I have no problem being an angel but I know many of you do. I am Buddhist and we don't believe in angels but I still like the idea of angels being benevolent messengers. When I put on my angel costume I don't believe I am being God's messenger but rather sending a clear but silent message to the community that hate is not acceptable. To me it symbolizes compassion and that is all that really I intend on conveying in my message. It seems the service is Catholic and if the family and loved ones of Alison Des Forges want to interpret my message as being religious that really wouldn't bother me either if it will bring them comfort. I found this on (e:jim)'s awesome WNY blog machine Buffalo Feed. Here is the link to the source

The point is that you don't have to dress as an angel to show support but that there are certain guidelines to follow in order to show respect and solidarity.

Westboro Church Counter Protest: The Plan

February 21, 2009 by
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If you plan on Counter protesting the slim that plans to be in Clarence this weekend (Westboro Church), here is what you need to know via the organizers at UB Freethinkers:

First, we've been receiving emails here at UB Freethinkers about the actual "Angel Action" with angel costumes, and I just wanted to pass along the contact for that, as this whole event is involving numerous different groups, of which we are but one:

If you would like to take part in the actual "Angel Action" with angel costumes, please contact Céilí Maolán at ceallach@sensiblediscussio
n.com. Her group is organizing that facet of the counter-protest, to include making the costumes for a cost of $12 to cover materials.

Her Facebook event pages are here:
hp?eid=131407335253


As an avowedly secular humanist student group, UB Freethinkers is not organizing angel costumes ourselves. However, we are asking everyone involved in the event to WEAR WHITE if possible and use WHITE sheets and signs, in the spirit of solidarity with all of the groups involved.

FOR THOSE OF US FROM UB AND ELSEWHERE, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

-Those who need a ride from UB, we will be meeting in the Student Union lobby at 8:30am on Sunday morning, organizing car pools, and departing shortly thereafter.

-For those of you with already full cars, or departing from elsewhere around Buffalo, we plan to meet at approxim ately 9-9:15 in the parking lot of the elementary school at 9600 Clarence Center. PLEASE DO NOT PARK AT THE CHURCH ITSELF.

-The designated protest area for the morning event, setup by the police in Clarence, is at the corner of Clarence Center and Goodrich. We will make our way there from the elementary school at 9-9:15ish - stragglers please make your way there.

-For those at UB who can only make the afternoon event at St. Joseph's and need a ride, The Spectrum is organizing people to depart North Campus from there, so go to their office at 132 Student Union at approximately 12:15. St. Joseph's is right across from UB South, so the Stampede is always an option too.

-We have made a discussion topic for drivers and passengers on the Facebook page. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CARPOOL as parking may become scarce. This event has become much larger than anticipated!

-Out of respect for the families, please dress somewhat appropriately. Out of respect for yourself, DRESS WARM. The high is expected to be around 25. If at all possible, please make an effort to WEAR WHITE. If not, that's fine.

-If you have the burning desire to make a sign or write on your sheets/banners, please make an effort to have it be on a white background, with subdued, primary-color text, and with a simple message in support of the victims, their families, and the community, NOT A MESSAGE AGAINST THE WBC OR THEIR TACTICS. Don't give them anything to work with that could start an argument. Our presence is enough to silently make those statements.

-If you are using bed-sheets for anything, make sure to cut small horizontal slits into them so that they don't become sails. Also, reinforce the edges of the cuts with tape so that they don't tear further. We all know how windy it can be in this town.

-We've also decided to encourage people to BRING AMERICAN FLAGS AS WELL. They cover space, look awesome in large groups, and are a subtle thorn in the side of the WBC, who regularly demonstrate by stomping on flags and incessantly protesting at the funerals of service men and women who have died serving under our flag.

NOTES ON THE WBC:

-The WBC revels in starting arguments. Upon doing so, they will scream scripture at you, among other lovely things. This would be an unnecessary disruption in a somber environment. Let the WBC be obnoxious and distasteful.
-When protesting the WBC in person, ignoring them is the best option.
-The WBC is an avowedly non-violent organization. Sweet of them, I know. They will not physically hurt you. If by some chance they touch you, there will be plenty of cops nearby eager to take them away.
-The WBC will be carrying incredibly hateful signs and yelling incredibly hateful things. Do not be shocked by anything you see or hear.
-The WBC may have brought young children with them, who will do everything listed above just the same as the adults. Again, do not be shocked by anything you see or hear.
-The WBC likes law-suits. They have made money that way in the past, which they use to fund trips around the country. Don't give them a reason to sue.

SOME GROUND RULES, which I will reiterate:

-THIS COUNTER-PROTEST IS INTENDED TO BE PEACEFUL, NON-VIOLENT, and NON-CONFRONTATIONAL. We are there to show our support to the community, and passively do our best to block the WBC picketers from view.
-We are there to show support for the community and victim's families, NOT TO ATTACK, ARGUE WITH, PROTEST DIRECTLY AGAINST, INTIMIDATE, OR CHASE/SCARE OFF THE WBC. They are as free to be there as we are.
-DO NOT SPEAK TO THE WBC PICKETERS
-IF YOU ACCIDENTLY DO, DO NOT CONTINUE TALKING WITH OR START ARGUING WITH THE WBC PICKETERS
-DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE WBC PICKETERS
-DO NOT TOUCH, PUSH, SPIT AT, OR BREATHE ON THE WBC PICKETERS
-FACE AWAY FROM THE WBC PICKETERS
-DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE WBC PICKETERS IN ANY WAY
-IGNORE THE WBC PICKETERS!!!- DO NOT TRY TO YELL OVER THE WBC PICKETERS. Silence and presence is our power. Hopefully our bodies, banners, and signs work well to muffle their yelling
-DO NOT DISPLAY SIGNS WITH ANY MESSAGES AGAINST THE WBC OR THEIR TACTICS. Don't give them anything to work with to foster an argument. Our presence is enough.
-DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY GIVE THE WBC A REASON TO SUE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE
-DO NOT BRING WEAPONS, THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE WEAPONS, THINGS THAT COULD BE OBVIOUSLY MISTAKEN FOR WEAPONS, DOGS, OR DOGS ARMED WITH WEAPONS
-DON'T GIVE THE POLICE A REASON TO DETAIN YOU, OR MAYBE EVEN TAZE YOU BRO. The law must be enforced uniformly, even if we are the good guys.
-RESPECT AND OBEY THE POLICE AND ALL POSTED SIGNS. The police are on our side here. Treat them well and they will be able to stay th at way.

Finally, If you plan on doing anything that violates these rules OR common sense, either abandon those plans immediately OR DON'T SHOW UP. We don't want to cause any undue disruption or look like animals ourselves. This is about supporting the community and the families, and making a firm statement that this hateful intrusion is not welcome in Buffalo, and will be soundly, overwhelmingly, AND PEACEFULLY confronted.

This is all we have for now, information will be updated as necessary over the weekend. PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION so everyone is on the same page. Feel free to send all questions to UBFreethinkers@gmail.com.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Thought WNYMedia.net strongly supports this event or activity, we are not involved in planning, or promoting this event or activity. We reported it originally because the mainstream media (until tonight) has failed to inform the public that this scum will be in our community and feel that the people of Clarence and the victims families have the right to know what they could potentially be up against.

# I walked through the crowd and all of sudden some guy passes me and yells "buffawhat!" giggle 7 hrs ago

I met with Kitty Lambert to give her money for our costumes. Me, (e:mike), (e:paul), (e:matthew), (e:terry) and (e:hodown) are all paid up and ready to be angels at Alison De Forges memorial service. While we were at spot we saw Fred Phelps stalking around by himself. At least they think it was him but I didn't get a good look at his face. Kitty and her wife Cheryl said it was pretty evil looking though. Kitty said that she was sure that they were calling her trying to find out details of our plans.

They need help putting together the costumes tomorrow at 1pm. If you are interested in helping with this then let me know and I will send location via email so that Phelps won't be able to find it.

Oh, we are to dress warmly with hats and gloves but we are also to have light colored or white clothes so that our colors don't come through the costumes.

I promised Kitty that we would not engage with Phelps and his supporters whatsoever. They will shout things at us to try and provoke us so be prepared. Our presence is only to act as a shield to block the people attending the services from seeing Phelps or their hateful signs. The angel costumes are not only symbolic but also are to act as a barrier. It would be cool if we could have candles too but that might be a little bit too much to throw together last minute.

I think that we do need to show the rest of the world that Buffalo does not welcome HATE. Let's go be angels! So far I know that (e:mike) and (e:paul) want to join. Who else is in on this?



See (e:kathryn)'s blog for more details . I posted Kitty Lambert's call for action in the comments.

As angels we would be a great comfort to all of those who have lost loved ones in the crash. These haters are outsiders and will be the most unwelcome guests Buffalo has ever had.

I sent Kitty an email inviting her on to site so maybe she will come and start posting herself.

The other day I was walking to work and I walked by Nardin Academy and I thought about what an advantage iit would be to start off at such a prestigious school. I never realized that it was a Catholic school. It does of course come with a price.

Annual Tuition and Fees for 2008-2009

> Annual Tuition $8,450 + Activity Fee $235 + Book Fee $100 to $300 (varies by grade)
> Sports Fee $145 (per sport)

Canisius is in the middle of construction. They are building a math and science wing as well as a field house. I couldn't find their tuition but it would be interesting to compare to Nardin's.

I went to the sparsely attended marriage equality rally on Valentine's Day. It is one of those things that I am so glad I went to even though I really didn't want to. Not want to in the sense that I didn't want to go stand in the cold and take a bus home kind of sense. So I went, stood in the cold and then I just walked home. Screw the NFTA and their fare increase! I often walk home in protest. The rally as indicated in my second to last journal was at Niagara Square in front of the "phallic" city hall as so pointed out by Sam Hoyt. Anyways, I am really glad that I went because all these people had great things to say and these politicians all made great efforts to be there. There was absolutely no media that showed up to cover the event and there was maybe about 30 of us in attendance. I want to thank these politicians for showing up to support this movement even if there was little or no political advantage in doing so. At least you are getting a little recognition from my blog. I regret not taking notes so I could be a better reporter.

Here is the people who showed up minus a handful who came a little late.




If I knew who this guy was he would probably have some very nice photos of the event. By this guy I mean the one sitting by the dog.




This is Kitty Lambert, President of Outspoken for Marriage. Sorry it is such a bad picture of her. I should have taken more of her because she was really great and would be a good politician. She is working VERY hard to get full marriage equality in the state of NY.








Bruce Kogan spoke on behalf of Stonewall Democrats.



Maria Whyte (Erie County Legislator) was awesome! She is quite a ham for the cam as well.



Sam Hoyt. Again, I want to say thanks for the politicians to come and take a public stance for marriage equality





There were some other people who spoke and again, I wish I took notes because I would like to include their pictures but I do not remember their names or who they represent. There was a Reverend or something but his message made me feel awkward and excluded when he had everyone repeat "God is love". I did like him but I feel weird when my beliefs as well as others are excluded. You can have religious figures speak a little more inclusively when at events like these without too much effort.

UPDATE

Sam Hoyt saw my journal and emailed Paul to remind me that the other politician in attendance was the Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz. Thanks for the info Sam. If anyone has the names of the other people who spoke at the rally I will include them too. Just click on the envelope below my avatar to send me an email.

Today is President's day but I forgot and it was really eerie on the way to work. Nobody was out except, of course, (e:heidi) on her way to school. I'm surprised so many people actually have the day off. I do get comp time for working today which is much better than having the day off. I save up all my comp time for summer because I hate being inside when it is nice.

Valentine's Day was nice. I did end up going to the marriage equality rally in front of city hall. I'll post pics later. Mike came over and we had the house to ourselves. I made dinner which was some yummy steaks. I was going to make chicken marsala but they were out of marsala at Gates Circle Liquour.

I'm working a lot. They are offering us unlimited hours at work so I am going to try and keep it up. I really am not sure if we will have jobs after September. We shall see... So Suze says to just save what we can. Check out saveyourself.com. You can get $100.00 after making 12 consecutive $100 deposits in a year.

I think I might go to this. (e:mike) and I just saw Milk and now I am all rallied up.

"Cupid's Arrows Aren't Always Straight!!!"
Please rally with us at our
3rd Call For Marriage Equality
February 14th, 2009 - 1pm (sharp!)
in Niagara Square in front of City Hall (Delaware & Niagara)
as we ask, once again for the right to marry!
LGBT FAMILIES deserve equal protections as Americans!
Dress warm and bring friends! Free Hot chocolate to warm you up!
Then join us for the After-Party!
2pm to 5pm
Pilgrim St Luke's Church
(Richmond and Utica)
Love IS out there!
Enjoy a glass of sparkly and some chocolate hugs & kisses! Come out and play!!!
Single? Take a chance at Queer Speed Dating!
Dance a little (or a lot!) Chinese Auction & 50/50 raffle!
Hot Pizza & Wings available for purchase from Main Menu Café!
$5.00 admission (cheap date!)
All proceeds go OUTspoken For Equality
to continue the fight for LGBT Rights!

Need More Information? Call Kitty! 716-578-3782

We used to just be FABULOUS! ...
But they are messing with our civil rights & our families~
NOW WE'RE FURIOUS !!!

OUTspoken For Equality!





Kitty Lambert
President, OUTspoken For Equality
Fighting for Marriage, GENDA, and the Dignity For All Students Act
22 Bolton Place
Buffalo, NY 14210-2131
(716) 578-3782

www.OUTspokenforequality.org

Working for Marriage Equality, Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Protection
and Dignity For ALL Students through Safe Schools and Positive Educations!

Interestingly, in Milk you find out that The Advocate was unwilling to endorse Harvey Milk, an openly gay man running for public office. They thought it would invoke more hatred towards gays. I just read this article from The Advocate about this faith based initiative of Obama's. I'm not too happy with mixing public funding with religious organizations that can discriminate against the GLBT community.

Yesterday I did Suze Orman's online expense sheet. It is really kinda awesome for me to have done this because it is my desire to develop some personal financial security. I really want to improve my FICO score and to have an emergency fund which would also double on the down payment of a house some time down the road. Doing the expense sheet has made me see my own fianances more clearly so that I know better of what I need to do to achieve my goal.

The expense sheet really makes you think about where all your money is going to. She asks you to *guestimate* (that was for (e:zobar)) what you are spending per month on everything form toiletries to movies, tobacco and alcohol. You enter in your rent, your loans, utilites as well as your monthly income. Under the fast food category I realized I can save the most without sacrificing too much. I am spending $100/month on eating food in the cafeteria! My big challenge now is trying my hardest to limit this to let's say $25 month. Even things that seem relatively benign such as going to the movies can be a huge expense over a year period. The one great thing I realzed when doing all this was that I didn't have to put anything into the tobacco category. If I was still smoking a pack a day I would have to enter in $168/ month at a rate of $6.00 pack. There is no way I could afford to go back to smoking! That is more than $2000/yr.

I'm really annoyed that I have an expense in the cable category. I really did not want cable it was something my roommate considered to be essential and now I am stuck paying for half of it at least until July. After that I will refuse to pay for it anymore because I really don't need TV and don't even care if I don't even have one of those things they ran out of coupons for when they make the digital switch so that you can watch TV with an antennae.

So, I definitely recommend doing one of those expense balancing sheets for yourself sometime if you are interested in improving your financial situation. It is a great way of facing reality.

(e:mike) and I saw this parked on Anderson. We saw it the night before and it was much funnier when it just said WTF? When I went back to photograph it with my real camera instead of my phone someone added "Wash me!". The add on isn't quite as funny but WTF? Was exactly what Mike and I said when we saw it. This thing is like twice the size of a hummer at least. When you look at it from the front it actually looks like a 16 wheeler. I should have shot it from the front too cause this photo almost makes it look small.