Thursday, August 18, 2005

evening

Thank You, George Appleton of Las Vegas

I’m sure you all remember my rant about the letters to the editor yesterday about the oooooh very scary story in the paper about gay clubs.  Today’s letters to the editor cheered me immensely.  It’s like my people (the people of Las Vegas w/ Common Sense aka LVwCS) took over the paper today.  Every single letter to the editor made me feel like I was still living in San Francisco.  But, my favorite letter was this one:

Learn tolerance

To the editor:

Wednesday’s letters referring to the Monday article about gay and lesbian night clubs really set us all “straight.” Why, for the Review-Journal to “advertise” alternative lifestyles, how very offensive. And to show photos of “those people” actually enjoying themselves, what garbage!

One writer said she was glad she opened the newspaper before her school-age daughter did. Goodness, the child might have learned some tolerance—she likely won’t at home.

I have always wondered why we “normal” people (well, some of us) discriminate against people who like people of their own gender. Why not include left-handed people? They’re not “normal” either, and for the same reason: they were born that way. I still remember elementary school teachers in the ‘30s who felt they had to “change” left-handed kids, even making them sit on their left hands. After all, inkwells were in the upper right corner of our desks.

But lefties make great pitchers, and are otherwise more like us, so we don’t have to bar them from marrying, or from having the same legal rights as “normal” people. Remember Richard Ziser and his Protection of Marriage campaign? I once wrote him that my marriage (now 58 years with the same woman) didn’t need his, or the Nevada Constitution’s “protection,” but we got it anyway.

But let’s not have any more horror stories about homosexuals. We must keep your readers safe from harm.

George Appleton

Someone really really gets it - that my relationship is no threat to his happy marriage.  I mean, I already knew that, as so far our relationship hasn’t broken up either set of our (mine or Leigh-Ann’s) parents.  I’m pretty sure that after almost eight years together, our parents’ marriages are safe from us.  But, George Appleton, I so appreciate you sitting down and writing a letter (or an email) and getting it into print.  The logic will pass right over some people’s heads, but that’s to be expected.  Today, and perhaps even all week, I love you.

early evening

Medical Marijuana - A Rant and a Plea

When I wrote my rant yesterday about marijuana, I hadn’t read Bitch Ph.D.’s blog entry about The Badgers’ family struggle with cancer.  When I donated what I had left in my Paypal account, I had only read a brief account of her story and the verification through a couple of sources that it wasn’t an internet scam.  What I hadn’t read was this horrible account of how our government has failed her and her husband.  When I thought the story was as bad as it could be during a bout with terminal cancer, it got worse.  Marinol at $80 a pill?  WTF!?  Pot can practically be grown for free, yet our government wants terminally ill people to have to pay for an $80 pill.  It’s sad and it’s sick.

I know I have a small readership, but if everyone who has a small readership can post a link and donate a little cash, it can certainly help a little.

Donation & Background Story Link

late morning

Idiot of the Day - The New Design of HuffingtonPost.com

This was my homepage - http://www.huffingtonpost.com Now, it’s a jumbled ugly flashing ad-ridden mess.  I don’t think I’ve ever so hated a site redesign.  Every time I attempt to go back thinking, “Maybe it isn’t that bad”, I’m wrong.  It is that bad.  The ads are the horrible cheesy waterfall screensaver ads, the flashing Capital One ads, the dumb free game ads.  I expected so much better.  The site before was so clean.  For god’s sake, Arianna Huffington is a multi-millionaire, she couldn’t get some text ad sponsors?  She couldn’t get George Soros to chip in and keep it ad-free?  She couldn’t afford someone who had an eye for design?  Just blech, blech, blech!  Last night when they were doing the changeover and the site was full of error messages, I thought it had been hacked.  At least if it had been hacked, then the database and design would’ve been restored.  It’s worse.  Someone hit it with an internet uglystick.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

evening

Yooooge (as Reege would say) Headache

And yeah, I’m not even talking about the car dealer today.  Just a headache that’s lasted alllllll day.  You know, I’d rather be fresh alllll day.  Okay, I was, but I still have a headache.  Not enough sleep, I guess.  Frankie was kind of a pain in the ass last night.  I turned out the light and then Frank decided it was time to clean every inch of his body with his very rough and loud tongue.  Right in my ear.  Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, police cars or ambulances or something were zooming down the street at around 3:38 am, not that I was checking the exact time or anything.  Oh wait, then again at 3:42 am.  I wonder what goes on down that way all the time.  Whenever I hear sirens, they’re always going way past us.  I mean, that’s good, but really, what are they doing down there?  They’re all brand new houses (less than four years old) and expensive, so it’s probably not meth labs exploding or anything.

Speaking of meth labs, or rather meth users.  This new Oregon law requiring a prescription for cold meds—oh please, we all have to pay for a doctor’s visit and wait for a prescription to be filled because of drug addicts?  How about we just give them all the free meth they want, as long as they’re locked up in their own area of town?  They can use as much as they want.  I am NOT going to a doctor to get a prescription for sinus problems.  My insurance sucks, doctors don’t need the extra tedium of seeing people with sinus problems and I am not going to end up paying $50+ for a $5 or less box of sinus pills because some idiot wants to cook up meth.  I read that half the meth comes from outside the country anyway.  So, it’s going to inconvenience (and cost) law-abiding citizens and the meth users are going to get their drugs anyway. 

In the Las Vegas Review-Journal today, the words of wisdom of a woman whose daughter was killed by a woman who was going almost twice the speed limit and had marijuana and METH in her system - “It hurts people”, referring to the marijuana.  Yes, I feel sorry for anyone whose child is killed, but she wasn’t killed by pot.  She was killed by a woman who was speeding and driving under the influence.  Every single day here in Las Vegas someone is killed by a drunk driver, it seems.  Where are the “alcohol hurts people” statements?  You know what hurts people, idiots driving under the influence of anything.  I’m tired of the marijuana demon crap.  No one has ever died from smoking it.  Pot smokers don’t suddenly turn into raging monsters and beat their spouses.  They mostly sit on their couches and eat ice-cream and potato chips.  Some of them use it to control pain, which of course, is a terrible terrible thing.  People should have to use artificial crap made in labs and pay $20/pill for pain relief, not get that stuff that someone could grow by throwing some seeds into some fertile land.  Heh, that land would not be our back yard though.  We have to hire strong men with big machines to dig holes in our cement-like yard to plant anything.

What is the above rant about?  My new favorite show “Weeds”?  My headaches?  My cranky mood?  The fact that JD is still on Rockstar: INXS?  The stupid letters to the editor today about protecting their innocent little children from an article in the newspaper about gay clubs?  Seriously, whose small children read the paper?  And if they DO read the paper, they’re also reading stuff online.  Hello, gay people exist.  Some of them occasionally go out to clubs.  Here are the stupid letters:

Alternative lifestyles

To the editor:

I am disgusted with Monday’s Living section. To open the newspaper and be assaulted with pictures of people dancing in alternative-lifestyle establishments was indeed disturbing ("Night moves").

Being the parent of children who enjoy reading the newspaper as I do, I am even more concerned because of this content in the newspaper. Alternative lifestyles do exist, but why do they have to be advertised in such a way as to expose families and children to them?

The pictures that accompanied this article were very offensive, and in my opinion, such an article should never have been included in the newspaper. Include it in some other magazine or newspaper so young children are not exposed to such garbage.

D. Neuman

LAS VEGAS

Offensive photographs

To the editor:

I was the first one to open the newspaper Monday morning. Thank God my school-age daughter was not. Why was the feature story on the front page of the Living section plastered with a story about gay entertainment—with pictures?

It’s horrible enough to see the ads on nearly every corner of Las Vegas. Why would someone give permission to have this printed in a family newspaper? Why do they feel this would be news that this entire town would want to see?

To those who are in charge of the Review-Journal: Shame on you!

Kristen Howard

NORTH LAS VEGAS

What the heck are these people afraid of?  Are gay boogeymen going to lure their children into a gay club?  People, if your kids are gay, they’re going to find the clubs anyway.  If they’re not, they don’t care.  Also, the ads are NOT on every corner of Las Vegas.  In fact, there are very very few ads for gay clubs anywhere.  It’s pretty much hidden in the gay ghetto off of Paradise/Trop.  I’m so tired of the right-wing whiners.  Not every article in the newspaper is for YOU.  If you don’t like what’s happening in Vegas; if it’s too much for your little heart to handle, then MOVE.  Move your coddled children to Alabama or Texas.  If you’re going to have children in Las Vegas, you’d better be able to be a grownup and handle questions about all of the free booze, the gambling, the strip clubs and the ads for straight clubs that practically have women licking each other...because that’s what YOUR straight husbands want to see.  My complaint about the article - the women weren’t better looking.  If I’m gonna look at lesbians in the paper, I want them all to look like Portia de Rossi.  You don’t want your children to see gay people...I want them to see HOT gay people.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

evening

He Send On Blabber Spooky

Okay, sure, it was the title of some spam I got this morning, but it’s one of my very favorites.  Maybe I’ll make magnets out of spam subject titles because they’ll then be useful.  What I’ll never understand is who these people are who buy something from someone who sends them misspelled or nonsensical email.  Seriously, should you trust someone to give you a low low interest rate on refinancing your home if they insist on misspelling the word “mortgage”?  Or do you want to buy pills from someone who spells Viagra with a bunch of Ls?  If you want to buy the stuff, go to a search engine and do a search.  There’s someone out there who wants to sell something to you, but doesn’t want to clog up your inbox with nonsense.  Really.  I swear.  You know what, if there’s something you want to buy, let me know.  I’ll find it for you.  And I promise to write back an email that doesn’t look like I used my elbows to type it.

Here’s the list of Canadiana for you interested Canadians: 

One copy Quintessentially Quinte: An audio portrait of the Bay of Quinte region

One copy of No Sex Please...We’re Married by Gary Lautens, w/ cartoons by Lynn Johnston

One copy of Take my Family...Please! by Gary Lautens, w/ cartoons by Lynn Johnston

Two programmes (note Canadian spelling) from Mamma Mia’s closing performance at The Royal Alexandra Theatre (note spelling) in Toronto.  Ticket stubs and confetti from said last performance.  $2 coupon for parking at either The Princess of Wales Theatre or The Royal Alexandra Theatre.  VIA Rail Canada train ticket stubs for getting to the above-mentioned performance.  We bought the Mamma Mia tickets for Leigh-Ann’s parents for birthdays or something.  We saw Mamma Mia here in Vegas and loved it.

Funny cartoon ("Close to Home") from what looks to be the Toronto Sun. 

One copy of Quinte This Week dated June 27th

One copy of Mohawk Nation Drummer dated July 2005

One copy of 50 Below Zero by Robert Munsch & Michael Martchenko

One copy of The Secret World of Og by Pierre & Patsy Berton

One copy of the President’s Choice Insider’s Report (we like food, we do)

For Expat Chick’s Husband - the shirt came from CafePress.com.  Tell him to do a search for moose.  (An update, here’s a direct link to the moose/mountie/leaf shirt)