apologies for not getting this up sooner….. I slept in.  Well-needed rest after 6 weeks of constant travel.

Anyway, here is thought number one for 7/11/10:

In 1780, General Cornwallis said of Charlotte, NC that it was a “hornet’s nest” after patriots there harassed his forces during the American Revolution. As a result, Charlotte, now the seat of Mecklenburg County and the largest city in North Carolina, made the hornet its symbol.

In that spirit and given the times we live in, we purchased two new flags for our front porch this weekend.

Secondly, for those of you interested…. after the jump I have printed the FULL FOUR VERSES of our National Anthem — “The Star Spangled Banner”.  HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, y’all.

(more…)

Because I’m on a family vacation now celebrating my Mom’s 75th birthday with my siblings and niblings, I haven’t had nearly as much time as I would like to check the news, the blogs or even the comments to our posts.

When I first received the same e-mail Bruce received from our reader Peter Hughes about the pay adjustments Google is offering to gay and lesbian employees with domestic partners, I thought it was yet another piece of gay PC silliness. Yet, the more I thought about it, the less averse I became to the policy.

First, there does seem to be a certain inclination (among some segments of our culture, particularly in the part of the country where Google is headquartered) to bend over backwards to appease gay activists.  And I thought that was what was going on here.  And maybe it is.

I’m still not certain it’s a good idea, but then I’ve only had time to read snippets of Google’s justification for the policy.  That said, one thing I do know is that this is a private remedy to a (perceived) public problem.  It may seem PC on the surface, but, at least, we don’t see the heavy hand of government mandating this act. 

This is a private organization working independently of government to address a (what it sees as) imbalance in social benefits.  This may not be the solution we would have offered, but no one is coercing Google to make this concession.

In some ways, I see how this could a smart policy, a very smart one indeed.  There are many talented gay people in the technology industry and many with a more creative vision of further integrating that technology into our daily lives.  By offering this policy, Google makes itself a more attractive professional opportunity to such folk.  Indeed, it may well give them a competitive advantage as more and more search engines are coming online.

And those of who believe we must turn to the private sector to help promote the social changes we feel are necessary to make it easier for us to live openly as gay people in civil society should welcome such “experiments.”  

And if people don’t like ‘em, well, there are other search engines they can use.

First off, hat tip to The GOP Alliance for the headline.

Now to the business at hand…

Keep in mind, this is the Federal Government’s estimates and modeling.  So take this with a grain of salt since Obama & Company haven’t gotten one thing right since the explosion.

But there is now a 61-80% chance that the beaches of Key West up to Fort Lauderdale are going to be significantly impacted by the (still flowing) oil rupture.

I wish America had a leader right now.   So THIS is the competency level of our Federal Government — the same one we will have running our healthcare, right?  How much of the coasts of Louisiana, Alabama & Florida have to die before Obama stops golfing and “focuses like a laser beam”?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

A smart young blogger updated a celebrate commercial from the the 2008 campaign to correspond with the Democrat’s record in response to current crises: