"Outer Harbor Sunday" written by Heidi on estrip.org

Category: tourism

06/27/11 08:53 - ID#54592

Outer Harbor Sunday

Citybration sucks, but the Outer Harbor was really nice.

Permalink: Outer_Harbor_Sunday.html
Words: 35
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/27/11 08:53

Category: politics

06/24/11 09:37 - ID#54569

New York same sex marriage

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A Twitter feed #ny4m

metalpeter writes at 10:34:30 06/26/11 - Comment #63218: May take some heat for this but I like the Religion Clause.... From what I Understand that is how Canada does it... I admit that I'm not a lawyer but from what I understand it means that if you are clergy you can do same sex Marriage or you can not and you can't be sued for not doing it.... The reason I agree with this is that to me Marriage is about legal rights yeah love to sometimes.... But some countries (not sure where) still do the you will marry this person and we get their name and money and power ..... That is what Marriage in the old days was really all about the women had to leave the house and start a family and have kids and that kind of thing.... But yes over time that changed of course and kings are now just something you see in movies or celebs .....

Now I admit that I can't figure out for the life of me since we are supposed to have the separation of church and state how Plural marriage is illegal wouldn't that be the endorsing a religion that isn't being a Mormon? But isn't also right in line with the Catholic Church the you can only love one person.... What I don't get even more is how one gets a licence to marry and do it at a church and it is something legal...What sounds like the two are connected to me....

In any event I don't think someone who is "A Minister" should have to perform a Marriage he doesn't agree with... Might be old fashioned but I don't think it stops at gays if Husband is abusive ..... Not sure it is true or not but at one time didn't kids have to take classes before they got Married?

On kinda a side note if "People of the cloth" had to perform them I think the law would have been struck down... I think that a lot of those who don't want to do them would have put pressure on their followers to put pressure on their Representatives... I also think that this freedom of "Clergy" helped people who might be opposed vote yes....

All this Being Said If I had the Cash I would Open up some Wedding Chapels and things in say Niagara Falls.... I would start running ads.... Yes I would have to Advertise the stuff in Canada .....

dcoffee writes at 02:35:33 06/25/11 - Comment #63202: I think you're right Tiny, the NYS is not forcing the churches to do anything they don't want to. You can basically get married by a justice of the peace.... Or at Quaker Meeting :) Buffalo Quaker Meeting has already had one same sex marriage ceremony, in Canada. It was about 8-10 years ago.

tinypliny writes at 01:27:35 06/25/11 - Comment #63201: I see. Some more confusion here. You said: "That's to strongly discourage lawsuits over the religious exemptions pieces (which allow religious orgs & their affiliates to discriminate against same-sex couples). "

So does that mean religious organizations CAN discriminate against same sex couples and they don't have the power to sue these religious organizations? Why on earth would anyone say yes to this type of clause? "Marriage" as it is defined currently in an albeit limited way has a ton of religion-community-faith issues entwined in the definition. By allowing free-reign to religious organizations to discriminate against same sex marriages, you are making the definition of what "marriage" is different for same sex couples. That is discriminatory in and of itself -no?

heidi writes at 12:54:39 06/25/11 - Comment #63198: (e:tinypliny) - that shouldn't happen for several reasons:
- California's same-sex marriage came into being because of a state supreme court case, not because the legislature passed it.
- California has a citizens' initiative process that NY doesn't have.
- NY already recognizes out-of-state same-sex marriages (judicially and administratively).

The only risk to ssm in NY is the "inseverability clause" in the legislation. Most pieces of legislation have clauses that say that if a court finds some piece of the legislation unconstitutional, then the rest of it stands, ie. the bad part can be severed from the good part. This one has a different provision, that if one piece of the legislation is found unconstitutional, the rest is gone, too. That's to strongly discourage lawsuits over the religious exemptions pieces (which allow religious orgs & their affiliates to discriminate against same-sex couples). I didn't read the text of the law, this is what I gathered from the Senate speeches. Other states have not had much litigation about their same-sex marriage laws; the NY Senate Republicans were using the issue to be assholes. :::link:::

tinypliny writes at 12:35:25 06/25/11 - Comment #63196: We were wondering how this would work. Will it be like California where married couples will find out a few years later that their marriage was annulled because the "popular vote" overturned the legislation?

paul writes at 10:13:28 06/25/11 - Comment #63186: Great, more people to buy gifts for.

leetee writes at 11:04:58 06/24/11 - Comment #63182: yay for marriage equality! it's about time!

dcoffee writes at 10:41:51 06/24/11 - Comment #63181: Yay!

Permalink: New_York_same_sex_marriage.html
Words: 22
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/24/11 09:39

Category: tourism

06/24/11 09:02 - ID#54568

Outer Harbor

Balloons would have been much more fun to shoot, but a leaping (e:terry) is cool, too. Citybration's communication sucks.

metalpeter writes at 06:13:48 06/25/11 - Comment #63207: Nice Pictures Would have been more fun with Balloons but it still turned out well.... I see I have a ton of posts to read on (e:strip) on sunday as well as a bunch of pictures to post and pictures to take tonight (bisons)

tinypliny writes at 01:18:12 06/25/11 - Comment #63199: Ah! Sorry I was still in commonwealth-mode. Back home we have a five year integrated BSc/BA/BBA-LLB (w/w/o honours) professional degree. It's almost the same length as the med school degree but in law and without an additional year of internship/clerkship/rotating apprenticeship that we have in medicine. They graduated a year ahead of us even though we went into uni at the same time. The board is also run by the government as are the schools so the exams for the LLB are the exams of license and practice.

heidi writes at 12:39:33 06/25/11 - Comment #63197: I have a B.A. in sociology from Penn State and a J.D. (Juris Doctor) from University at Buffalo Law School. The JD makes me eligible to sit for the NYS & PA bar exams. It's one (very large) part of the professional licencing process. I had to take an ethics exam and be checked out for "character & fitness". Licensing is separate from the schooling and is organized by a state board. LLBs aren't sufficient to sit for the bar (it's no longer offered in the US).

tinypliny writes at 12:30:50 06/25/11 - Comment #63195: (e:metalpeter) looks like a medieval wild warrior. :)

tinypliny writes at 12:29:59 06/25/11 - Comment #63194: Actually, I thought the bar exam was your final exam for the graduation... I am a bit confused why they are separate. Don't you already have the LLB? In med school, professional exams for graduating = licensure exams.

tinypliny writes at 12:28:34 06/25/11 - Comment #63193: It was nice to catch up with you yesterday, (e:heidi). Good luck with the bar exams!

heidi writes at 12:14:09 06/25/11 - Comment #63191: Thanks :-) No, I had my real camera with me with a huge lens.

tinypliny writes at 12:09:21 06/25/11 - Comment #63190: These *are* cool pictures. I especially like (e:metalpeter)'s and (e:Paul)'s pics. Very artsy. And omg, my head is lifesize! ;-)

paul writes at 10:44:26 06/25/11 - Comment #63188: These are great pictures, are they from your cell phone?

Permalink: Outer_Harbor.html
Words: 34
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/24/11 09:03

Category: silly

06/23/11 10:55 - ID#54553

Mahna Mahna!

One of my all time favorite Muppet bits. (An earbug for you all! ha ha ha!)

Permalink: Mahna_Mahna_.html
Words: 37
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/23/11 10:55

06/22/11 08:33 - ID#54550

Guest

It's so big I don't know how to move it. Anyone want to come get this friendly house guest?

Permalink: Guest.html
Words: 20
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/22/11 08:33

Category: ideas

06/15/11 08:33 - ID#54500

Madeline Davis

Author, poet, activist Madeline Davis reading from her new memoir at the Screening Room.

Permalink: Madeline_Davis.html
Words: 16
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/15/11 08:33

Category: food

06/13/11 10:14 - ID#54492

Sexy sink

Yum!

Permalink: Sexy_sink.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/13/11 10:14

Category: food

06/12/11 05:52 - ID#54486

Groceries

If I knew my street had double sided parking during art fest, I might have ventured out for groceries sooner. China & I are hungry!

Permalink: Groceries.html
Words: 25
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/12/11 05:52

Category: school

06/11/11 01:44 - ID#54469

First cousin vs gay marriage

Today's bar review topic is family law. Did you know first cousin marriage is legal in NYS? It's not in PA. Then someone pointed me to this infographic: first-cousin marriage vs same-sex marriage in the U.S.

(Gotta love the domain "unicornbooty")

How 'bout those states that allow both?

tinypliny writes at 08:02:14 06/11/11 - Comment #62935: :::link:::

Wow - I had no idea there were THAT many!

tinypliny writes at 07:59:41 06/11/11 - Comment #62934: Pretty much all the royals in Europe wed their first cousins. Queen Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert.

Which is why, most of the royals were pretty awful when it came to recessive deleterious gene-linked diseases.

metalpeter writes at 07:43:22 06/11/11 - Comment #62927: Didn't IOWA produce Slipknot ? Could be wrong about that but not that I'm a fan but since one of their CDs is called that not saying they go door to door telling people you back it or we come back and tell fans back it cause you are our fans but if it can produce them why not....

Well it isn't about why would you want to Marry your first cousin it is about the fact that you should have the right to.... Hey sometimes first cousins are by Marriage and not blood related... But in terms of why you would want is if you think back to old times when there where kings and families that had wealth of kings like say the Kenedy's and Rockafellers then taking a cousin as a bride could keep the wealth in the family......

libertad writes at 09:09:40 06/11/11 - Comment #62922: I finally got a welcomed call on my landline. They were calling to ask us to leave a message on Senator Grisanti's line telling him to support gay marriage. I have been meaning to do this for a while and then they did all the work for me, I didn't even have to write down the number and call him myself they transferred me to his line.

Apparently Grisanti is on the fence on the issue. It felt good to say that I had voted for him and that I wanted him to support marriage equality. I will regret voting for him if he does not support this. He has to realize that he shouldn't have won, it was just because Thompson screwed up so bad in office and that Thompson was in support of gay marriage.

jbeatty writes at 07:58:00 06/11/11 - Comment #62920: Why would anyone want to marry their cousin? I guess there would be no fights about whose family they would go to for Christmas.

I'm fairly shocked that gay marriage is legal in Iowa. I lived there for a couple of years and never would have guessed such a conservative population would allow that. I guess maybe the Lutherans are accepting of equal rights? That definitely gives me hope for the rest of the country.

That whole procreation argument is BS. I know plenty of married straights that want nothing to do with children.

lauren writes at 06:32:08 06/11/11 - Comment #62918: What's even more interesting is that many of the states allowing first cousin marriage put restrictions on the union, such as both are over 65 or one of the partners is no longer able to reproduce, so that there are no babies from these couplings. So much for the "marriages are for procreation" argument.

Permalink: First_cousin_vs_gay_marriage.html
Words: 55
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/11/11 01:47

Category: home

06/07/11 09:17 - ID#54444

Walmonster!

Ugh! My first trip to walmart in 3 years! I'm so ashamed.

heidi writes at 10:01:26 06/08/11 - Comment #62872: (e:puddlediving) - NO! That was Louie's. He bought me veggie freezer food :-)

heidi writes at 10:00:41 06/08/11 - Comment #62871: Why? It was after 9pm (most of Tioga County grocery stores close at 9, some at 8) and the house needed supplies for all the guests. Louie asked me to take him, he was not in an appropriate emotional condition to drive, so that's what I did. I took a detour to the package store (uh.. a place where you by six packs). They had some okay beer options but none of the current favs (flower power, southern tier, saranac, sierra nevada...) so I just got the fallback - Yuengling Lager.

metalpeter writes at 05:19:29 06/08/11 - Comment #62853: That Video that is anti walmart someone made a movie that is anti that movie and so I say before one attacks them they should watch both movies... Where I work we ship stuff to Wal-mart, Target, K-mart, CVS, Walgreens,..... and on and on and on... So have to put this out there as what ever that legal term is like on the news when they report a story and then have to mention that said news company is owned by that company......

The thing with wal-mart is like any company of that large size their are bad things and good things... Yes they can drive prices down and yes I'm sure they pay less then other retail places and less then target and they sell food so less then tops per say I'm guessing... But see This is why costs are lower there (on some things)....

The reason why places in small towns and maybe some cities close isn't because of wal-mart it is because loyalty in this country is dead!!!! Yes it is said to see Hank The Hammer Seller close up his shop and then get a job in the hardware section of wal-mart... But see the reason he closed isn't cause wal-mart moved in it is because everyone who he goes to church with and sees at the park and sees at the malt shop and the roller rink or where ever go.... You know what Fuck Hank I'm going to go gave $1 at wal-mart ...... Listen I have done it myself perfect example is New World Records.... Great shop and if you wanted to get tickets and find really cool stuff like albums and cool acts great place to go... But if you want the new CD by an artist on the radio save a few bucks at Target or Best buy and get other stuff when there.... Every time we chose price over local we are telling the local shop to go fuck them selves and that is why places close......,

tinypliny writes at 04:17:54 06/08/11 - Comment #62852: I thought that was root vegetable of some kind.. or maybe a rocket launcher?

puddlediving writes at 02:46:29 06/08/11 - Comment #62851: ok, forget the wallyworld gasps, is Heidi buying a pepperoni stick!?!?!?

libertad writes at 09:47:09 06/08/11 - Comment #62849: My last comment was filled with sarcasm but I still believe that Walmart is not good for America. The amount of pressure Walmart puts on manufacturers to reduce costs sends jobs out of the country and further cheapens quality. Since the explosion of Walmarts life has not become easier for the vast majority of Americans. I really am not informed enough to blame the widening gap between rich and poor on Walmart but I suspect it may be a factor.

All that being said, I would never criticize people who are poor for shopping there. When you have little resources you don't have the luxury of boycotting cheap goods.

tinypliny writes at 09:31:19 06/08/11 - Comment #62846: I don't feel very comfortable pointing fingers and laying the blame at walmart's door for every local business that closes. The financial divide in this country may not be as spoken of as the race divide but that doesn't mean it is not there. It is, in fact more of a divide that drives all the disparity in many spheres of life including mental health and emotional well being.

I am not saying that walmart addresses all of these problems but it does help a bit to get, say a simple iron or some towels without paying a 500% mark up on the very same thing. It is especially helpful when you also want to get something healthier to eat that what McD's can give you and your budget hasn't really expanded overnight.

One of my friends who despises them (just because it was somehow fashionable and the politically correct thing to do) got me to watch the anti-walmart dvd just to stop me from going there. I must say that the arguments against walmart are not very convincing for people who have really known what it is like to wonder how on earth they are going to afford the month's groceries without getting sick eating just cheap bread products.

The alternative argument from the "socially activist politically correct" section of the community that believes that eating healthy is not really affordable to working class Americans would be true had it not been for stores such as Walmart, Pricerite etc. But these stores exist and so I have trouble buying that argument as well.

Guercio's, an example of a local store that has done well in spite of there being super-grocery chains nearby. Of course, its focus has not entirely been individuals but businesses. But it serves as an example how local businesses with some acumen can bypass the competition from super-stores. Not selling the same origin same brand goods with a 10X markup helps. Also, the clientele to these stores are often different to start with. I don't see many people cross-shopping at the Coop and Pricerite - simply because that overlap is minuscule.

libertad writes at 08:59:22 06/08/11 - Comment #62843: What's that I hear? I think it is the sound of small businesses closing their doors!

It is always tempting to go to Walmart. I am guilty occasionally but it makes it easier that the closest Walmart is in Cheektowaga. I got some egyptian cotton hand towels and washcloths from Sams that I just love and were so cheap.

tinypliny writes at 10:32:57 06/07/11 - Comment #62839: I don't know what the walmart in Buffalo is like (I did try to go to it once but abandoned the idea when I saw how many bus transfers were involved. I think it takes 3 transfers or some atrocious amount of waiting or both, I can't remember very well.) but the super-walmart in Rochester (well, actually Henrietta) was my favourite shop (after the chinese grocery on Mt. Hope) for the two years I was in Rochester. It was extremely well maintained and always had the best produce and I met so many cool foreign students there. I miss seeing all of them...

vincent writes at 10:27:54 06/07/11 - Comment #62837: It's funny I love going to the one's in the South but avoid them up here. To me they seem cleaner and the people are more friendlier and nicer.

tinypliny writes at 10:24:43 06/07/11 - Comment #62836: It helped me get through the first 3 months in US without asking my parents or my brother for help. Though I haven't been in a walmart for the past 4 years now, I think I will be eternally grateful that it helped me with small necessities and whatnots when I really needed them the most.